Anyone here did this, overland, recently, by public transport, independently?

LOIKAW -> TAUNGGYI

TAUNGGYI-> TACHILEIK

Next week I'm off to Burma travelling for the 25th time. To "celebrate" this I really like to do the trip above as it's is one of the very last itineraries I have not done sofar. Travelling to these areas overland and independently was impossible ever since my first visit in Burma ages ago. I have been in Loikaw, Taunggyi and Tachileik [several times] before.

I think LOIKAW to TAUNGGYI shouldn't be much of a problem. Shan state is probably another story..........

My last visit to Burma was last year and Shan state was partly open but getting overland into Tachileik not permitted.

Thank you. SL

Loikaw to Taunggyi should be fine.

However, Taunggyi to Kengtung might be an issue. Apparently permits for travel on this road are now being issued, but you might face a wait of 2 weeks and even then it's not guaranteed. Having said that the only foreigners that have definitely travelled this road overland were the cast and crew of Top Gear, who filmed the Myanmar special last year. Jeremy Clarkson incorrectly mentioned that they were the first foreigners to "cross the Shan". This is somewhat incorrect, but it depends on their definition of "crossing". In terms of an east-west crossing, then yes, not many foreigners before them have made this crossing. However, Mr. Clarkson did not make any mention of the significance of this road, and how it is normally closed - he simply stated that the whole Shan is closed, which is far from true. It depends where you go inside the state, so his vagueness and inaccurate information caused me to take him and the whole of Top Gear less seriously. I would have thought that a production like Top Gear would be able to provide somewhat more accurate information about where they are going as it should be both entertaining and informative.

Getting overland into Tachilek is OK only from Mongla or Kengtung, but to get there from anywhere else in Myanmar, you'd have to fly to Kengtung first. Although Tachilek also has an airport, if you at least want to experience a small amount of overland travel in Shan, at least eastern Shan state, then it's better to fly to Kengtung and go down by bus or taxi from there.

Although it's a bit risky, but you might be able to sneak past any checkpoints and cross between Taunggyi and Kengtung by private car with driver, especially if you hide your face. I wouldn't even think about trying to go by bus unless there are confirmed reports from others suggesting the trip can now be made without a permit. It's still risky of course even going by car, especially without any information about the security situation along the road and apparently the 400-450 odd km stretch can't even be done in a day because the surface is so bad, but based on reports from other parts of Myanmar of foreigners sneaking past checkpoints and no real difficulties, you could take the risk and since you can now exit Myanmar at Tachilek, once you're in Kengtung there won't be any need to backtrack. Also, the Top Gear convoy that went through that road didn't seem to indicate any particular security issues, it's probably simply a case of the road used to be dangerous but for some reason the government hasn't opened it up without a permit yet.

However, be prepared to be turned back in case they don't let you through, in which case you should consider heading down to Myawady to exit Myanmar. Another issue is that I've heard there are no private cars or buses along this route, only military trucks, but again these reports are unverified.

A better place for asking this question or to seek advice would be over on Lonely Planet's Thorntree forum. There seems to be a steady stream of interest on this topic over there, whereas on this forum, which is more Thai centric, many of the poster's don't have the most up-to-date info.

TT forum = always the same self-proclaimed specialists typing from a pc 10.000km away from burma. and too many crotcheteers believing their own illusions

as for kentung and mongla etc: been there several times years ago. no intention to fly either.

TT forum = always the same self-proclaimed specialists typing from a pc 10.000km away from burma. and too many crotcheteers believing their own illusions

There is quite a bit of truth to that, but I have noticed the occasional person who has actually been places and done things that everyone always wonders about and it's those people that are able to provide the most useful information. But first you have to sort through the barrage of rubbish posts before you find these people.

I was in contact with quite a few "well travelled" good-guys for quite some years and we gave eachother golden info. unfortunately, everything changed around 2011-2012 when tourism boosted and the know-it-all started to come: ignorant, loud, totally not asian-friendly people (as in: how to get things done in burma). no matter how fascist Burma used to be (and still is), there were many more options to do the odd off-tourist trip when tourism was small. oh well, end of an era.