Myanmar: Nov 8 - 24, 2013 Report

Old Nov 27th, 2013, 09:13 AM
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Myanmar: Nov 8 - 24, 2013 Report

We just returned from our stay in Myanmar (group of 6) and I would like to share our experience and observations. First and foremost, I can not speak highly enough for Myanmar Shalom for coordinating our trip. We could not get a response from any of the tour operators that were recommended on this forum so we forged out on our own with a co-worker recommendation. Myanmar Shalom has an office in NYC with a local contact. That made things super easy when trying to communicate with the Yangon representative. NOTE: Company name implies Jewish-oriented travel. This is not the case unless you want or need it. Sammy (NYC) and Tin (Yangon) were excellent in doing exactly what we asked for and worked hard to get us the experience we wanted. A side benefit is that you can pay for your trip with credit card in advance (plus a nominal fee). They use local guides which we loved so at each of our three primary destinations we were met at the airport by our local guide that was by our side for that portion of the trip. ( I have contact info for all of our guides if requested) Our goal was to experience each locale with an emphasis on a local experience.

We had two half days and one full day Yangon, which was plenty of us... we saw the city highlights and more and were ready to leave the city as we are not big city fans. We stayed at the Garden Inn B&B while in Yangon as we could not get any other accommodations. This is a modest (under $100/night) property just down the road from the Gen. Aung San Home/Museum (a must see). The rooms are very basic and modest, but it is the staff that makes this place shine. They are like all Myanmar people we encountered - super friendly and helpful and wanted to insure a great experience. The food in their restaurant is very good. I would stay there again.

We then flew to Heho for our Inle Lake experience. We stayed 5 nights and 4 full days at Myanmar Treasure Resort (Inle). LOVED this property. We had front row lakefront bungalows that are very well appointed and included an outdoor shower with a window to the lake. A key factor that made this property so appealing is that traffic in the lake is constant during the day. This property is set back from the main lake thoroughfare with a floating garden as a barrier. Your longboat pulls up to a hut where a bellman jumps in your boat and quietly paddles you into the disembarkment dock where you are met by a team to assist you. Food was excellent, staff incredible and personable, rooms huge. French wines are way over priced but local wines are not. Red Mountain Wines (we stopped there on way to resort) is the local wine. They are young and mostly blends. Whites are just ok, red blends also just ok but the Pinot Noir and Syrah were very good. So much so that we drank all the Pinot Noir they had.

We found most visitors only stayed 2 days at Inle.... YOU NEED MORE TIME. Skip Cat Jumping Monastery and ask for a local teaching monastery. Indein is a must do and if you have the time.... go to Sagar. Sagar is two and an half hours each way by boat to get to but the trip is as much a part of the experience as the sunken pagodas. One of the best meals we had was at a no name restaurant in the middle of the lake on the way back from Sagar. No electricity and no refrigeration so the choice that day was chicken cause that is what was best at the market that morning. We had it 6 different ways and was unbelievable. We would have liked another day on Inle Lake.... just saying!

We are souvenir shoppers and had the cash to handle it but we were delighted to find that the vendors we saw offered Visa/Mastercard for purchases over $100.00US. (This was true all over Myanmar.)

Next stop Bagan (by air) for 4 nights and 3 full days at Bagan Lodge. This is a new property that was open only 2 1/2 months and while beautiful, and showed great potential they were still suffering from opening a brand new hotel with consistency issues, quality control issues and well... just issues. When they get their act together this property will be all that it should be. Even so... no regrets.... they just have some significant polishing to do.

We had many mishaps while in Bagan, but we had the best local guide and he was amazing in helping us deal with all things as they cropped up. Mostly our doing except for one which I will mention now. We arranged horsecart rides through Old Bagan set for one afternoon. Only three of us chose to partake so we each had our own cart since they were pre-reserved. I am a large 6' tall person and found the cart very uncomfortable and had a hard time enjoying the experience because I was crammed in to the seat with the driver. I would not do this again. The second member of our group loved the experience. The third was concerned from the moment she boarded as her horse looked hot and tired. We were all driven thru Old Bagan and taken to a pagoda to meet our guide for a climb up top for the sunset. We were three quarters there when I heard a scream. My friend's horse collapsed and she and the driver were tossed from the cart. My friend was hurt but not seriously injured but the horse was in bad shape. It took several minuted to get the driver untangled from the rigging and the horse released. Once released the horse did not move and it took several more minutes to get him on his feet. We do not know what ultimately happened to this horse as my friend was transferred to one of our other carts. So I only mention this as a cautionary tale.... If you must have this experience...please take a good look at your horse and if it looks hot and/or tired.... ask for a different cart.

Sunset river cruise on the Irrawaddy was more of a putter out amongst a bunch of tourists boats and float back to the dock while the sun sets.

We were supposed to go ballooning while in Bagan but because of wind direction we could not go even tho we tried three days in a row. We are still waiting for our refund as of this posting. This is the only ballooning experience that we have tried that only had one launch zone so the odds of going are diminished since there are no other options. Very disappointed.

Given that we were at the end of our trip when we got to Bagan we were feeling a bit of "pagoda overload" and felt that we could have spent one less day in Bagan. Ananda Temple was a highlight as was the sunset atop one of the pagodas. But the greatest experience was the drive and afternoon at Mount Popa. This is a "must do". Brochures and pictures do not do the experience justice as it is one for all the senses. Again the drive there is as much part of the experience as the village itself. The walk up to the temple is less arduous than it looks and you have quite a feeling of accomplishment when at the top. Be careful as the monkeys in the village and on the way up and down are fearless and will steal your food (especially the bananas) and open drinks. Lunch at Mount Popa Resort was ok but the view from the deck is spectacular.

