Cycle Mandalay

Set off for a fabulous ride through the eastern outskirts of Mandalay, covering around 20-30 kilometres (depending on start point and optional uphill climb) on mostly on flat, sealed roads.  Leaving the city, the roads become quieter and are surrounded by fields dotted with small villages and you’ll pause at a morning market where a range of exotic fruits and vegetables are for sale. Around Yankin Hill, a popular pilgrimage spot for locals, there are plenty of monasteries and temples nearby to stop at and admire, and many cycling locals to greet, too.  At Yeh Dagon Hill, where many Burmese go for meditation retreats, a short 6km loop, with hilly switchbacks, rewards with fabulous views.  From there fields growing sugarcane, sunflowers, beans, and sometimes rice, dominate the landscape, and not far away is a small village making traditional paper fans. After the tour, you then slowly return by bicycle to the city.