I Drove On The India-Thailand Highway And It Was Just As Awesome As You Imagined It!

Let me start off by saying, "Yay! The India-Thailand Highway is finally open." But a trip is not as easy as you think it is. Trust me, I've driven on it. Here's my story.

A part of the IMT Trilateral Highway, connecting India, Myanmar and Thailand, was recently opened up. The 25.6-km-long stretch, between Myawaddy in Myanamar and Kawkareik Se in Thailand, has reduced travel times between the two countries from 3 hours down to 45 minutes. And come 2016, it will be possible for you to drive from India to Thailand. Just imagine the possibilities, 14 days on the road, driving through some of the most picturesque locations that South Asia has to offer. We drove the route, but in reverse, from Thailand to India.

Bangkok to Chai Nat, 220 km

Welovethailand

We left the Thai capital after a hearty breakfast and immediately ran into the famous Bangkok traffic jams. Seriously, these will put your everyday Indian gridlocks to shame. But you don¡¯t really feel out of place with the sight of the same Micras, Civics and Corollas you see on the streets of India, although there are a few more pickups than an urban setting really calls for.

Planetizen

It was only once we are out of downtown Bangkok that the traffic thins out, and past Bang Pa district, the AH1 as the Asian Highway 1 is called, really lets us stretch the engine. The 200-km-odd stretch is easily covered in under three hours once out of Bangkok thanks to wide roads. Did we mention we were there in the middle of the rainy season? Thanks to the heavy downpour Thailand receives, the countryside is lush green. Lunch in the small town of Chai Nat included Khao mu krop, which is rice with crispy pork served with a spicy sauce.

Chai Nat to Tak, 280 km

Thailandtriptour

Lunch done, we continue due north towards Tak, our night halt. A couple of hours out of Chai Nat and we¡¯re in love with Thailand¡¯s roads. Well paved, flat as a mirror, they¡¯re perfect for high speed cruising. But not too fast though, for the Thai police is quite happy to fine anybody not adhering to the 120 km/h limit on the highways. Only stopping for a loo break, we're in Tak in just over four hours.

Wikimedia Commons

And what a sight greets us! The sun setting across the banks of the Ping river, visible from our hotel room. Dinner out in town is on the cards and we are quite happy to munch on Kaeng khua, a prawn preparation heavy on turmeric and Sam rot, a deep fried fish with a tangy flavour.

Tak To Hpa-An, 243 km

Tumblr

Today we're crossing the border over to Myanmar. From Tak to Mae Sot, the border town on the Thai side is a distance of just under a 100 km and we make it there in under 2 hours, passing through the Mae Tuen Wildlife Sanctuary. Thick vegetation and rolling hills make for a beautiful drive and every turn presents a new, more beautiful scene. Across the border from Mae Sot is Myawaddy on the Myanmar side. Linking the two towns is the Myanmar Thailand Friendship Bridge which is built over the Moei River. It¡¯s a tributary of the Salween River which forms a natural border between the two countries along its length of 320 kms. But before we can cross the bridge, we get the customs formalities done, which don¡¯t take too long. Once on the bridge, you have to cross over to the wrong side of the road, because in Myanmar you drive on the right unlike in Thailand. So the cars switch sides of the road, halfway over the top of the bridge! We drive down the bridge hoping we don¡¯t forget to keep driving on the right side of the road. But we don¡¯t have time for that. Because across the bridge from Thailand is a land that time forgot. Myanmar, technically a dictatorship, is a sea of change from its more prosperous neighbour. The flat roads give way to potholes, there¡¯s decidedly more people using the streets here and you can¡¯t help but feel a riveting vibe about the country which you just can¡¯t put a finger on. The smiles are genuine, the people warmer and they look at us with interest. Clearly not many Indians have passed through these roads. We stop and decide to have an early lunch in Myawaddy because the cars that we¡¯ll be driving in Myanmar haven¡¯t arrived yet. It was a good decision, for we were in for a treat. Dish after dish was served to us, from quail egg soup, eel in tangy gravy to fried veggies. No country for vegetarians, this!