We headed back to Yangon for an overnight at the Garden Home B&B before leaving.

Final thoughts:

If you are thinking of going to Myanmar... go soon if you want a more untouched experience. You can see that it is changing fast as they adapt to the influx of tourists and their lack of capacity for these tourists. Number of tourists doubled to 1 million this year.

While credit cards are more common for shopping (min. $100 purchase) that we expected, most hotels still do not accept and they do not accept American Express anywhere.

All of our local guides were very good. Mr. Oo in Bagan was exceptional.

Wish we had done some trekking but glad that we decided to "go deep" in each locale versus 2 days here 2 days there which seems to be common with the group tours.

They say that 30% to 50% of travelers to Myanmar get a food born illness. That was true for our group of 6. Three of us got ill in Bagan. Me, most severely but I had antibiotics that knocked it out in a couple days. And yes we followed the "what to eat, what not to eat" guidelines.... to no avail.

Loved Myanmar and it should be added to your bucket list.

Next on my Myanmar wish list - a jungle safari in the north of Myanmar.
deanlink is offline  
Old Nov 27th, 2013, 10:28 AM
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Thanks for your report. How rapidly things have changed in Burma! On our two trips (2009 & 2011)no credit cards were accepted almost anywhere - a few hotels would take a credit card with a 8-10% premium, so to hear of individual vendors accepting them is amazing.

I certainly agree with you that you need time at Inle. SO glad you were able to go to Sankar/Sagar. Did you see other visitors there? We ran into just one other party of two that whole day. We actually had a wonderful visit to Jumping Cat Monastery, as we had a long conversation with a monk about Obama's ASEAN speech. No other visitors were present. I expect now it is so crowded that such conversations rarely happen ant more. Sad.

What an awful experience in Bagan with the horse collapsing! Horsecart drivers have such a personal connection with the horse, I'm surprised to hear of it. Our driver insisted on mid-day rest periods for Susu (the horse). With the vast increase in tourism, I wonder if (some) horsecart divers feel under pressure to keep their horses going.

Anyway, glad to hear of your wonderful trip.

The northern jungles have been off limits to visitors for decades. Are some of those areas opening up?
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Old Nov 27th, 2013, 07:27 PM
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Loved your report.

Made note of the wine info for our upcoming stay at Inle!!

Heartbreaking about the horse. When we were in Egypt some of the horses didn't look so good as this was right after the revolution and the tourists were staying away. The drivers were desperate and probably didn't have enough money to feed their families and take care of their horses too. I only used a caleche driver whose horse looked to be in good shape. I will take your info into consideration so thanks for the heads up on that.

I'm also surprised about the credit card info as I expected most places to be cash only.

Sounds like you had a nice trip despite a few unfortunate events. Thanks again for sharing.
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Old Nov 29th, 2013, 06:07 AM
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Kathie/Chris... The Jumping Cat Monastery was full of tourists and not a monk to be found. Sad...
There were a few other tourists at Sagar... maybe three other boats when we arrived. It is still very untouched and not a souvenir to be found which was a nice change even for us. ...According to our Bagan guide, Mr. Oo they now offer some trips to the northern jungles, I have not confirmed that as this will take a back seat on my bucket list since I was just in Myanmar, but that is what he said and he is a prominent local guide who is very involved in the tour guide association. ... We experienced no credit card transaction fees while in Myanmar (just $100.00 minimum from most vendors). Bagan Lodge allows you to pay your bill with CC, our other hotels did not.
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Old Nov 29th, 2013, 10:19 AM
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Thanks for your report! Enjoyed reading it and hearing an up to date report on Myanmar. We are going in January. By any chance did you see and use any ATMs? For bills did you have the new US $100s?
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Old Dec 1st, 2013, 11:15 AM
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Can you give me an idea of the weather in Myanmar in November in the different areas you went to? I am in the initial stages of planning a trip there in 2014 and was looking at going in November.

I have contacted Myanmar Shalom to get a rough estimate of the cost of a trip and their prices look competitive with other agencies. My I ask what your tour cost? I have received prices from Asia Central Link (competitive) and Indochina Odyssey Tours (expensive). I can't actually choose a company to go with until I know I have the tickets to RGN, which will be award seats.
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Old Dec 1st, 2013, 11:45 AM
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November is a good month to visit Myanmar. You'll get good weather everywhere - even Mrauk U and the beaches. Both of our trips to Burma were in November.

susie, I would only choose a local company in Yangon or Mandalay to arrange a trip to Myanmar. This is a place where local connections are more important than in other places. Myanmar Shalom has gotten a number of good reviews here.
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Old Dec 1st, 2013, 06:27 PM
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To yes travel.... Yes we saw ATMS in Yangon only but we did not use any. We did not see any in the other locales. We only took brand new OLD style $100 bills. One of our guides mentioned the new bills and that it was wise not to bring them. We found that as long as the bills were new with no folds or ink marks they took all denominations down to $20s. And at hotels when asked we got change back in US$. We were able to get award travel to Banbgkok then took air asia to RGN. It required an overnight in Bangkok but worked out for us.

To Susiesan- the temp in Yangon was very humid, sunny and hot....and in the upper 80s in the day mid 60s at night. Inle Lake lower 80s daytime and low 60s at night. Not as humid. Bagan was the hottest of all. Low to mid 90s until the sun went down high 70s at night. Dryer but still humid. Hotter than we read or anticipated.

. We dealt with Tin in Yangon for all of our trip planning including all hotels etc. NY office was used to make payments and to reach out if we needed to hear from Tin more quickly. I would rather discuss our costs one to one.... Look me up online Rick Dean Photography.
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