In Nov 18, me and 7 other bikers went from Tachilek (north) to Myawaddy (Central), going in and out from Thailand. We organised our trip and everything went quite smoothly albeit some mishaps along the way.

D1: Border to Keng Tung 154km
D2: Keng Tung to Namsang 334km
D3: Namsang to Naypyitaw 385km
D4: Naypyitaw to Kyaikto 356km
D5: Kyaikto to Myawaddy Border 266km

Hotels we stayed in

N1: Amazing Kengtung Resort
N2: Pineland Hotel
N3: New Aye Yar Hotel
N4: Bawga Theiddhi Hotel

During our trip, a driver, english speak guide and liaison officer from the Ministry of Tourism accompanied us on the trip. The guiding car is a must. There were about 2-3 military checkpoints that checked some documents along the way, thus without someone to negotiate the clearance, it might be a little tricky.

We also had tourist police escort us in/out of Naypyidaw and Kyaikto. Aside from these escorts, the guide in his van allowed us to ride ahead to our comfortable speed, arranging to meet us at specific checkpoints. Do take note that google maps only show a preview and no turn-by-turn directions are shown. You still can use google maps, but a GPS was more convenient in this case. Most places had wifi, and the 3G connection there was good, sometimes even in the mountains.

The trip was planned about 3 months in advance, while the deposit and documents (for bike permits) was sent about 2 months in advance.

Day 1 - Border Crossing To Keng Tung
Getting out of Thailand was smooth, and aside from the jam packed border and the crossing from the left to right lane, it was rather easy. The customs officers at the Myanmar side was rather curious about our bikes and plenty stopped to take photos with us. The customs office was small and had no obvious procedural markings, but luckily the liaison officer took care of most things aside for us filling up some immigration forms where we needed to. We took not more than 30 minutes.

The first day’s ride to Keng Tung was uneventful and the roads were decent. We stayed at Amazing Keng Tung Resort and the resort looked like its way past its prime, but still comfortable enough. Most of the hotels had an english speaking staff to check us in. We popped by an restaurant called Azure near the lake, just walking distance away, and the food we had was one of the best we had. The lady owner spoke mandarin.

Day 2 - To Nam Sang
The mountain roads have begun. There’s plenty of potholes, unfinished roads and gravel/sand strewn across the roads on many of the corners. One of our riders skid and did a 360 but luckily no major issues there. We crossed a very muddy section with a little apprehension. There was an excavator there that did his best to flatten some muddy sections for us, we were really appreciative even though it didn’t really work well at all.

The corners and bends were very technical (plenty of reducing radius bends) and seemed to go on and on infinitely, roads were narrow and with uneven grounds, potholes and and thrown into the mix, speeds sometimes went down to 10-20km/h. For those who tackled Mae Hong Son Thailand where the roads were perfect for mindless riding enjoyment, these roads required plenty of concentration and effort. Adventure bikes work perfectly well here, but we had sports tourers and even a Goldwing ride past safely with some trepidation. Small cc bikes work very well here, but some portions had very steep hairpin inclines that will take some effort to get up. The perfect bike for such terrain and speeds will probably be a 400cc ADV bike.

330km didn’t zoom by quickly, we took almost 12 hours to get from hotel to hotel (with some lunch and breaks thrown in).

Day 3 - To Naypyidaw
We were greeted by mountain passes yet again but this time it just felt a little different. Each mountain pass seemed to have its own personality and today’s pass took us up and over the clouds. Temperatures dropped and riding became so much more bearable. But come down the mountains and we were reminded once again why vents in our jackets existed. We passed bridges on large sections of lakes, and went through rock formations that I have never seen before in other parts of S.E.A. Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe it. The backcountry of Myanmar was simply jawdropping (both in a good way and bad).

We passed a huge suspension bridge outside of Naypyidaw, and that alone was worth a visit. A man-made suspension bridge amongst the large mountains and lakes will always be a highlight. When we got near to the Capital, our police escort brought us into the city, using the massive 10 lane highways that was just absolutely deserted. That was quite memorable. Somehow, the hotel and the roads reminded me of North Korea. Everything stood out majestically with nobody to use them.

Another 12 hour day for us to complete this almost 400km section.

Day 4 - To Kyakito

Less mountains today, but more distance covered. We took some backroad shortcuts today and landed on a long gravel road that was extremely bumpy for many of us. After finishing a portion and almost reaching our hotel, one of our riders discovered his left panniers missing, which contained lots of money and his passport (yeah, he put it in there). We sat down and figured it was about an hour away and he rushed off.

We contacted our guide (who were behind us) to inform him of the situation. Some villagers found his panniers and forced open the lock, and the community spirit that they had split the contents with whoever seemed to be there. After my friend got to that area, he chanced upon a lady who showed him the money belt (strange?). He managed to convince her to retrieve everything else in the pannier box and the villagers demanded USD800 for the belongings. After much negotiations, he got it down to about $200 and he left the area. The guide and the liaison officer reached the area and contacted the police. They were embarrassed with this ransom and they tried their best to get as much money back as possible, and they did get manage to get back a further half. Looking back at this, I think it was lucky the lady owned up to having the money bag (which contains about $1,000), if she kept that and the passport by keeping silent, it would have been a nightmare to get the rider and bike out of myanmar.

