Help with trip to Burma please
Apr 11th, 2010, 07:21 PM
#21
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,025
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hello live 4 2 day. I am firming up my plans for my second trip to Burma in December so we are on parallel tracks. I am using Santa Maria for internal flights, 2 hotels that I had trouble booking on my own, and car and driver from Mandalay to/around Maymyo. I've been dealing with Zaw and find her (I think, her) helpful, flexible and accommodating.
As to your itinerary, I would add a day each to Bagan, Mandalay and Inle and skip Ngapali (I loved my 3 days there but I would give it a lower priority than the three areas above) I, too would skip Mt. Popa and spend the third Bagan day in and around Bagan; there are many villages with welcoming locals. I'm using Minthu (the guide Kathie used) for Bagan temples and villages.
I would add a day to Mandalay because of all that's around it. I particularly enjoyed half a day in Mingun. We visited the Buddhist old age home and enjoyed chatting with the nurse and trying to communicate with the residents in the mens' and womens' dorms.
I spent 4 days at Inle on my first trip and could have spent another few days.
Dogster observes that your tour does not allow for much interaction with locals. You do not mention that this is a priority for you. If it is, you can cut out one pagoda here or one monastery there and make time for local events. I usually ask waiters at hotels and restaurants what is happening in their village in the next few days. You might also check the lunar calendar to see if you will be in Burma on a full moon day, villages and monasteries will have some special ceremonies. Of course, you will find religious activities in Laos for this day.
Last trip some of my reading, not already mentioned: Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi, A Prayer for Burma by Kenneth Wong and Burmese Folk Tales by Maung Htin Aung.
I'm in the middle of two Burma books now: From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe (a boy from the Padaung hilltribe who becomes the first Burmese tribesman to attend Cambridge University) and Burma?myanmar, What Everyone Needs to Know by David Steinberg, a Georgetown professor who discusses the political situation in the context of Burmese history and culture. Still on my very crowded nightstand is The River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint-U.
I too am heading to Laos, after Burma. Flights from Bangkok to cities in Laos on Lao Air go on sale in May according to info from several Lao travel outfits. It looks like they can be booked online. Also check if the Air Asia sale is still on, in case you can use one of their routes and cheap flights.
As to your itinerary, I would add a day each to Bagan, Mandalay and Inle and skip Ngapali (I loved my 3 days there but I would give it a lower priority than the three areas above) I, too would skip Mt. Popa and spend the third Bagan day in and around Bagan; there are many villages with welcoming locals. I'm using Minthu (the guide Kathie used) for Bagan temples and villages.
I would add a day to Mandalay because of all that's around it. I particularly enjoyed half a day in Mingun. We visited the Buddhist old age home and enjoyed chatting with the nurse and trying to communicate with the residents in the mens' and womens' dorms.
I spent 4 days at Inle on my first trip and could have spent another few days.
Dogster observes that your tour does not allow for much interaction with locals. You do not mention that this is a priority for you. If it is, you can cut out one pagoda here or one monastery there and make time for local events. I usually ask waiters at hotels and restaurants what is happening in their village in the next few days. You might also check the lunar calendar to see if you will be in Burma on a full moon day, villages and monasteries will have some special ceremonies. Of course, you will find religious activities in Laos for this day.
Last trip some of my reading, not already mentioned: Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi, A Prayer for Burma by Kenneth Wong and Burmese Folk Tales by Maung Htin Aung.
I'm in the middle of two Burma books now: From the Land of Green Ghosts by Pascal Khoo Thwe (a boy from the Padaung hilltribe who becomes the first Burmese tribesman to attend Cambridge University) and Burma?myanmar, What Everyone Needs to Know by David Steinberg, a Georgetown professor who discusses the political situation in the context of Burmese history and culture. Still on my very crowded nightstand is The River of Lost Footsteps by Thant Myint-U.
I too am heading to Laos, after Burma. Flights from Bangkok to cities in Laos on Lao Air go on sale in May according to info from several Lao travel outfits. It looks like they can be booked online. Also check if the Air Asia sale is still on, in case you can use one of their routes and cheap flights.
Apr 11th, 2010, 08:18 PM
#22
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,121
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
great advice from robbie: I'd lose that dang beach too. It's a beach with very overprices accomodation. Go to beaches in Thailand. Use your Burma time to do Burma things.
wintersp's advice on your Inle hotel may be pertinant. Check the reviews in TRipadvisor particularly re food. I think a place ON the lake is a great idea, even tho' you'll be trapped. Looking forward to your report on this. Really, with the greatest respect to everybody, I think the recent tripreport of Burma from that couple who busked their way thru was totally inspiring.
wintersp's advice on your Inle hotel may be pertinant. Check the reviews in TRipadvisor particularly re food. I think a place ON the lake is a great idea, even tho' you'll be trapped. Looking forward to your report on this. Really, with the greatest respect to everybody, I think the recent tripreport of Burma from that couple who busked their way thru was totally inspiring.
Apr 11th, 2010, 08:21 PM
#23
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 4,121
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