We have been provided with a Chinese made MPV of arguable quality that seems to be held together by prayers and duct tape. Everything rattles and our driver, whose teeth are yellower than a sunflower, is keen to tell us that everything will be alright. We hope so and head to Hpa-An. The road out of Myawaddy isn¡¯t in the best of ways and we immediately run into a jam, standing still for a good half hour. The 150 kms still remaining, to the capital of Karen state, includes 50 kms of hill roads that is only open to traffic in one direction, alternating every day. The road, or rather the sparingly sprinkled tarmac that it actually is, is a nightmare. Every third corner has a fresh mishap or has remnants of one. Not helping our confidence is the driver¡¯s insistence on using his iPhone, or at least a cheap Chinese knockoff, as he twirls the steering with rapidity.

Two hours of that and we are out of the hills. Thankfully. Now on flat roads, still twisting and turning a little bit, we pass through a number of villages with pagodas of different sizes. Myanmar really is a religious country. Monks can be seen walking alongside the road, collecting rice from people. By the time we reach Hpa-an, it¡¯s already pretty dark and we check into Hotel Zwe Ka Bin.

Hpa-An to Yangon, 280 km

What we missed the night before was the location of the hotel. Built right next to a rock face, it is one of the most beautiful settings you¡¯ll ever see. Under the cloud cover and early morning dew, the picturesque setting makes you never want to leave the place. If you¡¯re ever in Hpa-An, this is the place to be.

Wikimedia Commons

Onward to Yangon and our driver is as cheery as ever. We can¡¯t understand a word of what he says, but it seems he wants us to hurry. And with the way he puts the rattle-y mini bus through its paces, it seems like that is the case. Leaving early morning means that we should be able to manage the distance in decent time. We stop for a quick breakfast, consisting mainly of fried chicken noodles and a coffee so strong, it would have woken up dear old Kumbhkaran. Curiously, it¡¯s only now that we notice that all waitresses at the road side eatery are wearing what the Burmese call the ¡®Thanaka¡¯ on their cheeks. It¡¯s a yellow coloured paste made from ground bark. While this is also common in Thailand, thanaka is actually of Myanmarese origin. It is said to protect the wearer from sunburn.

Twotravelaholics

The road though has been kind and lets us make good progress. We pass the town of Bago on the way, which is famous for its reclining Buddha statue and the museum at Kanbawzathadi palace. Reaching Yangon for a late lunch, we¡¯re out exploring the former capital. The city still houses most foreign missions and is at the heart of the country¡¯s commerce. Yangon is home to a large number of colonial era buildings and the city¡¯s architecture manages to keep the old world charm alive, despite a number of modern buildings coming up. Downtown Yangon, on the other hand, is tightly packed with traffic, as any bustling metropolis should be. The hilarity of the situation was amply clear, with people alighting public transport in the middle of the road because that¡¯s where the door is. This is because the traffic used to run on the correct side of the road on the left, but one fine day it was decided that the American way was better.

As the evening gives way to night, the one thing that anyone would notice in downtown Yangon is the glow coming in from the Shwedagon pagoda, the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar. Situated on top of Singutta hill, it dominates the city skyline and attracts tourists and the faithful from far and wide. Authorised guides can be hired at the location although rote is not a good way to learn. But it worked for us, and apparently, it's been working for the guides for a while now.

Yangon To Naypyitaw, 350 km

Goyangon

From the old capital to the new. Connecting Yangon to Naypyitaw is a 4-lane expressway, which like most things in the country, is made by the Chinese. It is devoid of traffic and thankfully our rickety old mini bus has given way to another Chinese contraption, this time an SUV of unknown origins. The golden emblem on the bonnet is undecipherable, though the machinery itself looks inspired from the Toyota Landcruiser. By far the best road we have seen in the country, it makes short work of the 350 kms and we¡¯re in the new capital for lunch.

Zetatravels

But it¡¯s a ghost town that we are greeted with. Popular rumors suggest that the leadership of the country was advised by a seer about moving the capital from Yangon to Naypyitaw if they wanted to stay in power. The city is still pretty much being built. New houses, hotels, shopping malls, government offices, golf courses and what not are being constructed, in hopes that one day people will occupy these. We say hope, because there wasn¡¯t a soul in sight. Locals told us that it¡¯d be cheaper to buy a house in Naypyitaw than in any other capital city in the world. Somehow we believe that to be true.

