12 days by motorbike from Mandalay, the city immortalized in Kipling's poetry, via Inle Lake at 1100 meters altitude to the temple city of Bagan on the hot plains.

From tropical lowlands, over mountain ranges, along rivers and farming communities, where ox carts outnumber cars on the roads. And from here to the Chin state, where tribal people live in the landscape around Mount Victoria, towering 3,053 meters above sea level.

Southwest of Mandalay lies Bagan, the famous 42 km² plain area that is home to more than 3,000 ancient Buddhist temples. As we drove through the area just before sunset, where the distinctive pointed temple towers pop up in the flat plains, the place had an enchanting and almost unreal glow about it.

On the shores of Lake Inles, about 900 meters above sea level, we parked the motorcycles and boarded a long, narrow wooden boat with an outboard motor to explore the area. This 116 km² freshwater lake is surrounded by green, lush mountains. On the lake, the Intha people live in stilt houses and grow everything from tomatoes to oranges in the characteristic floating gardens. The local fishermen practice an acrobatic rowing style here on Lake Inles: they stand up in the boat and row with one leg wrapped around the oar so they have both hands free to lower their fishing lines into the water.

The winding mountain roads in the landscape surrounding Lake Inles are a motorcyclist's paradise.
And since there's not much traffic, you can really go for it in the corners.

The people of Burma are predominantly Buddhist and if you want to experience just one of the country's magnificent shrines, the 98 meter high, gold and jewel-studded Shwedagon Pagoda in the capital Yangon (Rangoon) is the best bet: the shrine towers above the city on a hill called Singuttara and no matter where you are in Yangon, you can always orient yourself in relation to the golden pagoda.

The Shwedagon Pagoda is 2,500 years old and was built as a sarcophagus for a relic, eight hairs of Buddha, who according to myth lived and died in India around the time this pagoda was built.

View of mountain scenery and a Buddhist monastery in Chin state. The area opened for tourism as recently as 2000, but not many tourists have found their way here yet. It's mountainous and populated by tribal people known for their unique face tattoos.

We got here by driving west from the temple town of Bagan, through the lowlands until we hit the mountains, where the roads began to twist and turn and the air became clear and cool. Close by is Mount Victoria, which at 3053 meters is the highest mountain in the Chin State and the highest point on this motorcycle tour.

A Burmese farming family herds cattle and drives an ox cart down the road to Mandalay. Once you get out of the cities and onto the small roads, this is the most used vehicle for the locals, and for long stretches we saw more ox carts than cars.

A local woman smoking a bamboo pipe. She belongs to the hill tribe of the Moon People, who live in eastern Burma. The picture is from a small village where we stopped for lunch. The tradition of face tattoos dates back to the time when the Burmese king could claim to marry his female subjects.

Facial tattoos made these women unattractive to have as part of the fine royal court. Each tribe has its own distinctive patterns and symbols.

This is the "wine cellar" in a stilt house in a village populated by tribal people. The clay jars contain the local brandy, which is made from millet. The jars are sealed with beeswax.

Dirt roads and off-road riding through forests of rhododendron trees on the way up Mount Victoria, which at 3053 meters is the highest point of Chin State and this motorcycle tour.