This will be a motorcycle trip like no other in an unspoiled, genuine, and isolated country that is just starting to open up to the rest of the world. We will go up into Shan villages, The hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin, Inle Lake, the surreal capital Naypyitaw, the immense Mount Victoria, Chin Villages, the incredible Bagan, the spiritual volcanic Mount Popa, and back to the cultural heart of Myanmar, Mandalay. Our local guides in Mandalay, the Shan villages, Inle Lake, Chin State, and Bagan will be there to enhance your experience by helping you better interact with the many ethnic groups we will come across on our journey. We’ll do this trip on the extremely reliable, comfortable, and stealthy Honda CRF250L which is perfectly suited for the terrain and distances we will be covering. We will also have a support truck for our trip so we can travel light and make sure we get to each destination on time no matter what happens.
Day 1 : Mandalay to Kyaukme 200km ( L , D)
8:00 AM Pick up at your hotel in Mandalay - Time to get out of the city and up into the mountains. We will ride among rice fields for about 30km before we start climbing up onto the Shan plateau. We will quickly ascend to 1000m above sea level. We will visit the newly constructed, yet seemingly deserted, Cyber City with great views of the plains below. We will then visit a few waterfalls as we pass through Pyin oo Lwin and Nyaungcho to the historic Goktiek Viaduct on sealed roads. We will weave our way down and up the Goktiek gorge before we make it to the railway town of Kyaukme. We will eat at a Shan/Chinese restaurant before we retire to our hotel.
Hotel: A Yone OO. Mid Range
Day 2:Kyaukme to Mountain Village. <100 km ( B, L, D )
We will meet our guide in the morning and visit the bustling local market. The hill tribes we’ll visit today are happy to let us stay in their homes but they don’t have enough food for our group so we’ll have to bring enough meat and produce for dinner. The trip will mostly be off-road today as we work our way through the maze of mountain trails and oxcart paths to get to a Shan village for the night. We hope you had a good shower in Kyaukme because there are no showers in the village, just a bucket, and a bowl. We will have our food cooked for us on an open fire while we relax and experience a more simple off-the-grid lifestyle. We will have a rugged night sleeping on straw mats in the village chief’s house.
Hotel: Village Stay. Very rustic
Day 3: Mountain Village to Pyin Oo Lwin. 200km ( B, L, D )
We will wake up early in the morning to the sounds of roosters crowing and schoolchildren playing. Village life starts early so we will too. We’ll work our way north on a newly constructed road toward the ruby capital of the world, Mogok. We won’t be allowed to enter the city without bikes so we will get about as close as we can before we turn south. These newly constructed roads along the mountain ridges are stunning so we will have lots of time to take photos of the surrounding areas. We will go south zigzagging our way down the mountains and then leveling out at about 1100m for the last 50km into the British hill station of Pyin Oo Lwin. We should have time to visit the picturesque Kandawgyi Botanical Gardens before sunset. We will have dinner at an upscale European/Asian restaurant on the lake.
Hotel: Royal Parkview Hotel. Mid Range
Day 4: Pyi Oo Lwin to Ywangan <175km ( B, L, D )
If we didn’t make it to the gardens the day before we will see them in the morning. We will also have time to ride around town to experience the old summer capital of colonial Burma. Then we will work our way back down the Shan Plateau (back-road this time) and have a spectacular river crossing on a small wooden boat. We will pass another mountain range before finally heading up a narrow paved mountain road to the small Danu town of Ywangan. The sleepy village doesn’t offer much entertainment but the food is good, the beds are clean and the showers are hot.
Hotel: Shwe Gu Gu. Basic
Day 5 :Ywangan to Inle Lake. about 175km ( B, L, D )
After a simple breakfast at the Ywangan hotel, we’ll head east over another mountain range on an unfinished road that will take us through some tea-growing villages and cliff-side trails to a sealed road on the other side. We will then go to Pindaya where we will visit a famous Buddha-filled cave where legend has it, that a Shan prince saved a group of captive maidens from a giant spider. We will continue to make our way south through Shan, Danu, and Pa-O villages until we descend on Inle Lake. We will make our way into Nyaungshwe town to a modern hotel for the night.
Hotel: Cassiopea Hotel. Mid Range
Day 6: Inle Lake Boat Tour (No Riding) ( B, L, D )
We’ll take a rest from the bikes today and take a boat ride on Inle Lake. The lake is home to the Intha people who have lived with the lake for countless generations. The Intha people have a special relationship with the lake that is best explored and investigated while on the boat. We will also have a local guide who will help us unlock the secrets of this serene lake and its people. Lunch will be on the lake and we’ll have dinner in town.
Day 7: Nyaungshwe - Departure ( B )
After breakfast, you can stay longer in Inle lake or can fly back to Mandalay or Yangon by your booking. End The Tour
Tour includes:
- Professional tour guide with his bike / Mechanic
- Gasoline of the tour guide
- Your gasoline
- Your motorbike and helmet
- Permit for a motorbike tour
- Accommodation in hotel or guest-house depending on location
- Mosquito nets during Home-stay overnight
- Support vehicle
- All Meals in tour B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D= Dinner
Tour excludes:
- Your insurance
- For cleanliness reasons pants are not included
- Any meals not on tour and your drinks during the trip
- Your expenses
- Tips for the support team
- Coverage for any damages to the motorcycle (unfortunately there is no insurance here to cover this)
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