shelleyk

Myanmar Shalom has gotten very good reviews from people who have used them and posted on Lonely Planet. I would not hesitate to use them if you do not hear from SM, but since your trip is planned for a long time from now, you do have the time to see if SM responds to you in a reasonable time.

yestravel

Rereading your report as we begin the finetuning for our trip. on the cave - did you go to the ones in the Mekong outside Luang Prabang by any chance? If so was the one at Pindaya similar? Debating about going to them as it seems like a long drive and caves generally don't wow me.

I appreciate your specifics on the need for a driver versus catching a cab -- always a dilemma when planning and nice to save some $$ when possible and go with a taxi.

Do you recall about what you paid at Paramount Inle Resort? Its been very difficult to get a grip on costs of hotels. Thanks for you report and answers to questions.

shelleyk

I have not been to the caves outside of LP, so I can't give you any comparison. If it is any help in deciding, Pindaya is a very big natural cave that is filled with many bronze Buddhas of various sizes which are displayed along the walls of the cave. All of the statues are fairly new. If your not into caves or long drives, I'd skip it and put your time into something else, like Kakku. Of all the places we visited in Myanmar, this was the one I wished we skipped.

I can't remember what we paid at Paramount Inle but I remember thinking it was unbelievably inexpensive for what we got. I think it was around $60 for a "deluxe" individual stilt house. The room was definitely not deluxe, but the location was. One caveat-only accept this hotel if you can get an individual stilt house room. The motel rooms are in a separate building. There is no view and the walls between the rooms are paper thin. Don't expect the Inle Princess if you stay here. This is not a 5 star accommodation, but the location on Inle Lake is 5 star.

yestravel

Thanks so much. The more I read about it the more I think the caves are a skip.

Appreciate the info on the hotel.

internetwiz

Shelley, Since you were doubting that you had any readers, I wanted to let you know that two years later, your TR is still invaluable. I am in the process of planning a November trip to Myanmar and your insight and descriptions are excellent. Thank you for taking the time to go into so much detail.

shelleyk

Thanks for your kind words. It's nice to know that you found my TR helpful. I hope you have a wonderful time in Burma. It is one of my all time favorite trips.

wkwb42a

Shelleyk,

I am planning a trip to Myanmar for Jan. or Feb. 2015. I just finished reading your excellent TR, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thanks so very much for writing such a detailed and informative account of your fabulous journey! Great report!

shelleyk

wkwb42a-I'm glad you enjoyed reading my TR. Have a wonderful trip.

marandb

As a relative 'new be' to foders, I have just started to read TR's and 2 years on thoroughly enjoyed yours. So echo wkwb42a's comments. If my DH was interested in this type of trip, I would make Myanmar next on our list. Just going back to see your photos. Thanks for your mist interesting TR.

shelleyk

marandb-Welcome to Fodors Asia board. Thanks so much for topping my report. I had not looked at it since I finished writing it, but today I reread the whole TR and enjoyed reliving my trip. Today is my birthday, and I consider it a small present to myself to spend the long time it took to read the whole TR in one sitting.

marandb

Hi, Shelley,
Well Happy Birthday to you today, hope you have another adventure in the planning. Just looking at you great photos and going to read your other TRs.
Take care and rnjoy YOUR day.
Marilyn, scotland..

marandb

Shelley, me again, just realised you are a Hallowener?!, are you dressed up for the occasion having a big party, or hiding in the basement with the lights Off?!

shelleyk

Thanks for your good wishes. We just returned from dinner out, so the lights were off. In past years I've stayed home to see the cute trick or treaters in costume but alas most of those kids are now too grown up to look cute in costumes.

linawood

bookmarking, thanks for the great report.

elfiesharabi

Pindaya Cave was a waste of time???
Please tell me why? Everything I read says it is a "must see".

shelleyk

I thought it was a waste of time because:
1-From Heho airport, it took 2.5 hours to get there over bad roads, and another 2.5 hours to get back on track after going there, for a total of 5 hours of travel to see the caves.
2-When we got there I found Pindaya Caves disappointing-a big cave filled with hundreds of bronze Buddahs, most of them fairly new contributed by wealthy donors whose names were on little plaques next to their contributed Buddah.. There is only so much time you can spend wandering in a cave looking at bronze Buddah's, and for the amount of time it took to get there, I felt it was not worth the time spent. I know others disagree, but that my opinion.