THE BURMAN CLASSIC

Mingalabar – Welcome to Myanmar! You can arrive anytime on this day. We will have the accommodation ready for you. Settle in, explore Mandalay at your own pace. Let us know if you would like us to arrange an airport pick for you. (available at small extra charge)
Meet your tour leader and travel companions in the hotel lobby at 7pm (join-in groups). We will head out for a typical Mandalay bbq dinner in town. Meet your fellow riders over a drink and run through the journey plan and essentials.

Meals included: Welcome Dinner
Overnight: Hotel in Mandalay

Get ready for your motorcycle adventure. After bike fitting and checks we head out of Mandalay and ride through scenic and varied countryside roads making stops in villages and view points en-route to Ywangan. Ywangan is a small Danu minority village tucked between forest, farms and limestone mountains. After checking in to our base we head out for an afternoon off road ride passing coffee plantations to a limestone cave and waterfall and return back to Ywangan for the night.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight: Simple hotel in Ywangan
Distance covered: approx. 160 km

Local style breakfast and ride through fertile Shan plateau, a major farming region for seasonal crops like mustard leaves, cabbages, cauliflowers and marrows. Enjoy the challenge of winding scenic route through Palaung minority villages. If lucky we may see Palaung ladies who always wear their colourful traditional dress decorated with silver belts. The Palaung are mountain dwellers and grow tea, mountain rice and different kinds of fruit in the orchards up the hills. We’ll drive to the foot of Yasakyi peak and hike up for some great views over the region.
After lunch stop visit Pindaya Cave the main attraction of the region housing thousands of buddha images. There is also cool parasol shop where we can see how Shan umbrellas made using traditional methods. Our afternoon ride is on scenic road to Inle Lake valley through “Tuscany” of Myanmar – rolling hills with patches of colours before harvest (in Nov & Dec).
Last but not least we cap the day with wine tasting at Myanmar’s premier vineyard enjoying great lake vistas and sun sinking behind distant hills in the horizon. From Aythayar it is short ride down to Nyaung Shwe town where we spend the night.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight: Hotel in Inle Lake
Distance covered: approx. 100km

Rise and shine and get ready to discover Inle Lake’s unique life on water. Today we’ll explore the lake region highlights by boat. Starting from lively morning market (on market days only) we journey to villages built on stilts over the lake, glide by old monasteries, check out how Burmese cigars are hand rolled and boats carved at small workshops on the lake.
Marvel at Inn Thar minority fishermen skilfully balancing on one foot and working their fishing nets and traps same time.
If you would like to explore Inle surroundings and hills with your motorcycle your guide will be more than happy to give some trail suggestions for the day. There are many options from cultural sights to off road and hill tribes. We can also arrange upon request optional cooking classes, kayaking tours and hot air ballooning.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight: Hotel in Inle Lake

Long day and early start ahead for an overland journey crossing Shan highlands and descending to lower lying Central Myanmar and Yinmarbin, Thazi and Meikhtila towns. This is heartland of Bamar people who first settled in these fertile plains over a millennium ago and from here spread across the whole Ayeyarwaddy region. The landscape is rolling hills and fields, until afternoon arrival to extinct volcano Mount Popa and its volcanic plug Taungkalat. The latter has become one of the most important pilgrimage spots for “nat” spirits worshippers in Myanmar. Continue for another hour to Bagan and arrive there before evening, just in time to watch a beautiful sunset.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight: Hotel in Bagan
Distance covered: Approx. 280KM

Bagan has peculiar rule forbidding foreigners riding motorcycles in the town and archeological zone “as a preventive measure” to avoid accidents. Today we take on the smaller trails connecting villages and temple groups on e-bikes to show you some of the hidden treasures of this unique Unesco World Heritage site.
There are over 3000 temples and monasteries, dating back to 11-13th centuries dotting the vast plain – given the enormous size of the area, there will be always places where we can escape the crowds and have the temples just for ourselves.

Optional extras in Bagan:
Sunrise hot air balloon flight – this is the top excursion in Bagan and well worth the investment
Sunset cruise on Irrawaddy river – Private boat just for us, cool drinks and snack

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight: Hotel in Bagan

Today will be our last riding day as we leave Bagan and head northwest along the secondary road with less traffic. First we cross the bridge to Pakokku from where we can visit Ma Ahu Alae Village – a small village with many ancient pagodas and lovely people with contagious smiles. After lunch break we continue ride north bound weaving through dry zone and small villages and cross the Chindwin River. Some of the villages en-route are home to descendants of European POWs from WWII and migrant families that served 17th century Burmese kings back in the days. Traditions and religion of forefathers has been passed on to next generations including catholic churches. We continue the ride to Sagaing one of the ancient kingdoms near Mandalay. Sagaing is one of the most sacred and important Buddhist centres in Myanmar with large number monasteries and nunneries perched on hillside by Irrawaddy River. From there it’s only 45min ride Mandalay. Time permitting we can stop in Amarapura at iconic U Bein bridge for beautiful sunset. Back in Mandalay for the night. This evening we gather to bid farewells and to raise a toast for a great journey coming to an end and feast on sumptuous farewell dinner.

Meals included: Breakfast
Overnight: Hotel in Mandalay
Distance covered: Approx. 220KM

Breakfast at hotel and end of services.

Please let us know if you would like us to arrange transport to Mandalay airport or extra night(s) in Mandalay or to suggest an extension.

Meals included: Breakfast