7 Days / 6 Nights Itinerary in Burma - Help please
Mar 22nd, 2015, 01:32 PM
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7 Days / 6 Nights Itinerary in Burma - Help please
Hello,
We're spending a week in Burma in October on our way to Japan from London. We will fly to Bangkok and then to Yangon , arriving there at around 2:40 pm on Monday (5th) and we leave the following Sunday (11th). We checked with Mynamar Shalom and Santa Maria and they suggested the following:
Itinerary 1:
Day 1 - Yangon;
Day 2 - Day 3 - Inle Lake; (morning flight out of Yangon)
Day 4 - early morning flight to Bagan
Day 5 - 6 - Bagan
Day 7 - morning flight back to Yangon - our flight to BKK leaves at 6PM same day
Itinerary 2:
Day 1 - Yangon
Day 2 - 3 - Bagan (morning flight to Bagan)
Day 4 - 6 - Inle Lake (morning flight to Inle Lake)
Day 6 - 7 - Yangon (afternoon flight on day 6 from Inle Lake)
Day 7 - 6pm flight back to BKK
I'd like to maximise time in Bagan and limit our stay in Yangon to 1 night so I'm partial to the first itinerary. Is it this really feasible? With a 6pm flight out of Yangon, are we cutting it too fine getting a morning flight back from Bagan?
Also how easy is it to arrange tours and such once you're on the ground? We don't have much time there and both Santa Maria and Myanmar Shalom have proposed some tours but I'm not sure what's best. For example, they both proposed a trip to Mt Popa whilst in Bagan but I'm wondering if this is worth it given the few days we have to visit. Any recommendations on hotels in Bagan and with 1 afternoon/evening/night in Yangon, does it matter much where we choose to stay?
Any advice on which we should choose (and any tips) would be helpful.
Thank you.
JITR
We're spending a week in Burma in October on our way to Japan from London. We will fly to Bangkok and then to Yangon , arriving there at around 2:40 pm on Monday (5th) and we leave the following Sunday (11th). We checked with Mynamar Shalom and Santa Maria and they suggested the following:
Itinerary 1:
Day 1 - Yangon;
Day 2 - Day 3 - Inle Lake; (morning flight out of Yangon)
Day 4 - early morning flight to Bagan
Day 5 - 6 - Bagan
Day 7 - morning flight back to Yangon - our flight to BKK leaves at 6PM same day
Itinerary 2:
Day 1 - Yangon
Day 2 - 3 - Bagan (morning flight to Bagan)
Day 4 - 6 - Inle Lake (morning flight to Inle Lake)
Day 6 - 7 - Yangon (afternoon flight on day 6 from Inle Lake)
Day 7 - 6pm flight back to BKK
I'd like to maximise time in Bagan and limit our stay in Yangon to 1 night so I'm partial to the first itinerary. Is it this really feasible? With a 6pm flight out of Yangon, are we cutting it too fine getting a morning flight back from Bagan?
Also how easy is it to arrange tours and such once you're on the ground? We don't have much time there and both Santa Maria and Myanmar Shalom have proposed some tours but I'm not sure what's best. For example, they both proposed a trip to Mt Popa whilst in Bagan but I'm wondering if this is worth it given the few days we have to visit. Any recommendations on hotels in Bagan and with 1 afternoon/evening/night in Yangon, does it matter much where we choose to stay?
Any advice on which we should choose (and any tips) would be helpful.
Thank you.
JITR
Mar 22nd, 2015, 01:46 PM
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You have a very short time to visit this amazing country. Many people would say it is too risky to fly back to Yangon the same day of your flight back to Bangkok, but, personally, I think I'd do it - you so little time there. I've taken lots of flights in Burma, never had one run more than an hour late.
You could make itinerary 2 better by adding a day to Inle, taking one from Yangon. The best you can do is 1.5 days in one place and 2.5 days in the other. I think three full days in each is best, but that isn't an option for you.
In Bagan, stay in Old Bagan as you will be closer to the temples. The hotel with the best location is the Inn at Tharbar Gate.
At Inle, i wanted to be along the lake, not in the little town. We loved the Inle Lakeview Resort (careful - there are many with similar names. Choose carefully where you want to go at Inle. I highly recommend the day trip to Sankar, the southern part of the lake. If you don't specify where you want to go, you risk going from workshop to workshop and missing the fascinating places.
Yes, it is easy to hire guides as needed. You will need a boatman at Inle (your hotel can arrange it for you), but you don't really need a guide. We loved seeing the temples at Bagan in the traditional way, via horsecart. I would absolutely skip Mt. Popa.
I'd choose a place in Yangon that is close to Schwedagon, maybe the Savoy.
You could make itinerary 2 better by adding a day to Inle, taking one from Yangon. The best you can do is 1.5 days in one place and 2.5 days in the other. I think three full days in each is best, but that isn't an option for you.
In Bagan, stay in Old Bagan as you will be closer to the temples. The hotel with the best location is the Inn at Tharbar Gate.
At Inle, i wanted to be along the lake, not in the little town. We loved the Inle Lakeview Resort (careful - there are many with similar names. Choose carefully where you want to go at Inle. I highly recommend the day trip to Sankar, the southern part of the lake. If you don't specify where you want to go, you risk going from workshop to workshop and missing the fascinating places.
Yes, it is easy to hire guides as needed. You will need a boatman at Inle (your hotel can arrange it for you), but you don't really need a guide. We loved seeing the temples at Bagan in the traditional way, via horsecart. I would absolutely skip Mt. Popa.
I'd choose a place in Yangon that is close to Schwedagon, maybe the Savoy.
Mar 22nd, 2015, 03:06 PM
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Option 1 (in reverse) is basically what we did in December. You can look for my report. Just beware that that last half-day in Yangon has a high likelihood of being wasted time, based on my experience.
You could, in a rush, hit Shewdegon on the last day with a quick drive around Yangon and make that your only time there...
You could, in a rush, hit Shewdegon on the last day with a quick drive around Yangon and make that your only time there...
Mar 23rd, 2015, 04:22 AM
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Be warned that it is not advisable to take an internal flight on the same day as your international departure as cancellations/consolidations frequently occur.Itinerary 2 would be my choice.Forget Mt Popa this time.
Also you don't need to take Agents guides/excursions and other than pre booked transfers at Heho/Inle Lake the taxi transfers at Yangon and Bagan are sufficient.
I would also recommend you get an early (ish) flight on day 6 so you can at least get in some of the sights of Yangon (Kathie's recommendation of the Savoy is a good one)
SS
Also you don't need to take Agents guides/excursions and other than pre booked transfers at Heho/Inle Lake the taxi transfers at Yangon and Bagan are sufficient.
I would also recommend you get an early (ish) flight on day 6 so you can at least get in some of the sights of Yangon (Kathie's recommendation of the Savoy is a good one)
SS
