Going bike touring in Myanmar? Then you’ll want to take a look at Cycling Myanmar – a new website with practical tips for cycling around this little-visited country.
It contains GPS tracks, itineraries and general travel advice from Francis Leclerc, who spent January 2012 bicycle touring there.
Bike touring along the rural roads of Myanmar. Photo by Francis Leclerc.
There’s also a helpful list of pros and cons to touring in Myanmar.
1st March 2012 at 8:48 am #
A friend and I travelled Myanmar a few years ago. We decided that we wanted to forge our own route around Myanmar, which at that time was unbelievably hard!
I am slowing writing up diary accounts of the trip. See the first three parts of the http://www.cyclingabout.com website! There will be a few more parts coming soon, so keep an eye out!
Part One – History/Facts: http://cyclingabout.com/index.php/2011/11/myanmar-stories-part-one/
Part Two – Weather/Accomodation: http://cyclingabout.com/index.php/2011/11/myanmar-stories-part-two/
Part Three – Life on a Touring Bike/Food/Bagan: http://cyclingabout.com/index.php/2012/02/myanmar-stories-part-three/
Regards
Alex
1st March 2012 at 8:56 am #
Also, our gallery is available on our Facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.286148881431510.67991.248094668570265&type=3
6th March 2012 at 1:47 pm #
Does anybody reading this article have an opinion on whether land borders in and out of Myanmar for cyclists are ever likely to open in the near future?
Paul
cycletothesea.blogspot.com
30th March 2012 at 12:33 am #
I traveled to Myanmar in January 2010 and we were able to cross into Myanmar on foot from Mae Sai in Thailand to Tachileik Myanmar. We went by taxi from there to Keng Tung. Not sure if they would let you ride to Keng Tung or not. while we were there we could travel around the area during the day but had to be in Keng Tung at night. We also had to leave from the same border where we came in because we had to leave our passports at the boarder.
6th February 2014 at 7:32 am #
Yes..all border points to Thais are already open.you can now come to Thai border and then cross into Burma and travel all over and fly out to your next dest from Burma airports.roads are also good too.I am even thinking of planning a biking all over Burma in dec 2014.cheers.
16th July 2014 at 10:52 pm #
hi am thinking of biking in dec. when would you be going
glad to hear the borders are open to travel onward.
when do you think you will be going? would love to keep up with your account.
27th April 2014 at 8:39 pm #
Border at dancing korn 10km Prachuap kiri khan Thailand opens 2014 apparently ,information from Thai tourist board.
13th November 2012 at 8:41 am #
Information for people planning on cycling in Myanmar concerning price increases and hotel room shortages.
Considering Myanmar has essentially no places that accept a credit card, travelers cheques or ATM cards, you need to plan how much money you’re going to spend – and get the right kind of bills (clean, crisp, new US dollar bills) well before your plane lands in Yangon. Many, many visitors forget to do this, and end up heading back to Thailand to get some. – Lonely Planet guide to Myanmar
When calculating how much money to bring – don’t rely on the prices written down in the latest Lonely Planet guide. We traveled through Myanmar last October and hotel prices in tourist areas (and some non-tourist places) had at least doubled. For example: a traveler wrote on their website that the price for their double air-con. room in a Mandalay hotel – January 2011 (high season) – cost $9.00. When we visited that same hotel in October 2012 (low season) the price had increased to $23.00.
Another problem is that there aren’t that many hotels in Myanmar and the number of tourists travelling to Myanmar has increased drastically since Aung San Suu Kye has been released from house arrest. Basically demand for hotel rooms will probably soon begin outstripping supply so I wouldn’t be surprised to see that hotel prices jump even higher now that the tourist season has began.
A couple of quotes from Willy Weir’s facebook page – to give you an idea of what is happening there:
The tourist madness has begun. Several travelers slept on the street in Nyuang Shwe (Inle Lake), because every room was booked. Imagine what December will bring?
Obama is coming to Myanmar! Don’t know if his staff realize that rooms are hard to come by here. If he hasn’t booked a hotel in advance, we are happy to share a room with our prez. -w
24th April 2013 at 12:54 am #
Hi,
The hosting service used for the website is closing soon. The new address will be: http://cyclingmyanmar.wordpress.com/
Same content, just different place.
Thank you for updating the references to the previous location above.
28th March 2016 at 1:00 pm #
I travelled Myanmar a few years ago. We decided that we wanted to forge our own route around Myanmar, which at that time was unbelievably hard!
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29th May 2016 at 3:40 pm #
Myanmar is one of our absolute favorite bike touring destinations.
We’ve put together a free e-book with photos and how-to information on bicycle touring in Myanmar.
Topics include visas and special permits, when to go, where to sleep, Burma top 10, dealing with authorities plus tips on roads and routes.
You can download the free ebook here:
http://www.worldbiking.info/wordpress/2015/09/free-ebook-burma-by-bike/
.