14 days in Myanmar
Dec 8th, 2016, 01:11 PM
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14 days in Myanmar
I have so much to report! This might take a couple posts to get through. Here's a brief synopsis of our itinerary:
1. Arrive Mandalay. Mandalay Hill.
2. Three-Cities Tour
3. A Glimpse of Mandalay (tour)
4. Boat to Bagan
5. Explore Old Bagan on bike and scooter
6. Explore region on electric scooters
7. Van to Kalaw
8. Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp
9. Train to Inle
10. Inle boat trip
11. Bike ride
12. Plane to Yangon. Shwedagon Pagoda
13. Downtown Yangon.
14. Mingalabar! French-Burmese Festival
This was a much faster pace than I normally follow, though it seemed appropriate for Burma. This felt like a pretty complete trip. We saw and experienced a lot, though by the end I would have liked to have a couple days of doing nothing on a beach.
MANDALAY
Our flight from Bangkok arrived at 1:20 pm, though by the time we got to our hotel and checked in it was late afternoon. There were five of us, all guys in our 50's. We had already spent a few days in Bangkok, so were mostly over our jet lag.
We stayed at Home Hotel, six "blocks" south of the palace moat. That sounds close, and looks close on the map, but blocks in Mandalay are really, really big. The staff were great, breakfasts were solid, and the internet mostly worked. There was a local open-air bar fronting the hotel, and it was a nice place to hang out and have a beer at night. There were also some good restaurants in walking distance. I can't judge how good the location was - I suspect there is no 'good' location per se in Mandalay.
We took a taxi to the Bo Bo Gyi Nat shrine at the base of Mandalay Hill, where the southern stairway up the hill starts. It would have been nice to explore the larger pagodas and monasteries at the base of the hill, but the sun was already low in the sky. The climb up the hill was nice, and we passed through some very sparkly shrines. There were very few people, and no tourists, which was a surprise.
It was a nice view from the top - or what we thought was the top. Somehow we missed the final set of stairs, and on the taxi ride back we passed a pagoda with lots of taxis and lots of westerners.
For dinner we ate at Aye Myit Tar, and had our first taste of real Burmese food. The restaurant was full of locals, which was a good sign, and the menu had English translations, which we really needed. We ordered a couple curries, and the restaurant supplemented these with salads and sides of pickled vegetables and pungent sauces.
I liked Burmese food overall, and loved all the various salads. Ingredients we saw over and over included turmeric, fish sauce, tamarind, chili, pickled green mango, and peanuts. I would avoid Burma if you have nut allergies! Everything had peanuts in it. And a warning about the spice level - if you say you like it spicy they will not automatically tone it down for Westerners (unlike Thailand), and spice levels are all or nothing. If you say you like spicy then everything will be spicy.
One thing I liked about the hotel was that they had a set list of private taxis would be for different combination of sites. We ended up choosing the classic 'Ancient Cities' tour, with some modifications (we didn't want to see the monk feeding, which sounded weird and uncomfortable, while there were some secondary sites we did want to see. Our driver was good, and after each stop he'd ask: where next? Thanks to this forum, I was prepared! Our stops:
- Maha Myat Muni Pagoda (the one with the golden Buddha). This was fascinating, and a good first stop.
- Marble workers' street. We drove through this en route to the Pagoda, and asked if we could go back and walk around. It was interesting to see all the shops carving Buddhas out of marble blocks. This was a working area, not a shopping area, and I liked walking around.
- Some woodworking store. Two of our guys wanted to buy some crafts. Good on them for helping the local economy! I don't recall the name.
- Shwe In Bin Kyaung (teak monastery). This was an absolutely beautiful building. There were very few tourists, and one monk on site. I definitely recommend a stop here,
- Early lunch in Sagaing at Minn Wun Valley. Our driver chose this stop. It was good, and had a nice mix of local and basic western food. It was peaceful when we were there, though when we left a coach arrived with dozens of passengers. I'm glad we were there early!
- U Min Thonze and Soon U Ponya Shin Pagodas, Sagaing Hill. Like Mandalay Hill, these were mostly interesting for the views. I wanted to walk between them, but our driver said it was too far. I don't think this was necessarily true, but given our we have missed the Really Big Obvious Pagoda on Mandalay Hill the night before, there was a good chance that, if we walked on the pathways, we would have ended up in some random place without our driver.
- Our driver asked where next? And suggested Inwa. I'd read enough mixed reviews of Inwa that I wasn't super interested, but we had a couple hours until sunset and none of us were interested in just driving pagoda to pagoda the rest of the day, given that we had already visited three pagodas and one monastery. So Inwa it was.
- I think Inwa could have been a very atmospheric and interesting visit, but the horse cart weren't made for people my size (six feet, 200 pounds). I didn't mind the bumpiness, but I had to crouch hunch and lean over to see anything outside the cart. The ruined sites were certainly photogenic, but not overwhelmingly interesting in their own right and without any historical context provided. I think a mountain bike tour around this area would be great. The horse cart tour is miss-able. On the positive side, nobody was tempted to take another one in Bagan!
- Sunset at U-Bein Bridge. It was crowded on the parts nearest the land, but opened up towards the center.
It was definitely easier having a driver rather than taking taxis for the day.
Some in our group wanted a western meal (already!), so dinner was at Bistro at 82nd. It was high quality food, and there were a few fusion dishes like sea bass in a tea-leaf crust.
There was a street festival in front of the neighborhood pagoda that night. It was an experience. There was a stage with some young performers doing a camp take on traditional dances. The volume was really, really loud. Like standing twenty feet from a jackhammer loud. Some of our group fled. I was fascinated.
We spent our final day with A Glimpse of Mandalay, which is a combination food tour / cooking class / village bike ride.We started the day buying vegetables at the market. Or at least, watching our leader buy vegetables. Then we crossed the street to a tea house and our leader ordered a bunch of dishes for us. There were manapua (Chinese dumplings), these Indian pancakes (parata?), soups, and some sweet things. One odd thing, which we saw a lot, was that the soup would be served with one spoon which everyone at the table would share.
I would have had zero idea what to do here if I had been on my own, so this was a unique experience. The place was packed, and honestly not the cleanest (lots of flies). I've lived in the developing world, so this didn't throw me. More delicate souls might have issues.
Next we drove out to a village just outside Mandalay for the cooking class. We made a lot of food! Vegetable curry, chicken curry, long bean salad, tea leaf salad, rice balls in sugar syrup, and vegetable tempura. One trick I'll use at home is to sprinkle chickpea flour on vegetable salads and massage it in. The flour binds with the loose liquid, and so your vegetables have the flavor of the sauce without a puddle of dressing or juices.
We had an hour nap, then an hour bike ride through the countryside. The bike ride was nice; it was all narrow track dirt roads, and gave us our closest glimpse into rural life that we had all trip. For sunset we drove to Yankin Hill, also outside the city.
It was another long day, and we had a lazy dinner at the bar in front of the hotel. They had a bunch of pork and vegetable combinations on skewers in a case, and would grill up the ones you picked. It was a nice, light meal.
MANDALAY CONCLUSIONS
I'm glad we started here, but I would recommend that people do their research and have a plan of action. Bookmark the sites and restaurants that interest you. It's not the kind of city where you can just wander out and wing it. We talked to visitors who tried, and they didn't have as positive an experience as we did.
I liked traveling north to south, Mandalay to Yangon. Mandalay is an easy introduction to Myanmar. I also like ending my trips in a country's capitol or major city. I find that I understand the city better after I've explored the more rural areas.
I can definitely recommend A Glimpse of Mandalay as a solid, and affordable, day tour. Mandalay Hill isn't spectacular, but it's a pleasant enough diversion. Don't miss U-Bein Bridge at sunset, and I liked our choice of pagodas. In retrospect, I might have opted for a later start (say, 10 am) and done the same day without Inwa.
On to Bagan!
1. Arrive Mandalay. Mandalay Hill.
2. Three-Cities Tour
3. A Glimpse of Mandalay (tour)
4. Boat to Bagan
5. Explore Old Bagan on bike and scooter
6. Explore region on electric scooters
7. Van to Kalaw
8. Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp
9. Train to Inle
10. Inle boat trip
11. Bike ride
12. Plane to Yangon. Shwedagon Pagoda
13. Downtown Yangon.
14. Mingalabar! French-Burmese Festival
This was a much faster pace than I normally follow, though it seemed appropriate for Burma. This felt like a pretty complete trip. We saw and experienced a lot, though by the end I would have liked to have a couple days of doing nothing on a beach.
