gmoz

Bagan Thande is excellent, right on the river. There are various rooms, we stayed in one of the little cottages towards the pool and it was just right.
The transfer fees with Min Thu's brother are around the same as charged by our travel agent.
When we arrived at the Bagan Thande in the afternoon Min Thu came and visited us to plan the next day's itinerary. If you can try and arrange a sunrise visit, it is well worth the little extra and the early rising. We were able to do the sunrise tour with Min Thu and still get back to the Bagan Thande in time for breakfast by the river. Later Min Thu took us for the day tour. The breakfast is excellent, however there was one person taking pieces of fruit from the breakfast to give to Min Thu's horse, Su Su. My wife says she knows nothing about this.

Kathie

lol, gmoz.

gailmo

We stayed at all three hotels last month on our trip --using Santa Maria. They all were fine--- and I wrote about them in my trip report. The hotel in Bagan is really wonderful. Quiet--peaceful and they have a great pool and riverside location. We loved it! The Inle hotel is also very nice. We snagged a great room on the front side of the hotel so we could sit in the late afternoons-early evening and watch the boats and fisherman. It is a bit noisy--but all locations will hear the boats and you will be up early anyway. The Yangon hotel is fine. Nothing special--but it was clean and the view is spectacular at night!

susncrg

Gmoz - should I take a bag to breakfast for fruit ?
Gailmo- thanks for the reply. I don't know whether to just stick with those hotels then, they sound OK, or check out some others mentioned on this forum. I guess that's not too important in the grand scheme of things. After wrestling with the AirAsia site...and I do mean wrestling! It took at least 5 tries to get the whole ticket sorted out as the site kept tossing off my forms and doing other weird stuff...I now have airline tickets and am thinking of having Santa Maria do the VOA for me. Now I feel like I am really going to do this! Yay!

gailmo

Santa Maria did a VOA for us too. My husband was still in the US and I was in Hanoi-thus I decided it would just be easier to have them arrange our visas. We each scanned our passports and sent them the required information and they sent back some very hard to read documents which I printed out and presented to the airline people when we checked in. There was some head scratching, but Vietnam Airlines accepted them. When we arrived in Yangon we stopped at the visa window and they pasted our visas into our passports. We were the only people who had done this on our flight.

The other good aspect of having them do a VOA for us was that I had some issues with my Vietnam visa and needed to get a new one in Yangon before I returned to Hanoi. This would have been impossible since we were on the road most of our time in Myanmar. Since Santa Maria had my passport scan, they printed it out and arranged with the Vietnam consulate to issue a new visa for me to re-enter Vietnam. Phew....I was sooo happy that they could do this for me!

gailmo

One more comment about hotels. How long will you be in Yangon? If you are there for several (2-3) nights, you might want to look at other hotels in that location. The Summit Parkview is ok...but the rooms are nothing special. We spent minimal time at the hotel--so it was fine. If you are there longer and plan on "hanging out" at the hotel some, you might want to investigate other places. AGain, we were happy with the place...but of the three you mention, I would place this one at the bottom of the list.

pattyroth

I'm such an oddball here, but if you're a photographer, U Bein is not to be missed. One of my favorite memories!! And now on canvas in my office and on the front of my photo book. Love it!

gmoz

susncrg be careful about the bag at breakfast. We didn’t know but the Burmese think some people are very frugal and don’t want to buy lunch so they take the fruit at breakfast to eat for lunch. The Burmese call these people "Banana tourists".
So while Su Su may appreciate the fruit your reputation may suffer.

A great place for lunch in Bagan is the vegetarian Moon Restaurant. Just ask Min Thu to take you there.

BonnieN

Burma,Burma,Burma -- it is wonderful. Santa Maria in Yangon is great, very easy and professional. I would go gor Yangon, bagan and Mandalay, where you
Can catch moustache brothers comedy demo if they are still doing it at their house.

Kathie

Bonnie, did you go to Inle? I think it's a don't miss. I enjoyed Mandalay, I was wowed by Inle.

susncrg

Well, now open to more hotel suggestions as Santa Maria just emailed that the Summit Parkview is booked as well as the Bangan Thande

susncrg

Oops! While trying to correct my spelling I mistakenly posted! Anyway, Santa Maria is now suggesting the Park Royal in Yangon and the Kumudra Hotel in Bagan, in a jr suite at the latter. I am willing to spend more if the hotel is really good, so any suggestions welcome, but we don't usually spend much time in the room if that makes a difference to your suggestions.

It is looking like evening arrival in Yangon, with the next day touring the city. Then flying to Bagan for 3 nights there. I will be touring with Min Thu and am considering Balloons over Bagan as a birthday present to myself. Then on to Inle Lake for 3 nights and fly back to Yangon and spend overnight, catching a morning plane back to BKK to meet up with our Vietnam group. Short, but a good "toe-dipping" into the country with a hope to be back. Any comments on the time split? Thanks.

gailmo

Sounds like you have a wonderful trip lined up! I think of hotels only as a place to sleep. The joy of the country is in the people and the place so don't stress too much over finding hotels. Santa Maria probably will do a good job in finding something for you.

I also hope you enjoy Vietnam....I love the country and it people. Just be prepared for chaos!

cestgaston

Actually,question for Kathie.
I try to contact you on your blog but am not sure my message went through.It looked like the window"froze".Anyways,how was Mrauk Oo and the boat ride?I am leaving on January 19 and eager for your comments on Sittwe...

Kathie

I think your itinerary is just perfect for the amount of time you have. I'd ask Santa Maria for other hotel suggestions.

cestgaston, I'm working on my trip report and will give lots of detail about the boat from Sittwe to Mrauk U. I'll give all the info I wish I'd had ahead of time! No matter which boat you take, Expect rustic. My answer is too long to post here, but I expect to have my report posted in the next few days.

cestgaston

Thanks Kathie.Can't wait

smacdvanbc

Hi Kathie. Welcome back to this side of the Pacific! Waiting expectantly for your trip report.

Stephen

susncrg

The hotels in Bagan that we were going to stay in are fully booked ( Bagan Thande and Tharabar Gate) and Santa Maria had mentioned Kumudara as a replacement as I mentioned in an earlier post. In further researching it looks like Kumudara is in the new city and I would prefer the old city. So Santa Maria says rooms are available at the Aye Yar Riveerview resort. It gets mixed reviews on TA (but whoever knows with those reviews anyway). Looking for anyone who knows this hotel and has an opinion. The photos on TA were not impressive, but I don't know what the other hotels look like either. thanks for any help you can give.

gmoz

I stayed there in 1984 when it was Irrawaddy Inn. I went back and had a look last year from the outside and coulsnt belive it was the same place. Min Thu assured me it was the same place. It loks good from the outside and right on river.
If the hotels are booking out fast it may be best just to take any one since you probably wont be spending all that much time in the hotel. Anyway this one looked good from outside and i doubt you will be disappointed.
The hotel has a website you can visit and get an idea of the standard.
http://www.baganayeyarhotel.com/index.php/accommodation

susncrg

Thanks. I guess I will go with it.