Naypyitaw to Mandalay, 280 km

2nified

The same expressway that brought us to Naypyitaw also takes us to Mandalay in under four hours. No traffic to speak, and the cemented road isn¡¯t as boring as we thought. The cultural capital of Myanmar, Mandalay houses more than 700 pagodas and is located on the banks of the Irrawaddy river. Fun fact: there¡¯s a river cruise of approximately 10 days that will take you from Mandalay to Yangon that is said to be worth every penny.

Simonroughneen

But back to business. Mandalay is also the place where Bal Gangadhar Tilak was sent to prison from 1908 to 1914. The place to see, or rather the entire city, is from the Mandalay Hill. There¡¯s a pagoda built on top of the hill and you get to see the city, the surrounding countryside, Mandalay Palace and the moat surrounding it. It¡¯s a picture you can stare at for hours.

Mandalay to Kale, 360 km

We left Mandalay in the early hours of the morning, taking a shorter but slower route to Monywa, our first stop of the day. 20 km out of Mandalay and the road turns into a single carriage way, passing villages that are no different from the ones in our own country. Another common sight is kids lined up on the sides of the road, dangling alms bowls looking for alms near the pagodas. Thanks to the lack of traffic, progress is brisk and we¡¯re in Monywa for a heavy lunch of Mohinga, a kind of soup with various veggies cooked in fish broth and served with fried fish. Also on offer was Meeshay, which is rice noodles with pork cooked in oil. We take a small detour, passing the Thanboddhay pagoda, which is said to have 5 lakh images of Buddha.

Ivyou114

Beyond the city, the road heading north begins to deteriorate and worsens by the kilometer. The road passes through Alaungdaw Kathapa national park, and the hilly terrain makes driving just a bit more interesting than we would like. After a point, the tarmac goes AWOL and is replaced by, well, nothing really - it¡¯s just exposed earth. Rains have made the terrain something of a rally stage that even Colin McRae wouldn¡¯t drive on. So it shouldn¡¯t come as a surprise that it was almost sundown when we managed to reach Kalewa. What we didn¡¯t realise was that we wanted to be in Kale instead, a further 40 kms. This is the road that India¡¯s Border Roads Organisation has built as a part of the Asian Highway, and is in pretty good condition, going all the way to Tamu border. The terrain, hilly in parts, took another hour to cover.

Wikimedia Commons

Since Myanmar is pretty much closed off from the rest of the world, in Kale we got to experience one of the slowest internet connections ever. It took 15 minutes to send a two line email. Why send email? Because international calls aren¡¯t easily available. Although foreigners are allowed to buy international call enabled SIMs, even these aren¡¯t easily available. In Kale, we also sampled some Chinese brews, the usual Thai made Singha Beer and local moonshine of questionable quality. All in all, a great way to bring the night to a close.

Kale to Imphal, 235 km

Wikimedia Commons

It¡¯s proximity to India means, that there is some Indian influence on Myanmarese cuisine. All over the country you can get samosas, falooda, fried parathas and chole bhatoore. It¡¯s the latter that we had for breakfast in a place run by a Nepalese fellow who moved to Myanmar a couple of decades ago. From Kale to the border town of Tamu on the Myanmar side is a distance of 135 kms which has no less than 70 major and minor bridges running across streams. These were a big reason why it took more than two-and-a-half hours to cover the distance.

e-pao.net

India and Myanmar share a porous border across the towns of Moreh and Tamu on the respective sides. People from Moreh in Manipur come over to shop and locals from Tamu visit Moreh for their needs, although there is a limit beyond which they cannot go. Our Visa formalities thankfully didn¡¯t take too long and we were soon crossing the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Bridge to Moreh. Beyond Moreh is a bit of hassle since there¡¯s security concerns because of the Kuki separatist movement. But military convoys were a lot of help reaching the capital city of Manipur.

E-pao.net

From Imphal, the highway takes you to Kohima in Nagaland to Dimapur and on to Jorabat and Guwahati. From there it goes to Shillong and Dawki and enters Bangladesh. We however went to Silchar from Imphal, which at 260 km, is a shorter route, but took us nearly 14 hours to complete because of the hilly terrain. From there, expect another half day drive to Shillong.

But that's a story for another time.