MANDALAY
Our flight from Bangkok arrived at 1:20 pm, though by the time we got to our hotel and checked in it was late afternoon. There were five of us, all guys in our 50's. We had already spent a few days in Bangkok, so were mostly over our jet lag.
We stayed at Home Hotel, six "blocks" south of the palace moat. That sounds close, and looks close on the map, but blocks in Mandalay are really, really big. The staff were great, breakfasts were solid, and the internet mostly worked. There was a local open-air bar fronting the hotel, and it was a nice place to hang out and have a beer at night. There were also some good restaurants in walking distance. I can't judge how good the location was - I suspect there is no 'good' location per se in Mandalay.
We took a taxi to the Bo Bo Gyi Nat shrine at the base of Mandalay Hill, where the southern stairway up the hill starts. It would have been nice to explore the larger pagodas and monasteries at the base of the hill, but the sun was already low in the sky. The climb up the hill was nice, and we passed through some very sparkly shrines. There were very few people, and no tourists, which was a surprise.
It was a nice view from the top - or what we thought was the top. Somehow we missed the final set of stairs, and on the taxi ride back we passed a pagoda with lots of taxis and lots of westerners.
For dinner we ate at Aye Myit Tar, and had our first taste of real Burmese food. The restaurant was full of locals, which was a good sign, and the menu had English translations, which we really needed. We ordered a couple curries, and the restaurant supplemented these with salads and sides of pickled vegetables and pungent sauces.
I liked Burmese food overall, and loved all the various salads. Ingredients we saw over and over included turmeric, fish sauce, tamarind, chili, pickled green mango, and peanuts. I would avoid Burma if you have nut allergies! Everything had peanuts in it. And a warning about the spice level - if you say you like it spicy they will not automatically tone it down for Westerners (unlike Thailand), and spice levels are all or nothing. If you say you like spicy then everything will be spicy.
One thing I liked about the hotel was that they had a set list of private taxis would be for different combination of sites. We ended up choosing the classic 'Ancient Cities' tour, with some modifications (we didn't want to see the monk feeding, which sounded weird and uncomfortable, while there were some secondary sites we did want to see. Our driver was good, and after each stop he'd ask: where next? Thanks to this forum, I was prepared! Our stops:
- Maha Myat Muni Pagoda (the one with the golden Buddha). This was fascinating, and a good first stop.
- Marble workers' street. We drove through this en route to the Pagoda, and asked if we could go back and walk around. It was interesting to see all the shops carving Buddhas out of marble blocks. This was a working area, not a shopping area, and I liked walking around.
- Some woodworking store. Two of our guys wanted to buy some crafts. Good on them for helping the local economy! I don't recall the name.
- Shwe In Bin Kyaung (teak monastery). This was an absolutely beautiful building. There were very few tourists, and one monk on site. I definitely recommend a stop here,
- Early lunch in Sagaing at Minn Wun Valley. Our driver chose this stop. It was good, and had a nice mix of local and basic western food. It was peaceful when we were there, though when we left a coach arrived with dozens of passengers. I'm glad we were there early!
- U Min Thonze and Soon U Ponya Shin Pagodas, Sagaing Hill. Like Mandalay Hill, these were mostly interesting for the views. I wanted to walk between them, but our driver said it was too far. I don't think this was necessarily true, but given our we have missed the Really Big Obvious Pagoda on Mandalay Hill the night before, there was a good chance that, if we walked on the pathways, we would have ended up in some random place without our driver.
- Our driver asked where next? And suggested Inwa. I'd read enough mixed reviews of Inwa that I wasn't super interested, but we had a couple hours until sunset and none of us were interested in just driving pagoda to pagoda the rest of the day, given that we had already visited three pagodas and one monastery. So Inwa it was.
- I think Inwa could have been a very atmospheric and interesting visit, but the horse cart weren't made for people my size (six feet, 200 pounds). I didn't mind the bumpiness, but I had to crouch hunch and lean over to see anything outside the cart. The ruined sites were certainly photogenic, but not overwhelmingly interesting in their own right and without any historical context provided. I think a mountain bike tour around this area would be great. The horse cart tour is miss-able. On the positive side, nobody was tempted to take another one in Bagan!
- Sunset at U-Bein Bridge. It was crowded on the parts nearest the land, but opened up towards the center.
It was definitely easier having a driver rather than taking taxis for the day.
Some in our group wanted a western meal (already!), so dinner was at Bistro at 82nd. It was high quality food, and there were a few fusion dishes like sea bass in a tea-leaf crust.
There was a street festival in front of the neighborhood pagoda that night. It was an experience. There was a stage with some young performers doing a camp take on traditional dances. The volume was really, really loud. Like standing twenty feet from a jackhammer loud. Some of our group fled. I was fascinated.
We spent our final day with A Glimpse of Mandalay, which is a combination food tour / cooking class / village bike ride.We started the day buying vegetables at the market. Or at least, watching our leader buy vegetables. Then we crossed the street to a tea house and our leader ordered a bunch of dishes for us. There were manapua (Chinese dumplings), these Indian pancakes (parata?), soups, and some sweet things. One odd thing, which we saw a lot, was that the soup would be served with one spoon which everyone at the table would share.
I would have had zero idea what to do here if I had been on my own, so this was a unique experience. The place was packed, and honestly not the cleanest (lots of flies). I've lived in the developing world, so this didn't throw me. More delicate souls might have issues.
Next we drove out to a village just outside Mandalay for the cooking class. We made a lot of food! Vegetable curry, chicken curry, long bean salad, tea leaf salad, rice balls in sugar syrup, and vegetable tempura. One trick I'll use at home is to sprinkle chickpea flour on vegetable salads and massage it in. The flour binds with the loose liquid, and so your vegetables have the flavor of the sauce without a puddle of dressing or juices.
We had an hour nap, then an hour bike ride through the countryside. The bike ride was nice; it was all narrow track dirt roads, and gave us our closest glimpse into rural life that we had all trip. For sunset we drove to Yankin Hill, also outside the city.
It was another long day, and we had a lazy dinner at the bar in front of the hotel. They had a bunch of pork and vegetable combinations on skewers in a case, and would grill up the ones you picked. It was a nice, light meal.
MANDALAY CONCLUSIONS
I'm glad we started here, but I would recommend that people do their research and have a plan of action. Bookmark the sites and restaurants that interest you. It's not the kind of city where you can just wander out and wing it. We talked to visitors who tried, and they didn't have as positive an experience as we did.
I liked traveling north to south, Mandalay to Yangon. Mandalay is an easy introduction to Myanmar. I also like ending my trips in a country's capitol or major city. I find that I understand the city better after I've explored the more rural areas.
I can definitely recommend A Glimpse of Mandalay as a solid, and affordable, day tour. Mandalay Hill isn't spectacular, but it's a pleasant enough diversion. Don't miss U-Bein Bridge at sunset, and I liked our choice of pagodas. In retrospect, I might have opted for a later start (say, 10 am) and done the same day without Inwa.
On to Bagan!
Dec 8th, 2016, 01:32 PM
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The horsecarts at Ava/Inwa were the worst I've experienced. I came home with a partial tear in the vitreous humor (eye). On the other hand, I rode in horsecarts for days at Bagan without problems.
I'm glad you were able to visit the Mahamuni Buddha. Did you notice the Angkorian bronzes? This is a great reminder of how various Buddha statues were taken as the spoils of war. This particular Buddha was stolen from the temple near Maruk U and brought to Mandalay.
You got a quick sample of Bagan and Inle, but there was much you missed. You have to save some things for your next trip!
I'm glad you were able to visit the Mahamuni Buddha. Did you notice the Angkorian bronzes? This is a great reminder of how various Buddha statues were taken as the spoils of war. This particular Buddha was stolen from the temple near Maruk U and brought to Mandalay.
You got a quick sample of Bagan and Inle, but there was much you missed. You have to save some things for your next trip!
Dec 8th, 2016, 04:12 PM
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It's too bad - there were a lot of tourists at Inwa, and potentially a lot of money coming in. A good planner could help the community develop this into a great place.
BAGAN
We took the RV Panorama (Alliance Myanmar River Cruise) to Bagan. This is the newest ship doing the single-day run, and is slightly more expensive than the others. The company was very responsive to email. The ship was comfortable, and the bar was stocked. Breakfast and lunch were basic but good. We stopped at a small village en route, and it was nice to get out and stretch. In the afternoon the crew gave a silly but fun fashion show featuring thanakha and longyi. All in all it was nice, lazy day.
It was dusk by the time we arrived, so no sunset.
