Asian Overland

 

Joining Day: Your Singapore airport transfer will take you directly to our joining hotel, ready for an early start tomorrow. Today you will meet your crew for your tour briefing and welcome dinner.

Week One: Collecting our bikes in the dynamic city of Singapore we cross into Malaysia, ride north into the Cameron Highlands before visit the wonderful Melaka with is UNESCO Heritage listed old town. We move north to the legendary Penang nicknamed the Pearl of the Orient, Penang is famous for its soft sandy beaches and is regarded as the food capital of Malaysia. We spend two nights in Penang allowing us time to wander the UNESCO listed old town and of course sample its legendary food.

Week Two: We cross into Thailand and visit the amazing karst & mangrove scenery around Krabi. We spend two nights at Railay exploring this fantastic scenery. We visit the amazing Khao Sok Khao a nature reserve containing dense jungle, tower like limestone karst formations and the man-made Cheow Lan Lake. Overnighting at the Elephants Hills resort where we experience an incredible Asian elephant safari.

Week Three: Riding north we spend two nights in Kanchanaburri, home to the famous yet tragic “Bridge over the River Kwai” that formed part of the Burma Railway in WW2. We then cross into recently opened Myanmar, a landscape shimmering pagodas, mighty rivers and epic lakes. We visit the renown Yangon where we spend two nights

Week Four: Turning north we reach the incredible Bagan, compared to Ankor Wat without the crowds! Bagan is a landscape of over 2000 monuments that tower over a green plain. Turning east we visit Kalaw, the mountainous trekking capital of Myanmar before spending two nights at Inle Lake for the quintessential Burmese experience of fisherman on their handmade boats displaying their unique way of fishing. Week five is seen out at Inle Lake

Week Five: Spending our last couple of days in Myanmars remote east, where permits till must be obtained to travel, we cross back into Thailand and ride south, visiting the “long neck” hill tribes enroute to Chiang Rai. We reach the renown highlands city of Chiang Mai renowned for its lush forests and endless valleys and mountain peaks before riding the superb Mae Song Loop, a wonderful mountain escape of terraced hill tribes’ farmlands and endless Twisties.

Week Six: This week we cross into Laos and spend two nights in the French influenced capital of Vientiane, a wonderful leafy town, more than a bustling city, scenically located on the banks of the Mekong. We can wander the old town, enjoy one on the many sidewalk cafes or enjoy a Beerlao watching sunset over the Mekong. Riding due north we spend two nights in one of Asia’s most scenic destination of Vang Vieng, surrounded by limestone mountains and caves.

Week Seven: Continuing north we spend two nights at one of South East Asia most iconic religious sites. Luang Prabang, a wonderful patchwork of traditional Lao wooden houses & Golden-roofed wats. The site is stunningly located at the confluence of the Mekong & Khan Rivers. We cross into China, an immense country of impossibly diverse landscapes and peoples with a storybook history. We start our Chinese adventure riding though picturesque hilltop villages covered in centuries old rice terraces, tea gardens & undulating countryside, it is the quintessential Chinese scene.

Week Eight: We visit the tiny market town of Shaxi, an ancient cultural treasure on the Tea Horse Road, a road of similar importance to that of the Silk Road but far less famous. We visit Lijiang, a maze of cobblestoned streets and canals lined with pagoda’s and vendors, nothing it seems has changed much in centuries. Ascending ever higher into the mountains we visit the renowned Tiger Leaping Gorge before riding into the real Shangri-La a stunning landscape of dense forests, alpine lakes, grasslands, and gorges set amongst meadows and plains. Leaving beautiful Yunnan Province, we cross into Tibet and ride one of the most stunning highways on the entire ride, the Sichuan – Tibet Highway. This route rewards us with utterly stunning high-altitude views of mountains, glacier fed lakes, remote monasteries and alpine visits on what is some of the highest, wildest and remote regions on earth.

Week Nine: Continuing on the epic Sichuan Highway riding amongst the towering mountains, verdant green and glacier fed rivers we arrive into the Tibetan capital of Lhasa where we spend three nights allowing us time to acclimatize. In Lhasa we have the opportunity to visit the remarkable Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple and witness the great pilgrimage around Barkhour. Joining the Friendship Highway, we continue southwest via the stunning Tashilunpo Monastery located in Shigatse. we continue to the world’s highest monastery, Rongphu, where we overnight allowing us the best opportunity to get immense views of the towering Mount Everest. Watching the rays of the day reflect of the snowcapped Everest is an indescribable sight that will remain with you forever, it’s a rare privilege to view the absolute top of the world at sunrise. Leaving Everest Base Camp, we ride north east and see this incredible week out in Gyantse home to the architectural wonder that is 108 chapels of the Gyanste Kumbum

Week Ten: We begin another epic week as we ride further north along the “other” legendary highway into and out of Tibet the Qinghai – Tibet Highway, a roller coaster ride of epic proportions thought a wall of seemingly impenetrable mountain peaks. We visit Namsto Lake, a magnificent turquoise lake surrounded by snowcapped peaks and Buddhist prayer flags before continuing north over a series of 5000mt passes through an epic landscape of prairie, lakes, mountains and desert at an average altitude of 4000mt on the Quinhai – Tibet Highway, the main artery to/from Tibet. The road continues into the province of Quinhai and descends to Golmud. This is a ride we will remember forever for its outstanding mountain views at every turn.

Week Eleven: Descending from the lofty mountains, and leaving Tibet, we visit Chinas largest lake of Qinghai Lake before we reach Xining, a city perched on the edge of the Tibetan plateau. We spend two nights here giving us time visit the nearby Kumbum Monastery, one of the 6 most important monasteries in the Tibetan world, either that or we can recharge our batteries and take in all that we have experienced in Tibet. Continuing on we visit the amazing Maijishan Grottoes that have over a 7000 buddha sculptures and 1000 square meters of murals inside the grottoes, an amazing sight. Seeing the week out we ride into the world renown Xian, home to one of the greatest antiquities on earth, the Terracotta Army

Week Twelve: We spend two nights in Xian giving us time to visit this extraordinary site created by Chinas first dynasty, the Qin Dynasty from 246 to 206BC. This is one of the most extraordinary archeological sites ever discovered after being dug up by famers digging for a well in 1974 after lying hidden buried for 2000 years!! We also visit the ancient Ming Dynasty city walls that encircle numerous backstreets, narrow alleyways and shops. Leaving Xian, we visit the utterly incredible cliff tunnels near, our overnight stop at Guoliangcun. We visit superb Pingyao, Chinas best preserved ancient walled town giving us a real taste of “Old China”. The week comes to a close in Wutaishan, home to the amazing hanging Temples built precariously into a cliff face.

Week Thirteen: Our last week of what has been an utterly amazing adventure we visit Yuxian enroute to Beijing, after experiencing an impossible array of landscapes, cultures and experiences from Singapore to Beijing. We spend three nights in the capital giving us time to visit some of China's most legendary sites such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square to name a few. Our final days riding will see us travel to Tianjin to pack our bikes and prepare for shipping of the bikes home.

Departure day: Spend some time in Tianjin or return to Beijing to fly home, the choice is yours.