Just Returned from Burma
 

Our family of 5 (3 teenagers 19, 16, and 14) returned from our SE Asia vacation last week - 1 week Thailand; 1 week Burma and weekend in Cambodia (Siem Reap). Without a doubt we loved Burma - the people, countryside, food, lodging were amazing - we were pretty much the ONLY tourists in Burma. We were treated like celebrities. The hotels are empty - tourists are badly needed. We were in Yangon, Bagan and Inle Lake. The only remaining impact in Yangon from the cyclone is all the trees that have been cut down and some sidewalks are mangled up from trees being taken out - otherwise the city seemed like any other big city. We stayed at the Savoy in Bagan since the Governor's Residence had been damaged. At the Savoy we were the only ones in the hotel and had two corner suites. In our hotel in Bagan, there were only 7 people including us. The other 2 were a couple from Spain. We stayed at the Thiripyitsaya in Bagan and had 2 river front suites - loved it. The staff were so lovely and my kids really loved the children in Bagan. They followed us everywhere - we made so many new friends. In Inle Lake, there were 9 people at Inle Princess - us, a honeymoon couple from Italy, and a mother/daughter from UK. Those were the only tourists around since we all seemed to be pretty much traveling on the same circuit. We loved our Guide who traveled with us the whole time. My kids adored her - her knowledge of history and all her amazing stories and insights into everything were a delight. We visited with so many lake families going into their homes and meeting with them. We went to a primary school on the lake for one day and my kids loved being with the children. We brought along pencils, erasers, pads, inflatable globes to point out where we were from in New York and show them Myanmar. We also brought along jump ropes for the school. If anyone has any doubt about visiting Myanmar, please rethink. While we disagree with the military regime - the people need tourists to support their lives. We were glad that we did Burma last on our itinerary. While this is definately low season, the hotels told us this was unusual but many people had cancelled after the cyclone, even though the areas we went to were not affected.

Great report - what agency did you end up using to book the Myanmar portion?

Thanks a lot for sharing your family visit experience, really appreciate it.

thanks for this...i hope it will encourage others to go there now...

We used Grand Lotus Tours in Myanmar. They have been extremely involved in the relief efforts rebuilding schools, homes and helping people get their lives back together. In fact our guide was going back down to the Delta the day after she left us.

Thanks for the report. It's timely, so no penalty.

We've always been torn about visiting Myanmar. The wonder proclaimed by all against the politics. The government stance after the cyclone convinced us not to go until a regime change. Voting with our wallet.

Thanks so much. Sounds like you had a great experience and special opportunity to connect with people. We are so torn about visiting Burma -- the govt v. the people. Definately don't want to support the former in any way, but at the same time it is a tragedy if the people suffer from the lack of tourist dollars and the contact with the outside world. Your report helped to see the people side.

I appreciated your report, bacooking.

My wife and I are visiting Burma in September and doing the Pandaw cruise along the Upper Irrawaddy.

Your report had made us feel really enthusiastic!