We stayed at the Zfreeti Hotel in Nyaung U. It's a nice place, and - as usual - the staff were super pleasant. There was a pool, and I'm glad we had that in the afternoons. There were only two negatives: the wireless was almost useless, and the hotel was cash only. This was surprising at a hotel with $100/night rooms!
I've read the reviews for restaurants ahead of time, and starring the best choices on google maps. I've gotten pretty good at interpreting online reviews, and can usually tell which reviewers match my tastes. Tonight my friends learned why this is a good thing. They wanted to go to an Indian restaurant we walked by that had a beautiful outdoor garden to eat in. The reviews on TripAdvisor mentioned a slow kitchen and small portions. "Online reviews are b.s." they announced, and in we went.
An hour later we still hadn't gotten our food. Then our chapati arrived, and it was the size of a small corn tortilla.
My friends now listen to my restaurant recommendations.
They did not listen to me when I suggested getting up in the dark and watching the sunrise. One guy finally agreed, and we set out at an ungodly hour to walk to a pagoda that should have been a forty minute walk. We walked down Lanmadaw 3 Road (the one nearer the river), and after about half an hour cut off into the sandy paths leading inland. We misjudged the time, and were in the middle of an empty field when the sun came up. It wasn't the classic 'sunrise from a pagoda' experience - I think it was better. It was just us, palm trees, birds, morning mist, and temples.
That day I tried to get the guys to rent electric bikes or scooters, but some insisted on renting single gear bikes. Too bad - the single gear bikes were awful, and the off-road paths were often deep sand and not possible to bike through. We visited the main temple in town, and rode as far as Tharabar Gate before the bikers announced that they were done for the day. Silly people, they should have taken my advice! Two of us were on an e-scooter, and zipped around the rest of the afternoon exploring the off-road paths and plotting a route for the next day. Best temple of the day: Dhammayan Gyi, the largest (I think) in Bagan. Even more than the temple, I was fascinated by the young guys playing chinlone (like volleyball mixed with soccer, using a rattan ball) by the temple walls.
It was two-for-one cocktails at the pool, and we ended up being a bit too buzzed to jump on our bikes for sunset. Dinner was at La Pizza, which had decent pizzas. One of our group really did not seem to be enjoying food, and we ended up at more western-style restaurants than I would have preferred.
The next day the group took my advice and everyone rented electric scooters. It turned out to be the best day of our trip. We got up early for sunrise, picking the smaller Bulethi over the larger, more popular sunrise temples. Even though we arrived in the dark all the best spots were already taken. This temple must be in Lonely Planet, because the crowd was 100% young backpackers. Everybody was in a good mood and joking, and there was plenty of room on the less-prime lower levels. It was a good morning.
I forgot to mention breakfast at Zfreeti - it was excellent. There was an omelette station, basic pastries and fruit, some Asian choices like fried noodles, and mohinga. Turns out I like catfish and noodle soup for breakfast! I had it at every place that offered it.
After breakfast we took our bikes into Old Bagan. The Archaeology Building was in a beautiful building, and had some interesting displays. Like many things in Burma, I suspect that the museum had amazing potential, but that it needed some work to realize it's potential. It's a good, air-conditioned stop. We also visited Shwesandaw, which is one of the large pagodas popular for sunrise / sunset. It was almost empty at midday, and we had amazing views from the fifth terrace - which was the tallest temple that was still open for climbing.
Post pool break (sans drinks) two of us headed out for sunset. The other two decided that they had 'already seen Bagan." Again, silly people. Our goal was Pyathagyi Pagoda, which a security guard had recommended to us. It wasn't in any of our books, in English or French, so we were sure that this was a spot only insiders knew about. All the maps showed a road leading to the Pagoda leading off the main Nyaung U - New Bagan Road, and it looked shorter than using the roads we'd been on.
It wasn't shorter. Our short cut, when we found it, turned out to be a narrow rutted path with lots of unmarked intersections. And cows. It was a fun adventure, but I'm glad we had charged up our bikes. When we finally got to the temple we discovered that it was not a secret at all. There were tons of people there, mostly Burmese tourists. We were dismayed at first, but it turned out to be a fantastic evening. Definitely mark this temple down if you are visiting Bagan! Just don't tell other tourists : )
I could have easily spent a few more days in Bagan. After awhile the temples and Buddhas start to look the same, but the act of exploring was fun. Some of our group felt that they had seen enough and were ready to move on.
The food in Bagan was good overall, but we didn't find any must-do restaurants.
Next stop: Kalaw
BAGAN
We took the RV Panorama (Alliance Myanmar River Cruise) to Bagan. This is the newest ship doing the single-day run, and is slightly more expensive than the others. The company was very responsive to email. The ship was comfortable, and the bar was stocked. Breakfast and lunch were basic but good. We stopped at a small village en route, and it was nice to get out and stretch. In the afternoon the crew gave a silly but fun fashion show featuring thanakha and longyi. All in all it was nice, lazy day.
It was dusk by the time we arrived, so no sunset.
We stayed at the Zfreeti Hotel in Nyaung U. It's a nice place, and - as usual - the staff were super pleasant. There was a pool, and I'm glad we had that in the afternoons. There were only two negatives: the wireless was almost useless, and the hotel was cash only. This was surprising at a hotel with $100/night rooms!
I've read the reviews for restaurants ahead of time, and starring the best choices on google maps. I've gotten pretty good at interpreting online reviews, and can usually tell which reviewers match my tastes. Tonight my friends learned why this is a good thing. They wanted to go to an Indian restaurant we walked by that had a beautiful outdoor garden to eat in. The reviews on TripAdvisor mentioned a slow kitchen and small portions. "Online reviews are b.s." they announced, and in we went.
An hour later we still hadn't gotten our food. Then our chapati arrived, and it was the size of a small corn tortilla.
My friends now listen to my restaurant recommendations.
They did not listen to me when I suggested getting up in the dark and watching the sunrise. One guy finally agreed, and we set out at an ungodly hour to walk to a pagoda that should have been a forty minute walk. We walked down Lanmadaw 3 Road (the one nearer the river), and after about half an hour cut off into the sandy paths leading inland. We misjudged the time, and were in the middle of an empty field when the sun came up. It wasn't the classic 'sunrise from a pagoda' experience - I think it was better. It was just us, palm trees, birds, morning mist, and temples.
That day I tried to get the guys to rent electric bikes or scooters, but some insisted on renting single gear bikes. Too bad - the single gear bikes were awful, and the off-road paths were often deep sand and not possible to bike through. We visited the main temple in town, and rode as far as Tharabar Gate before the bikers announced that they were done for the day. Silly people, they should have taken my advice! Two of us were on an e-scooter, and zipped around the rest of the afternoon exploring the off-road paths and plotting a route for the next day. Best temple of the day: Dhammayan Gyi, the largest (I think) in Bagan. Even more than the temple, I was fascinated by the young guys playing chinlone (like volleyball mixed with soccer, using a rattan ball) by the temple walls.
It was two-for-one cocktails at the pool, and we ended up being a bit too buzzed to jump on our bikes for sunset. Dinner was at La Pizza, which had decent pizzas. One of our group really did not seem to be enjoying food, and we ended up at more western-style restaurants than I would have preferred.
The next day the group took my advice and everyone rented electric scooters. It turned out to be the best day of our trip. We got up early for sunrise, picking the smaller Bulethi over the larger, more popular sunrise temples. Even though we arrived in the dark all the best spots were already taken. This temple must be in Lonely Planet, because the crowd was 100% young backpackers. Everybody was in a good mood and joking, and there was plenty of room on the less-prime lower levels. It was a good morning.
I forgot to mention breakfast at Zfreeti - it was excellent. There was an omelette station, basic pastries and fruit, some Asian choices like fried noodles, and mohinga. Turns out I like catfish and noodle soup for breakfast! I had it at every place that offered it.
After breakfast we took our bikes into Old Bagan. The Archaeology Building was in a beautiful building, and had some interesting displays. Like many things in Burma, I suspect that the museum had amazing potential, but that it needed some work to realize it's potential. It's a good, air-conditioned stop. We also visited Shwesandaw, which is one of the large pagodas popular for sunrise / sunset. It was almost empty at midday, and we had amazing views from the fifth terrace - which was the tallest temple that was still open for climbing.
Post pool break (sans drinks) two of us headed out for sunset. The other two decided that they had 'already seen Bagan." Again, silly people. Our goal was Pyathagyi Pagoda, which a security guard had recommended to us. It wasn't in any of our books, in English or French, so we were sure that this was a spot only insiders knew about. All the maps showed a road leading to the Pagoda leading off the main Nyaung U - New Bagan Road, and it looked shorter than using the roads we'd been on.
