2 Days Myanmar Cycling Tour from Bagan To Salay

Bagan Cycling To Salay is carefully crafted route takes you along beautiful tree-lined roads and through rolling sandy hills to the charming riverside town of Salay. After an afternoon of exploring, a quiet evening awaits soaking in the tranquil atmosphere of this typical Burmese town. The second day we explore the rarely-visited western bank of the Ayeyarwaddy River, biking through traditional Dry Zone villages. Our boat will then cruise back upriver towards Bagan, letting us off for another section of riding along the riverbank, in the foothills of Than Gyi Taung.

Day 1 : Bagan – Salay ( L , D ) Cycling 55 km

8:00 Am pick up from your hotel and Setting off nice and early from Bagan not only beats the heat, but is in step with the locals who are all up at the crack of dawn. As we pass through the villages surrounding Bagan, giggling schoolkids and ladies carrying large baskets to market for the day’s shopping greet us with curiosity.
A couple of low rolling hills indicate our exit from the Bagan area and we then have around 20km of flat riding parallel to the Ayerawaddy River where we see glimpses of its tea coloured water through the gaps between the palm trees and peanut crops. The route is peaceful with minimal traffic if any and the road is mostly lined with elegant trees. Expressions of surprise and shy smiles await us as we ride through an area not often visited by foreigners.

The day rolls on as we encounter some undulating hills and pass through the Chauk area where we can see the “nodding donkey” oil pumps still laboring away on the horizon. Oil was discovered here by the British in 1902, giving birth to a company called British Petroleum.
A short stop at Ma Tin Win’s noodle shop to wolf down some of her signature specialities and then we push on to pass over a challenging little section of inlined road, then a descent to get back to the river bank and onto our destination, Salay.

This small, sleepy riverside town hides a surprising number of interesting places to visit but for now remains pretty much off the tourism radar. Elegant, although mostly crumbling, Colonial-period houses line the Strand Road on the river bank, some still crowned by the rampant lion emblem of the British Royals. Apparently, the British officials tasked with managing the oilfields at Chauk preferred this smaller town for their base, building these magnificent dwellings. Salay had previously been an ancient satellite town of Old Bagan, with a number of Bagan-era pagodas, dating from the 12C and 13C. It also hosts the largest lacquerware Buddha image in Myanmar, which is said to have washed up from the river after heavy flooding in 1888.

After exploring the town we unpack our bags at the newly-licenced “Community-based tourism” project in a small village just 4km from the riverside.

Day 2 : Salay Back To Bagan By Bike and Boat ( B , L ) – Cycling 30 km

An early rise is highly advisable, in fact almost unavoidable given the habits of your neighbors. After a delicious local breakfast called Mohinga, we are in for a real treat of a ride. Today we are going to use a boat as our support vehicle and luggage conveyance, enabling us to ride the best bits, and skip the less interesting by boat along the river.

We start the adventure crossing the river by ferry. On the other bank we’ll follow a narrow sandy trail leading us from village to village, along the riverbank. Astonishment will almost certainly be the main reaction among the villagers here as they see very few foreigners if any in this area.

When we finally reach a sealed road, we’ll find the bigger town of Seikphyu and have a look around there on our bikes. The atmosphere here is very typical of a Burmese country town with classic bamboo houses under shady rain-trees. From here, we cross the Irrawaddy again on an iron bridge and board the boat. After some time relaxing on deck and enjoying lunch, we have the opportunity for another stretch of riding, this time back on the western bank among the foothills of Taung Gyi Taung. By the end of the afternoon we will be back at Bagan, satisfied and exhilarated from our explorations, concluding at around 5pm . End The Tour.