Tour Name: Yangon City Cycling Tour, Full day
Tour Code: YGN002F
Tour Length: 68 kilometers (42 miles)
Duration: Around 9-10 hours, of which 5-6 hours cycling
From: 7.30am – 5.00pm
Starts: Downtown Yangon
Ends: Downtown Yangon
Route: Yangon downtown – Dala (ferry) – Python pagoda (rest at teashop) – Twantay (market, potteries, lunch) – crossing Twantay canal by boat – back towards Yangon on the north side of the canal to the River Island and Seik Kyi village – boat over Twantay canal and Yangon river back to Yangon jetty – back to office along Strand road.
Terrain: Mostly flat and on paved roads (incl. short off-road parts), but because of the length and possible heat only recommended for fit cyclists. Most of the tour leads on small and quiet country roads, along with rice fields and through villages – some villages “off the road” before we reach Twantay. Meet your guide at our office (46th street, 10 minutes’ walk from Sule Pagoda), choose your bike and helmet, get a short introduction to the bike (gears …)., and off we go!
After a short 10 minutes cycling through downtown Yangon, we reach to the Pansodan jetty, where we board the big ferry to Dala, across the Yangon River. In Dala, we cycle along the river, along with the market and at the clock tower take the road towards Twantay. After 1 – 1,5 hours easy cycling along paddy fields and through small villages we will reach the Python pagoda, where we will have a rest at a teashop, feed the fish and turtles and visit the snakes, up to 20 pythons inhabit this small pagoda in the middle of an artificial lake!
A beautiful off-road section through bamboo forest follows, on the way we pass through 2 traditional local villages. Back on the road, it’s only another 20 minutes to Twantay, where we will have our lunch at a nice restaurant right at the canal, so bustling life and boat-traffic can be observed during lunch. Then we’ll visit the traditional potteries on the outskirts of town.
Leaving Twantay behind us, we cross the canal on small wooden local boats and continue on the other side slowly back towards Yangon, which will take us roughly 2 -2,5 more hours of easy cycling. At the second half, the skyline of Yangon, incl. Shwedagon Pagoda already comes into sight – and soon we cross the big suspension bridge which leads us to the villages of Kanaungto and Seik Kyi, which never get to see any foreigners.
After a short boat rides back to Yangon, only 15 minutes of cycling along Strand road will lead us back to the office!
What to bring: Sunglasses, sunscreen, sports shoes (no flip-flops), shorts and T-shirt for biking (to visit the pagoda, at least the knees and shoulders should be covered), camera …