It wasn't shorter. Our short cut, when we found it, turned out to be a narrow rutted path with lots of unmarked intersections. And cows. It was a fun adventure, but I'm glad we had charged up our bikes. When we finally got to the temple we discovered that it was not a secret at all. There were tons of people there, mostly Burmese tourists. We were dismayed at first, but it turned out to be a fantastic evening. Definitely mark this temple down if you are visiting Bagan! Just don't tell other tourists : )
I could have easily spent a few more days in Bagan. After awhile the temples and Buddhas start to look the same, but the act of exploring was fun. Some of our group felt that they had seen enough and were ready to move on.
The food in Bagan was good overall, but we didn't find any must-do restaurants.
Next stop: Kalaw
Dec 8th, 2016, 04:33 PM
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KALAW
We arranged a van to take us to Kalaw, about a six or seven hour drive. We stopped en route at a toddy plantation chosen by our driver, had lunch at a forgettable Chinese restaurant in Meiktila, and a final pit stop at a tea house in the hills. We opted out of a side trip to Mt. Popa.
The drive was scenic, if tiring. Some people like long drives. I'm not a fan, especially once we entered the winding mountain roads in Shan State.
We stayed at Thitaw Lay House, a guesthouse run by a Belgian/Burmese husband/wife team. It was the only locally-owned bed-and-breakfast place we stayed. Every other hotel seemed to be investment properties, and we never met the owners. I think b&b's bring you closer to the local culture, and help more money stay in a community, so hopefully more open in Myanmar as the country opens up.
Anyways, Thitaw Lay was a great choice. Breakfasts were homemade and awesome, the owner had good advice for what to do in Kalaw and the region, and the house was set in a nice garden.
We were in Kalaw to visit the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp. I had done a lot of research prior to our visit, and the Camp seems to be non-exploitative, and run for the benefit of both the elephants and the local community. We were divided into small groups, and hand fed the elderly elephant. Later we went to the river and bathed her, scrubbing her down with acacia bark.
The second day we went down to the five-day market being held in Kalaw. It was a standard rural Asian market, so worth visiting if you're in town but maybe not worth a detour just to visit.
That afternoon we took the train into Inle. I've read mixed reviews about the train, but I enjoyed the ride. A tour group took over the upper class car, so our crew and a few other visitors were sent back to the 'other' upper-class car. I guess this one was for locals? It was a bit more beat up than the other, but only half full and thus a much more pleasant ride. We left the mountain quickly, and most of the view was of agricultural lands. Everything was green and lush; I hope that means they had good rains earlier in the season.
And that's it for Kalaw. It would have been nice to have a second day to do some hiking, but only half of our group was interested in that. There's not much to do other than hiking and visiting the elephant camp, and the restaurants we tried weren't as good as in other places. It had the best guesthouse, though!
We arranged a van to take us to Kalaw, about a six or seven hour drive. We stopped en route at a toddy plantation chosen by our driver, had lunch at a forgettable Chinese restaurant in Meiktila, and a final pit stop at a tea house in the hills. We opted out of a side trip to Mt. Popa.
The drive was scenic, if tiring. Some people like long drives. I'm not a fan, especially once we entered the winding mountain roads in Shan State.
We stayed at Thitaw Lay House, a guesthouse run by a Belgian/Burmese husband/wife team. It was the only locally-owned bed-and-breakfast place we stayed. Every other hotel seemed to be investment properties, and we never met the owners. I think b&b's bring you closer to the local culture, and help more money stay in a community, so hopefully more open in Myanmar as the country opens up.
Anyways, Thitaw Lay was a great choice. Breakfasts were homemade and awesome, the owner had good advice for what to do in Kalaw and the region, and the house was set in a nice garden.
We were in Kalaw to visit the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp. I had done a lot of research prior to our visit, and the Camp seems to be non-exploitative, and run for the benefit of both the elephants and the local community. We were divided into small groups, and hand fed the elderly elephant. Later we went to the river and bathed her, scrubbing her down with acacia bark.
The second day we went down to the five-day market being held in Kalaw. It was a standard rural Asian market, so worth visiting if you're in town but maybe not worth a detour just to visit.
That afternoon we took the train into Inle. I've read mixed reviews about the train, but I enjoyed the ride. A tour group took over the upper class car, so our crew and a few other visitors were sent back to the 'other' upper-class car. I guess this one was for locals? It was a bit more beat up than the other, but only half full and thus a much more pleasant ride. We left the mountain quickly, and most of the view was of agricultural lands. Everything was green and lush; I hope that means they had good rains earlier in the season.
And that's it for Kalaw. It would have been nice to have a second day to do some hiking, but only half of our group was interested in that. There's not much to do other than hiking and visiting the elephant camp, and the restaurants we tried weren't as good as in other places. It had the best guesthouse, though!
Dec 8th, 2016, 05:21 PM
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NYAUNG SHWE (INLE LAKE)
Definitely my favorite of the 'big four' places in Myanmar. We had the best food by far, the town itself was just large enough, and the region had the best variety of things to do. I've seen people ask if it's too touristy. At least in November I can say that it is not. There are some backpackers and tour groups, for sure, but overall it's a bustling local town. We saw lots of newer looking hotels, but most seemed empty.
We stayed at Thanakha Inle, which was across the canal and a short five-minute walk to town. It was a bit of a splurge, but in a great location on the canal with a beautiful albeit underused rooftop bar and a nice indoor/outdoor restaurant.
On our first day we did a boat trip around the lake. I made a written list of the sites we wanted to visit, including Indein Village. Most of our sites were in the southern part of the lake, and I'd highly recommend this part. We saw a lot of fishermen posing for tourist photos in the north of the lake. We saw a lot of actual fishermen in the southern part.
The hotel staff said we had plenty of time to do everything on our list, as well as a few workshops if interested. Sure, I naively said.
Here are our stops. The starred ones were our choices, the dashed ones our boat drivers additions. We left about 10:30 am, with the goal of staying out until sunset.
- Silver workshop. This was interesting. None of us bought anything.
- Kayah workshop and store. This was a small craft shop staffed by women with the brass coils on their necks, legs, and arms. I couldn't tell if it was exploitative or not. We were encouraged to take photos, but not pressured to buy anything.
* Lunch at Inle Heritage House. This was the most southern of our chosen stops. The House offers local Inthar cuisine, and it was excellent. They also operate a Cat Sanctuary that is re-introducing indigenous Burmese cats to the area. I loved the Burmese cats - they're like nicer versions of Siamese cats. Highly recommended.
- Weaving workshop. They had exhibitions on weaving with lotus fibers, silk, and other textiles. By this point I was done with the workshops, but my friends all bought things here.
(*) Our driver said Indein was next, but that it was still 30-45" away and we would just have time to ride through the village without stopping. I was more interested in getting out and walking around, so we suggested skipping in and moving on with our itinerary. That got a big smile from our guide; I guess we made the right choice by him.
* Alodaw Pauk Pagoda. A nice pagoda on the water. We were the only tourists.
* Phaung Daw U Pagoda. This is the center for one of the big festivals, and was an interesting stop. There were a lot more people, both tourists and locals.
- Floating gardens. This was an interesting ride.
* Nga Phe Kyaung monastery. Beautiful and atmospheric. Formerly the 'jumping cat' monastery.
* Sunset. So pretty.
This turned out to be a great day, even without Indein. We could have fit it in if we left at 8 am, but ugh. I'm glad we didn't.
Yikes - I have things that I have to deal with! I might not get to the rest of the report until Monday. Stay tuned.
Definitely my favorite of the 'big four' places in Myanmar. We had the best food by far, the town itself was just large enough, and the region had the best variety of things to do. I've seen people ask if it's too touristy. At least in November I can say that it is not. There are some backpackers and tour groups, for sure, but overall it's a bustling local town. We saw lots of newer looking hotels, but most seemed empty.
We stayed at Thanakha Inle, which was across the canal and a short five-minute walk to town. It was a bit of a splurge, but in a great location on the canal with a beautiful albeit underused rooftop bar and a nice indoor/outdoor restaurant.
On our first day we did a boat trip around the lake. I made a written list of the sites we wanted to visit, including Indein Village. Most of our sites were in the southern part of the lake, and I'd highly recommend this part. We saw a lot of fishermen posing for tourist photos in the north of the lake. We saw a lot of actual fishermen in the southern part.
The hotel staff said we had plenty of time to do everything on our list, as well as a few workshops if interested. Sure, I naively said.
