Myanmar/Burma

[peter]

Hiya David,
Has anyone "legally" been into Burma with a bike yet?
Thought Mai Sai might be a possibility for a quick blast in... last time we were there the decision was "maybe"... Are the Thai's and burmese getting along these days?
Would sure like to ride in those hills...

peter c.

 

[Dan Blak]

Have you found any info on getting into Burma. I am hoping to get a bike in there this Jan. and possibly out the other side to India.
I have heard there is a tour group that gets in

 

[peter]

Hi Dan, No luck yet... We were at Mae Sot, Three Pagodas pass and Mae Sai last Nov/Dec and the word was no way with the bike, so we did the walk across for the day trip. But things change fast in those areas. I was just hoping for a couple of days near the border or a ride to Moulmein and back.
I have not heard of any tours riding in Burma, but maybe someone else knows of one...
Cheers

peter c.

 

[DavidFL]

Peter & Dan
I dont like your chances of taking a bike into Burma & riding anywhere.
Each time I ask at Tachilek (Mae Sai) the Burmese say no. You can take a vehicle up to the China Border, but not a motorbike. I have asked if I could rent / pay for the car tour up to the China border & I ride my bike with the car following, but the answer is always NO BIKES!
Some guys did a trip many years ago, when relations between the Burmese & Wa / Shans were more amicable, but nowadays I dont think it will be possible for farang for quite a while. For the Burmese the danger is that you might sneak off somewhere & see something you shouldn't see / know about.....
I don't know about any motorcycle tour groups that go into Burma, but there's a lot of bullshit out there and a few guys with sizeable mouths might claim they have been & can go everywhere.
e.g. There's a "newcomer" who claims to have ridden up there (North Burma) a couple of years ago, but in fact they went by car from Mae Sai & then hired some bikes in Kentung to ride around the immediate area, however the story came out that they had ridden in from Mae Sai, not true!
There's another guy advertising a 80 day mega tour riding Thailand - Burma - Thailand - Laos - Vietnam -Laos - Cambodia - Thailand, but I will believe it after it happens, as I dont think it will work; especially without a shake down survey ride to see if it really is possible. (And your expected to pay more than US$6,500 in advance for a tour that they have never actually done? A bit of caution is needed here I think.)

Davidfl
Keep the power on

 

[peter]

Thanks David,
I thought it would be about the same as last time, but it's always worth a try. See you in November...
Cheers, Peter

peter c.

 

[jake]

For 6,500$ you can sit on the back of my bike and I'll take you all the way up to the north pole - but for security/insurance reasons you must wear a blind-fold.
j

 

[pascalfortier]

you must wear a blind-fold

pffffffffffffff ahahahahaha

 

[howwwyyy]

about to ask same question as when i renewed visa in ranong got 2 week stamp off burmese(thought was 1 day)which sugests thais+burmese getin on?go for visit tmoro+will ask(probly say yes+then refuse when i arrive wth bike!)

 

[Hoges]

Howy,

Would be keen to hear how you got on with access to Burma, researching a trip through Burma fom Thailand myself but seems impossible, or is it?

Any info would be good.

(P.s I know policy on taking and not giving info, but really, I know jack shit.)

 

[Globe Rider Greg]

I was in Myanmar last month. From the inside the official word was "No Way" to enter from Thai and go across to India, or the other way. One Italian guy spent a lot to time in Mai Sai getting "Official Permission" to enter, then got stopped about 100 k in where he had to pitch his bike on a truck and fly himself over the Closed Area. Same at the next Closed Area. Foreigners are not allowed to transit these closed areas, although their bikes (like his) can go through on a truck. I really do not read that as riding across Burma, but that was the rumor he had spread.... but he was riding airplanes and his bike riding trucks.
Once I got out of Yangoon (25 miles by truck) I was pretty much free to go where I wanted (Yangoon Area is "closed" to motorcycles).
I wandered down to the shore, only had one passport check. Was on a 250 Honda XR. Out of Mandalay I went east and north, but encountered closed areas further north, and could not push through to Mai Sai.
If you are not worried about time, money and frustration, go ahead and try, but common sense and experience tells me to skip it as an overland effort.
As for "legally" I would say there were probably numerous Brits running around/in/across Burma legally on some of the many BSA's they brought in when they controlled the country. That was probably before anyone really cared about writing about it.
I agree with David re: tours, probably more fishing or speculation than fact. There is one lengthwise bicycle tour that comes down to Yangoon from China, escorted by police on big bikes (older airhead BMWs in the photos I was shown).

Dr. G

 

[MBT]

We contacted a burmese Military guy regarding a one off tour through Burma in 2005 through to Mid 2006. The answer was a straight no however, after more corespondence they returned with the following...

"Providing the tour is a charity and an internationally sponsored event they will allow us to tour from the south to the north (or there abouts)providing we pay for military escort"!

We then put up a Burma tour page on our web site looking for sponsors and decent riders to join. However, we pulled the page from our site as it was about the time the Junta started their freindly little games of burning houses down, poppoing off locals and mortaring villages for sport yet again and we ended up with every man and his dog giving us grief about condoning the Burmese Junta.

The other reason was if we had have managed to pull it off we would have been escorted by the guys that most people in Burma want to see dead which gave us a couple of woriies such as getting caught in a crossfire situation or taken hostage.

Burma is an absolutely amazing country I haven't ridden there but I am sure it's possible once your in although with a few limitations. As far as riding with a group into Burma...Get yourself a decent sponsor like Honda, KTM, Virgin Atlantic then lots of media coverage and tons of cash buy a few bullet proof vests find someone prepared to insure you and go for it. Once you cut through the burmese beurocracy you should be there in 10 years unless they change their mind which is usually the case!!

 

[Globe Rider Greg]

I received the following today:
"As of the end of January, 2007, the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism has issued a new rule saying that no foreigners are allowed to travel by motorcycle regardless of what kind of license the person is holding."
Sad to say but I might have been one of the last foreigners to rent a bike in Myanmar and ride around for a while. This new rule seems to be pretty firm. The question I've been asked is was it to prevent the high-rollers from doing tours with big sponsors, etc. because I did not see any other solo riders, anywhere. I do know that many inquires had been made to the government. This may be the gov'ts way of stopping those too, a way to say a firm "No" and then they do not have to hassle with it. Don't really know, but for the time being the door seems to be pretty well shut.