Even after this incident, I still think Myanmar is a safe place to visit (for a group of guys maybe) and that people are honest, hospitable, friendly and forthcoming. Along the way, we met plenty of children and people who waved and attempted to speak to us.

Day 5 - To Myawaddy/Tak Border
Our group split up today due to some navigational error near Hpa An. My group of 3 riders got stuck on a 50km long gravel/offroad section. Our other group didn’t fare much better as they encountered plenty of potholes. Even though we were reaching the border, the roads got worse and worse and many sections were just dirt, potholes and more dirt. Thankfully the roads were pretty much flat aside from one last mountain pass we had to cross. Today’s ride was probably the most punishing for those non-adv bikes. At the last stretch before the border, the roads suddenly because almost perfect, thanks to the Thais that actually built these roads to help the Burmese. The contrast between the Thai and Burmese roads were heaven and hell.

The entire trip, we only came across 2 other biker groups. One group just rode past and another strangely rode up to us, then rode off when we took off our helmets.

Traffic Safety in Myanmar
The first thing that crossed my mind during the first days ride was riding in Myanmar was way easier than riding in Vietnam. The Vietnamese lived by the roadside and many of them cross the road or turn into the main roads without checking for incoming traffic. I have had many close calls almost hitting into day dreaming pedestrians, motorcyclists and cyclists. This prompted me to really watch my speed in Vietnam. The Burmese however seemed to care a lot more about their safety, even though the speeds were still very low. I can’t say the same for the Burmese dogs roaming the streets though, they seemed very unaware of any form of traffic.

- There weren’t many traffic lights outside the city, everyone just paid a little bit more attention to junction crossings.
- In the mountain roads, the truck drivers are very aware of vehicles wanting to pass and are very considerate, and they’ll signal for you to cross when it’s safe, and signal when it’s not safe. However, I still advise taking your own awareness as a priority when wanting to cross.
- Aside from the few black sheep who drive at breakneck speeds, the Burmese are generally decent & considerate drivers (outside the city).
- All manners of vehicles ply the roads, so don’t be surprised at a absolutely slow tractor in your lane.

Fuel, Food, Drink
Octane 91 fuel was available in the small towns, but you have to hunt for the 95 Octane fuel, and usually they only have 1 pump for everyone to share. Water, snacks and drinks are easily purchasable at most shops. The fuel and shops are only found before and after the mountain sections, there isn’t any not he mountain so plan your stops carefully. We never had to worry about running out of fuel. There was enough but not as plentiful as Thailand.

As for food, we usually just hunt for a decent sized restaurant and ordered the one thing we know best : Fried Rice with a Fried Egg. We mix it up sometimes with Fried noodles to give ourselves a little variety. Yes, they have many other dishes, but we didn’t know how to order them and fried rice seemed to pretty delicious if I had to add. It was very tasty and frankly I thought it was better than Thai fried rice. (My friends don’t agree with me on this)

TLDR Summary
Mountains passes have hundreds of technical corners, with sand, dirt, potholes to make things more challenging. Go during the rainy season and the trip will become very difficult. 5D4N crossing from Tachilek to Myawaddy is insufficient and will consists of 12 hour riding days. 7D5N will allow more time to sightsee and ride comfortably. Any motorcycle can tackle the roads with some time and patience, but a mid size bike will be perfect to tackle the highway portions and strong enough to bring you up steep, hairpin inclines.

Who did you use as guide and what was the cost?

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Good reportage!


Your showed how times have changed. My Myanmar expedition in 2007 was far different:


Dr Frazier Rides Through Burma - Motorcycle USA


I did get turned around at a couple of check points ("No Go!"), areas where even today foreigners are kept out, and tourist hotels were sometimes -0-. And no Internet/wifi most places and what was available was seriously government blocked for outside news. Roads were about the same.


These packaged/guided tours are very popular now, with at least 10 out of country tour companies now offering rides over what is called "The Tourist Triangle." An acquaintance of mine markets his motorcycle tour package as "The Adventure Of A Lifetime," which can well be.


I smiled when reading your comparison with Vietnam - after my five rides over there it still remains far different than the neighboring countries - only places with more people "living on the roads" are likely India or Bangladesh.


Good job, recounting your journey.


"Dr. G," Chief of the World Adventure Affairs Desk, CITY BIKE Magazine
Sole Sensual Survivor: The World Motorcycle Adventure Tour and Travel Rally

We used Discovery DMC and we paid USD350 each for 8 riders inc of 1 hotel stay (5D/4N). I have compared the prices for a few companies and Discovery seemed to be one of the more reputable ones, but their prices were the most competitive. Our target was not only the cheapest, but having a reputable guide to get us through.

Loved your article esp the motorcycle stickers and burying the guard in documents!

We had problems in the beginning with the Ministry rejected some of the hotels that we requested to stay in saying these were not allowed for foreigners (strangely I found them all in booking.com). They gave me a list of hotels and we finally agreed on some of the hotels.

Our tour agent offered to rent us a CRF250L in case our bikes broke down for a slightly high price (USD55 per day) but I think this was ok considering it's myanmar.

Myanmar has definitely opened up, we rarely saw another foreigner (only twice) this 5 days in Myanmar.