Here are our stops. The starred ones were our choices, the dashed ones our boat drivers additions. We left about 10:30 am, with the goal of staying out until sunset.
- Silver workshop. This was interesting. None of us bought anything.
- Kayah workshop and store. This was a small craft shop staffed by women with the brass coils on their necks, legs, and arms. I couldn't tell if it was exploitative or not. We were encouraged to take photos, but not pressured to buy anything.
* Lunch at Inle Heritage House. This was the most southern of our chosen stops. The House offers local Inthar cuisine, and it was excellent. They also operate a Cat Sanctuary that is re-introducing indigenous Burmese cats to the area. I loved the Burmese cats - they're like nicer versions of Siamese cats. Highly recommended.
- Weaving workshop. They had exhibitions on weaving with lotus fibers, silk, and other textiles. By this point I was done with the workshops, but my friends all bought things here.
(*) Our driver said Indein was next, but that it was still 30-45" away and we would just have time to ride through the village without stopping. I was more interested in getting out and walking around, so we suggested skipping in and moving on with our itinerary. That got a big smile from our guide; I guess we made the right choice by him.
* Alodaw Pauk Pagoda. A nice pagoda on the water. We were the only tourists.
* Phaung Daw U Pagoda. This is the center for one of the big festivals, and was an interesting stop. There were a lot more people, both tourists and locals.
- Floating gardens. This was an interesting ride.
* Nga Phe Kyaung monastery. Beautiful and atmospheric. Formerly the 'jumping cat' monastery.
* Sunset. So pretty.
This turned out to be a great day, even without Indein. We could have fit it in if we left at 8 am, but ugh. I'm glad we didn't.
Yikes - I have things that I have to deal with! I might not get to the rest of the report until Monday. Stay tuned.
Dec 8th, 2016, 06:51 PM
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It sounds like you didn't get to the Southern part of the lake at all - Sankar, in the lands of the Pa-O peoples. So since you enjoyed the more touristed part of the lake, you'll have to return to see the less touristed part, Sankar, in particular.
There are many things in Burma (and elsewhere in SE Asia) that mean you need to get out at dawn - sunrise over Bagan, Inle Lake are just examples. Being out on the Lake as the sun rises is magical. You talk about getting out at 8 am, but we were out at 6 am. We encountered almost no other visitors and were able to see a lot in a day. It never occurs to me to tell people they need to get up at dawn to see these places, but you remind me that lots of people don't realize that.
You did get a great introduction to the country.
PS Any place you see the women with brass coils, they are being exploited.
There are many things in Burma (and elsewhere in SE Asia) that mean you need to get out at dawn - sunrise over Bagan, Inle Lake are just examples. Being out on the Lake as the sun rises is magical. You talk about getting out at 8 am, but we were out at 6 am. We encountered almost no other visitors and were able to see a lot in a day. It never occurs to me to tell people they need to get up at dawn to see these places, but you remind me that lots of people don't realize that.
You did get a great introduction to the country.
PS Any place you see the women with brass coils, they are being exploited.
Dec 9th, 2016, 11:37 AM
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The train wasn't 'brave' at all! It was only four hours from Kalaw to Shwe Nyaung, and then a short taxi ride to Nyaung Shwe. I actually preferred this to the van trip we took - but I don't like being cooped up in cars or vans for long periods.
I did almost all (ok, 100%) of the planning for this trip, which was fine. I really enjoy planning adventures. One of the challenges, though, is that it can be hard to convince friends that "we really do want to wake up in the dark again, trust me on this, or at least, trust the people I chatted with online."
Or, alternately: "No that hot spring is not like the one in Calistoga, I can show you the reviews online. Really, I think you should read some reviews before you spend $20 for the luxury pass."
For the most part, my friends trusted me when I'd tell them that a particular site or activity was unmissable - but they balked at all the early mornings!
Between travel blogs and forums like Fodors, there's so much good information online these days. Even sites like TripAdvisor are super useful once you learn how to spot the fake reviews and weed out the silly reviewers.
On to the report:
I did almost all (ok, 100%) of the planning for this trip, which was fine. I really enjoy planning adventures. One of the challenges, though, is that it can be hard to convince friends that "we really do want to wake up in the dark again, trust me on this, or at least, trust the people I chatted with online."
Or, alternately: "No that hot spring is not like the one in Calistoga, I can show you the reviews online. Really, I think you should read some reviews before you spend $20 for the luxury pass."
For the most part, my friends trusted me when I'd tell them that a particular site or activity was unmissable - but they balked at all the early mornings!
Between travel blogs and forums like Fodors, there's so much good information online these days. Even sites like TripAdvisor are super useful once you learn how to spot the fake reviews and weed out the silly reviewers.
On to the report:
Dec 9th, 2016, 12:18 PM
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INLE PART 2
On our second night we sought out Paw Paw Restaurant. It's only six months old, so there wasn't a lot of information online. The little bit that I read, though, convinced me that I would like it.
It turned out to be my favorite meal of the trip, in part because we got to meet the family that runs the restaurant. I seek out small family-owned restaurants when I travel, but I noticed in Myanmar that a lot of them were overwhelmed by the amount of business they were getting. Paw Paw had a small menu; the chef/owner Zizi said she only offered food she knew how to make, the kind of food she would serve her friends, rather than trying to imitate the big hotel restaurants.
I think this is the key: I've worked in small restaurants that try to offer everything to everyone, and it's stressful.
On to Paw Paw: it's the front of the family's house, and you take your shoes off to enter. Zizi's 80-year old mom acts as hostess, taking orders and chatting with the visitors. Zizi's story is that her mom was becoming increasingly dependent on her, and unable to to leave her side. She quit her job in Yangon, moved to Nyaung Shwe, and opened the restaurant as a way where she could both earn a living, keep her mom close, and also keep her mom active and involved.
So it was a great meal, but also a great story.
The next day we did a bike trip around Lake Inle. I was envisioning a bike ride through rural villages, a longer version of what we did outside Mandalay. Instead, it was a bike along one very bumpy and busy road, then longer rides along tarmac roads. We stopped to climb to a hilltop pagoda for views of the countryside, ate snacks at roadside cafe, hired a boat to cross the lake (easy to do ... the kids in the village you pass through wave you down and point you to the village pier), ate at Bamboo Hut, and went to the Red Mountain Estate Winery for a wine tasting and sunset views.
Bamboo Hut was also a family restaurant, on a dirt road about 500 meters off the main road. We arrived at 2 pm for a late lunch, and it was still full. I could tell that the girl working was tired but doing her best, and I imagine the cook must have been exhausted! Food and drink, even water, took a long time to come out, but it was excellent when it did. The restaurant gets a lot of reviews online, but only has six or seven small tables. I would imagine that there must be a long wait for tables during peak lunch hours.
The winery was very popular with tourists - there were far more than we had been around at any point during out trip so far. The wine itself was awful. There was a late harvest that was sweet but drinkable, but I couldn't even finish the reds. My friends had no problem finishing their tasting flights and ordering more, so I'm in the minority here.
That night a few of us went to One Owl Grill, which definitely caters to the backpacker crowd. The food was a mix of local and Eastern Mediterranean offerings (kibbeh, hummus, kebabs, etc). It was really good; I would hang out here if we had a place like this in my neighborhood.
That was it for Inle. It wasn't close to being overrun with tourists, though maybe that changes later in the season. I felt like there was a lot more to see and do in the region, and it was the first place where I felt like I could hang out for a longer period. It's not yet a "backpackers' town" like you see in other parts of SE Asia, but I would bet that it will be soon.
On our second night we sought out Paw Paw Restaurant. It's only six months old, so there wasn't a lot of information online. The little bit that I read, though, convinced me that I would like it.
It turned out to be my favorite meal of the trip, in part because we got to meet the family that runs the restaurant. I seek out small family-owned restaurants when I travel, but I noticed in Myanmar that a lot of them were overwhelmed by the amount of business they were getting. Paw Paw had a small menu; the chef/owner Zizi said she only offered food she knew how to make, the kind of food she would serve her friends, rather than trying to imitate the big hotel restaurants.
I think this is the key: I've worked in small restaurants that try to offer everything to everyone, and it's stressful.
On to Paw Paw: it's the front of the family's house, and you take your shoes off to enter. Zizi's 80-year old mom acts as hostess, taking orders and chatting with the visitors. Zizi's story is that her mom was becoming increasingly dependent on her, and unable to to leave her side. She quit her job in Yangon, moved to Nyaung Shwe, and opened the restaurant as a way where she could both earn a living, keep her mom close, and also keep her mom active and involved.
So it was a great meal, but also a great story.
The next day we did a bike trip around Lake Inle. I was envisioning a bike ride through rural villages, a longer version of what we did outside Mandalay. Instead, it was a bike along one very bumpy and busy road, then longer rides along tarmac roads. We stopped to climb to a hilltop pagoda for views of the countryside, ate snacks at roadside cafe, hired a boat to cross the lake (easy to do ... the kids in the village you pass through wave you down and point you to the village pier), ate at Bamboo Hut, and went to the Red Mountain Estate Winery for a wine tasting and sunset views.
Bamboo Hut was also a family restaurant, on a dirt road about 500 meters off the main road. We arrived at 2 pm for a late lunch, and it was still full. I could tell that the girl working was tired but doing her best, and I imagine the cook must have been exhausted! Food and drink, even water, took a long time to come out, but it was excellent when it did. The restaurant gets a lot of reviews online, but only has six or seven small tables. I would imagine that there must be a long wait for tables during peak lunch hours.
The winery was very popular with tourists - there were far more than we had been around at any point during out trip so far. The wine itself was awful. There was a late harvest that was sweet but drinkable, but I couldn't even finish the reds. My friends had no problem finishing their tasting flights and ordering more, so I'm in the minority here.
That night a few of us went to One Owl Grill, which definitely caters to the backpacker crowd. The food was a mix of local and Eastern Mediterranean offerings (kibbeh, hummus, kebabs, etc). It was really good; I would hang out here if we had a place like this in my neighborhood.
That was it for Inle. It wasn't close to being overrun with tourists, though maybe that changes later in the season. I felt like there was a lot more to see and do in the region, and it was the first place where I felt like I could hang out for a longer period. It's not yet a "backpackers' town" like you see in other parts of SE Asia, but I would bet that it will be soon.
Dec 9th, 2016, 01:21 PM
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YANGON
And finally, Yangon. We flew from Heho on Air KBZ without incident.
We stayed at Home Hotel, which is in the middle of the sprawling market area outside the Eastern Gate of Shwedagon Pagoda. Depending on your view, this is either an excellent or horrible location. I loved walking outside and being immediately immersed in a market street. Every bit of sidewalk was occupied by a vendor or cafe. However, I noticed that most of the people in our hotel would go straight from the lobby to their taxi without actually venturing into the street.
I have mixed feelings about the hotel overall. Staff were uniformly nice and helpful. Breakfasts were a bit tragic. There was a rooftop bar area, but with an odd design. Tables were spaced very far apart, so it was not a place to mingle or meet other travelers. The actual bar and kitchen were downstairs, so even ordering a beer would take a long time. It was open during the day, but there was no shade and so not a place to hang out or take a break. I really missed having a place besides my room to just take a break and relax.
We visited Shwedagon in the later afternoon, and at sunset. It was stunning. I'm glad we saved this until the end. It's huge, and far more stunning than any other individual temple we saw. It was all gold and marble and jewels and shifting light patterns. They were also stricter about the dress code, so the tank top and shorts crowd were absent.
Lunch was at Jana Mon Ethnic, which specializes in Mon cuisine. I tried some new dishes - prawns cooked with wild mangosteen, and chicken with pickled green mango - which were delicious and different than the Burmese and Shan cuisine of most local restaurants.
Our first full day we took a taxi to Sule Pagoda, where we met out first and only con artists of the trip. They were nice enough, but I didn't believe a word about the orphanage they were collecting money for.
Yangon was far more exciting and vibrant than Mandalay. That said, I was kind of ready for a break at this point, and was envious of the other travelers we met who were heading to the beach - and I hardly ever go to the beach. Part of this was our traveling pace. It was time for a few days of doing nothing.
On our last night we went to Maha Bandoola Park for the Mingalabar! Festival organized by the Institut Français de Birmanie. It was great - there were both French and Burmese music groups, giant bamboo puppets, and a light show broadcast on City Hall. There was even a beer garden with no lines!!!
The festival was also the only time where we were part of the event rather than observing the event. As in, I felt like I was just one of the guys enjoying a good night out. In comparison, at the Mandalay pagoda festival I was an observer - I wasn't squatting in the circle playing games of chance hoping to win a few hundred kyat, or watching a live show in rapt silence.
In some ways, at first impression, Yangon is 'just another Asian city' (I heard this a lot). I think there are exciting things to discover here, but it would take time. Just walking around the crowded streets during the day I would think: I have had this same exact day in a dozen other cities.
Still, though, the festival was the perfect end to our trip.
We still had one dinner to go, and chose Min Lan, which specialized in seafood in Rakhine. There are three locations in Yangon, and it appears to be extremely popular with locals. There were zero other tourists there the night we went, but the restaurant was packed with Burmese. And the food was excellent - we ate lots of squid and prawns and fish, spiced up with lots of lemon grass and chiles.
And that's a wrap. Final impressions coming up.
And finally, Yangon. We flew from Heho on Air KBZ without incident.
We stayed at Home Hotel, which is in the middle of the sprawling market area outside the Eastern Gate of Shwedagon Pagoda. Depending on your view, this is either an excellent or horrible location. I loved walking outside and being immediately immersed in a market street. Every bit of sidewalk was occupied by a vendor or cafe. However, I noticed that most of the people in our hotel would go straight from the lobby to their taxi without actually venturing into the street.
I have mixed feelings about the hotel overall. Staff were uniformly nice and helpful. Breakfasts were a bit tragic. There was a rooftop bar area, but with an odd design. Tables were spaced very far apart, so it was not a place to mingle or meet other travelers. The actual bar and kitchen were downstairs, so even ordering a beer would take a long time. It was open during the day, but there was no shade and so not a place to hang out or take a break. I really missed having a place besides my room to just take a break and relax.
We visited Shwedagon in the later afternoon, and at sunset. It was stunning. I'm glad we saved this until the end. It's huge, and far more stunning than any other individual temple we saw. It was all gold and marble and jewels and shifting light patterns. They were also stricter about the dress code, so the tank top and shorts crowd were absent.
Lunch was at Jana Mon Ethnic, which specializes in Mon cuisine. I tried some new dishes - prawns cooked with wild mangosteen, and chicken with pickled green mango - which were delicious and different than the Burmese and Shan cuisine of most local restaurants.
Our first full day we took a taxi to Sule Pagoda, where we met out first and only con artists of the trip. They were nice enough, but I didn't believe a word about the orphanage they were collecting money for.
Yangon was far more exciting and vibrant than Mandalay. That said, I was kind of ready for a break at this point, and was envious of the other travelers we met who were heading to the beach - and I hardly ever go to the beach. Part of this was our traveling pace. It was time for a few days of doing nothing.
On our last night we went to Maha Bandoola Park for the Mingalabar! Festival organized by the Institut Français de Birmanie. It was great - there were both French and Burmese music groups, giant bamboo puppets, and a light show broadcast on City Hall. There was even a beer garden with no lines!!!
The festival was also the only time where we were part of the event rather than observing the event. As in, I felt like I was just one of the guys enjoying a good night out. In comparison, at the Mandalay pagoda festival I was an observer - I wasn't squatting in the circle playing games of chance hoping to win a few hundred kyat, or watching a live show in rapt silence.
In some ways, at first impression, Yangon is 'just another Asian city' (I heard this a lot). I think there are exciting things to discover here, but it would take time. Just walking around the crowded streets during the day I would think: I have had this same exact day in a dozen other cities.
Still, though, the festival was the perfect end to our trip.
We still had one dinner to go, and chose Min Lan, which specialized in seafood in Rakhine. There are three locations in Yangon, and it appears to be extremely popular with locals. There were zero other tourists there the night we went, but the restaurant was packed with Burmese. And the food was excellent - we ate lots of squid and prawns and fish, spiced up with lots of lemon grass and chiles.
And that's a wrap. Final impressions coming up.
Dec 9th, 2016, 03:38 PM
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FINAL IMPRESSIONS
OUR ITINERARY - I liked the one we followed. The pace was somewhat faster than I'm used to, but in return we got a good introduction to the diversity of Myanmar. I met people who were doing night buses and would hit the ground running first thing in the morning and checking off everything on their list. That's possible, but I personally wouldn't enjoy. As my friend said, "It's a vacation, not a death march."
The main option I would ponder would be whether to skip Kalaw and add in some beach time. Nga Pali looks beautiful but I heard it was too much of a big resort town. I'd look at other options.
The only thing I'd skip was the bike ride around Inle. It would have been nicer to just concentrate on the eastern side of the lake and done more exploring.
I would have liked a day of hiking in the mountains, but that wasn't an option for the rest of our group.
I met a French group who had done a five day driving/hiking tour of some remote tribal areas. This sounded incredible, and if I had a third week I would have done this. On my own, probably; my friends would not have enjoyed this.
BURMESE LANGUAGE - I like languages a lot, and put in close to 100 hours studying Burmese in the months before the trip. Usually that's enough time to get me, temporarily, to a CEFR A1 level: able to handle basic needs and common courtesies, and able to have very limited conversations about a narrow range of topics.
I didn't reach anything close to that level with Burmese, though it was in sight! I'd get good reactions when I did speak. They'd say, "You speak our Burmese language! Do you live here? How come you speak our language?" But they would say this in English.
The studying did help, though, in pronouncing basic phrases right. Since Burmese is a tonal language, phrase books are near useless. Worse, every book makes up their own system for transliterating Burmese phrases. For example, I've seen "thank you" translated as "chei-zu tin-bar-te," "kyei: zu tin ba de," "cè-zù tin-ba-deh," etc. (to my ears, it sounded like "jezu jin-ba-deh").
I'd know when I got the accent right on a word because everyone in the vicinity would start repeating it, totally amused that a foreigner got the phrase right.
In the end, it takes so long to reach even a simple level that I don't know that I'd recommend studying unless you are a language nerd.
Here's the phrases that I used the most:
1. Mingalaba: Hello. You'll hear this a lot.
2. Ce zu ba. Thanks. Much easier than the longer "thank you"
3. Thwa-meh. We will go. (this is a full sentence)
4. Thwa-zu! Let's go!
5. K'in bya / bya (for male speaker) / shin (for female speaker) - a polite, generic word to end a sentence with, or to get someone's attention. Similar to "sir" or "ma'am." Easy to pronounce, hard to transliterate. Find a recording!
6. Shi meh. We'll pay now. More polite: Shi meh k'in bya.
7. Ya ba deh. That's cool, it's settled, it's good. This must be slang, because people loved hearing it. Seriously. They'd laugh and repeat it a few times and they'd take out their phone and we'd take a selfie together. This was most useful in restaurants when the first three things you asked for were out, and the waiter would make a suggestion.
8. Biya ta-loun hna-k'we. Beer, one bottle two glasses. Surprisingly useful.
CUISINE. I liked it a lot, but other visitors found it too oily. Or too suspect (the guy we met who refused to eat fish because he was sure the rivers were full of toxins). Some of the dishes I'd recommend watching out for:
1. Tomato and avocado salad. Burmese green tomatoes are slightly more sour than American ones, and this combination really works.
2. Ginger salad. Made with fresh julienned ginger.
3. Long bean salad. We found this on almost every menu.
4. Tea leaf salad. This ranged from good to, at times, awesome. (I don't even eat salads at home!)
5. Mohinga. Catfish soup, served at breakfast. Try it once. I thought it was great. My co-travelers refused to give it a chance.
6. Shan tofu. Made from chickpeas, it just melts in your mouth.
MYTHS: "Myanmar is like Thailand was 25 years ago." I have read this a lot in travel magazines, and I could not disagree more strongly. Let's go down the line:
1. Thailand in 1990 was backpacker central. We were everywhere. Myanmar in 2016 has a few pockets of backpacker places, but the majority of tourists were middle-aged (and up) German and French people traveling in small groups.
2. Thailand in 1990 was super cheap. Myanmar in 2016 is affordable, but more costly than other SE Asian countries.
3. Thailand in 1990 had full moon parties, stoned hippies who had been there since the Summer of Love, kind of scary guys studying muai thai, jazz musicians looking for gigs, rumors of Vietnam vets hiding out in the jungle, and so on. I don't think there were any Western freaks in Myanmar.
4. Thailand has been in contact with the rest of the world for a thousand years. Myanmar has been cut off from the world for 50 years, and for a hundred (or so) years before that it was treated as a British colonial backwater. It really felt like a world apart.
5. Thailand in 1990 was part of the developing world, with one of the "Asian tiger cub" economies. The UN considers Myanmar to be on of 48 "least developed" countries.
This isn't a pro or con list, it's just my rebuttal to anyone who writes that Myanmar was like Thailand 25 years ago. It's a cliche that must end!
THE PEOPLE: So amazingly polite at all times.
MANDALAY or NO? I'm glad we had three days in Mandalay. It helped round out our understanding of Myanmar. I would recommend planning out your days in advance, or having some ideas in mind.
BAGAN vs ANGKOR WAT? I see this question on some forums. I can't say personally, but we met one woman who liked Bagan and was glad she went ... once. She's been to Angkor Wat three times.
SHOULD I GO TO MYANMAR NOW? Yeah, of course.
OUR ITINERARY - I liked the one we followed. The pace was somewhat faster than I'm used to, but in return we got a good introduction to the diversity of Myanmar. I met people who were doing night buses and would hit the ground running first thing in the morning and checking off everything on their list. That's possible, but I personally wouldn't enjoy. As my friend said, "It's a vacation, not a death march."
The main option I would ponder would be whether to skip Kalaw and add in some beach time. Nga Pali looks beautiful but I heard it was too much of a big resort town. I'd look at other options.
The only thing I'd skip was the bike ride around Inle. It would have been nicer to just concentrate on the eastern side of the lake and done more exploring.
I would have liked a day of hiking in the mountains, but that wasn't an option for the rest of our group.
I met a French group who had done a five day driving/hiking tour of some remote tribal areas. This sounded incredible, and if I had a third week I would have done this. On my own, probably; my friends would not have enjoyed this.
BURMESE LANGUAGE - I like languages a lot, and put in close to 100 hours studying Burmese in the months before the trip. Usually that's enough time to get me, temporarily, to a CEFR A1 level: able to handle basic needs and common courtesies, and able to have very limited conversations about a narrow range of topics.
I didn't reach anything close to that level with Burmese, though it was in sight! I'd get good reactions when I did speak. They'd say, "You speak our Burmese language! Do you live here? How come you speak our language?" But they would say this in English.
The studying did help, though, in pronouncing basic phrases right. Since Burmese is a tonal language, phrase books are near useless. Worse, every book makes up their own system for transliterating Burmese phrases. For example, I've seen "thank you" translated as "chei-zu tin-bar-te," "kyei: zu tin ba de," "cè-zù tin-ba-deh," etc. (to my ears, it sounded like "jezu jin-ba-deh").
I'd know when I got the accent right on a word because everyone in the vicinity would start repeating it, totally amused that a foreigner got the phrase right.
In the end, it takes so long to reach even a simple level that I don't know that I'd recommend studying unless you are a language nerd.
Here's the phrases that I used the most:
1. Mingalaba: Hello. You'll hear this a lot.
2. Ce zu ba. Thanks. Much easier than the longer "thank you"
3. Thwa-meh. We will go. (this is a full sentence)
4. Thwa-zu! Let's go!
5. K'in bya / bya (for male speaker) / shin (for female speaker) - a polite, generic word to end a sentence with, or to get someone's attention. Similar to "sir" or "ma'am." Easy to pronounce, hard to transliterate. Find a recording!
6. Shi meh. We'll pay now. More polite: Shi meh k'in bya.
7. Ya ba deh. That's cool, it's settled, it's good. This must be slang, because people loved hearing it. Seriously. They'd laugh and repeat it a few times and they'd take out their phone and we'd take a selfie together. This was most useful in restaurants when the first three things you asked for were out, and the waiter would make a suggestion.
8. Biya ta-loun hna-k'we. Beer, one bottle two glasses. Surprisingly useful.
CUISINE. I liked it a lot, but other visitors found it too oily. Or too suspect (the guy we met who refused to eat fish because he was sure the rivers were full of toxins). Some of the dishes I'd recommend watching out for:
1. Tomato and avocado salad. Burmese green tomatoes are slightly more sour than American ones, and this combination really works.
2. Ginger salad. Made with fresh julienned ginger.
3. Long bean salad. We found this on almost every menu.
4. Tea leaf salad. This ranged from good to, at times, awesome. (I don't even eat salads at home!)
5. Mohinga. Catfish soup, served at breakfast. Try it once. I thought it was great. My co-travelers refused to give it a chance.
6. Shan tofu. Made from chickpeas, it just melts in your mouth.
MYTHS: "Myanmar is like Thailand was 25 years ago." I have read this a lot in travel magazines, and I could not disagree more strongly. Let's go down the line:
1. Thailand in 1990 was backpacker central. We were everywhere. Myanmar in 2016 has a few pockets of backpacker places, but the majority of tourists were middle-aged (and up) German and French people traveling in small groups.
2. Thailand in 1990 was super cheap. Myanmar in 2016 is affordable, but more costly than other SE Asian countries.
3. Thailand in 1990 had full moon parties, stoned hippies who had been there since the Summer of Love, kind of scary guys studying muai thai, jazz musicians looking for gigs, rumors of Vietnam vets hiding out in the jungle, and so on. I don't think there were any Western freaks in Myanmar.
4. Thailand has been in contact with the rest of the world for a thousand years. Myanmar has been cut off from the world for 50 years, and for a hundred (or so) years before that it was treated as a British colonial backwater. It really felt like a world apart.
5. Thailand in 1990 was part of the developing world, with one of the "Asian tiger cub" economies. The UN considers Myanmar to be on of 48 "least developed" countries.
This isn't a pro or con list, it's just my rebuttal to anyone who writes that Myanmar was like Thailand 25 years ago. It's a cliche that must end!
THE PEOPLE: So amazingly polite at all times.
MANDALAY or NO? I'm glad we had three days in Mandalay. It helped round out our understanding of Myanmar. I would recommend planning out your days in advance, or having some ideas in mind.
BAGAN vs ANGKOR WAT? I see this question on some forums. I can't say personally, but we met one woman who liked Bagan and was glad she went ... once. She's been to Angkor Wat three times.
SHOULD I GO TO MYANMAR NOW? Yeah, of course.
Dec 10th, 2016, 07:31 AM
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Thanks for your report! We love this country and plan to return for trip #4 in 2017.
I agree the people who say Myanmar is like Thailand was 25 years ago don't know what they are taking about. I was first in Thailand in the mid-1980s. The two countries are different culturally and their different histories mean that they are even more different now. Myanmar has never had the backpacker culture that Thailand developed, probably because it has always been more difficult to get there. And now it is more expensive than other countries in SE Asia, so it might be spared.
I agree the people who say Myanmar is like Thailand was 25 years ago don't know what they are taking about. I was first in Thailand in the mid-1980s. The two countries are different culturally and their different histories mean that they are even more different now. Myanmar has never had the backpacker culture that Thailand developed, probably because it has always been more difficult to get there. And now it is more expensive than other countries in SE Asia, so it might be spared.
Dec 10th, 2016, 05:41 PM
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I think it will be spared too. I loved my backpacking days, but I never want to see another banana pancake again.
Have you noticed a big change in Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi's party took over? One thing that surprised me was how few people talked about it. For comparison, I went to Tunisia one year after their revolution, and *everyone* wanted to share their story. One guy told us that it was an odd revolution, as the same people controlled everything - but that was the most we heard.
Side: I now know how to say Aung San Suu Kyi! The "ky" is a soft g, and everything is pronounced quickly with no longer or stressed syllables: aung-san-suu-gee.
One American-Burmese guy we met said he'd noticed a lot more cars in Yangon, and said the local tv was showing the war in Kachin State. Before the tv would never cover all the ethnic conflicts. This was doubly odd because the English language papers talked a lot about the Rohingya, but never mentioned the Kachin war.
And one vendor told us more men were showing up thinking they were on a sex tour (not her words). She told us about one guy from Barcelona who came to Bagan on a river cruise who kept pinching her cheek and asking her to come to his room and he would buy everything she had. She said she kept her cool, tried to be a good Buddhist, and reminded herself that she was a saleswoman first. She also said this behavior from tourists was a new thing in Myanmar, but that it wasn't common.
I'm glad I wan't there, because I can have a wicked tongue and I am not a good Buddhist.
Have you noticed a big change in Myanmar since Aung San Suu Kyi's party took over? One thing that surprised me was how few people talked about it. For comparison, I went to Tunisia one year after their revolution, and *everyone* wanted to share their story. One guy told us that it was an odd revolution, as the same people controlled everything - but that was the most we heard.
Side: I now know how to say Aung San Suu Kyi! The "ky" is a soft g, and everything is pronounced quickly with no longer or stressed syllables: aung-san-suu-gee.
One American-Burmese guy we met said he'd noticed a lot more cars in Yangon, and said the local tv was showing the war in Kachin State. Before the tv would never cover all the ethnic conflicts. This was doubly odd because the English language papers talked a lot about the Rohingya, but never mentioned the Kachin war.
And one vendor told us more men were showing up thinking they were on a sex tour (not her words). She told us about one guy from Barcelona who came to Bagan on a river cruise who kept pinching her cheek and asking her to come to his room and he would buy everything she had. She said she kept her cool, tried to be a good Buddhist, and reminded herself that she was a saleswoman first. She also said this behavior from tourists was a new thing in Myanmar, but that it wasn't common.
I'm glad I wan't there, because I can have a wicked tongue and I am not a good Buddhist.
Dec 10th, 2016, 06:03 PM
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I was in Burma in 2009, 2011, and in 2015. I have seen dramatic changes over that time. We were there during the elections in 2015. The fact that ASSK's party won so many seats was more of a triumph than anything the government has done since her election. When we were there in 2015 the election was what everyone was talking about - all the time. You might want to read my 2015 trip report - just click on my name and you'll see a list of trip reports. Oh, the report got topped today, so you can find it right on the first page here "Third Time and Still Charmed: Kathie and Cheryl take a Pandaw Cruise."
The amount of traffic in Yangon has increased exponentially in the time we have been visiting. In 2009 and 2011 the traffic was the most orderly of any of the Asian cities of that size. I was shocked by the traffic in 2015 - it took an hour to get anywhere in the city. Fortunately, they have never allowed motorbikes in the city, which has spared it come of the usual chaos.
Do you plan to return?
The amount of traffic in Yangon has increased exponentially in the time we have been visiting. In 2009 and 2011 the traffic was the most orderly of any of the Asian cities of that size. I was shocked by the traffic in 2015 - it took an hour to get anywhere in the city. Fortunately, they have never allowed motorbikes in the city, which has spared it come of the usual chaos.
Do you plan to return?
Dec 12th, 2016, 02:50 AM
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Excellent, thanks for sharing.
We hired a beat up right-hand drive Toyota Corolla for 2 weeks.
Our adventure took us from Yangon to Bagan, Bagan to Mandalay, Mandalay to Pwin oo Lwin, Pwin oo Lwin to Kalaw, Kalaw to Inle and back to Kalaw, Kalaw to Yangon. We saw lots in between too, but it was a hard slog in a car with bashed-up suspension, and no air-conditioning....freshly showered every morning, but by the end of the day we were orange all over!
The memories are still there, fortunaly the aches and pains have all gone.
We hired a beat up right-hand drive Toyota Corolla for 2 weeks.
Our adventure took us from Yangon to Bagan, Bagan to Mandalay, Mandalay to Pwin oo Lwin, Pwin oo Lwin to Kalaw, Kalaw to Inle and back to Kalaw, Kalaw to Yangon. We saw lots in between too, but it was a hard slog in a car with bashed-up suspension, and no air-conditioning....freshly showered every morning, but by the end of the day we were orange all over!
The memories are still there, fortunaly the aches and pains have all gone.
Dec 13th, 2016, 10:20 AM
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I don't think I would survive 2 weeks in a beat up Toyota! Maybe 20 years ago.
Not sure if, or when, I'll head back. A lot of the next places I'd want to go to are deeper in the country, and would take more time. Maybe when the roads improve!
Not sure if, or when, I'll head back. A lot of the next places I'd want to go to are deeper in the country, and would take more time. Maybe when the roads improve!
Dec 23rd, 2016, 11:16 AM
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We took a similar trip this Dec. And agree with many of your findings. We also studied the language and had a ball bartering with our purchases. Our favorite expression was SHOW BA OHM. Every time we replied to their price, their laughter followed and an immediate 20% discount. Only one place offered only a 10% discount on 2 magnificent teak elephants
Inwa donkey carts--we agree, a disaster only to be surpassed by a tuktuk in Pakhokeku.
Mandalay, we loved it and the Rupar Mandalay(30+ teak elephants).
Many on this forum have said to skip--we Zaw from Santa Maria and a Mandalay resident to guide us for 3 day.
Will post trip report soon.
Inwa donkey carts--we agree, a disaster only to be surpassed by a tuktuk in Pakhokeku.
Mandalay, we loved it and the Rupar Mandalay(30+ teak elephants).
Many on this forum have said to skip--we Zaw from Santa Maria and a Mandalay resident to guide us for 3 day.
Will post trip report soon.
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