ngodeia

Hi!

I am planning a 6D5N trip in January to Yangon, Bagan, and Inle Lake. I've asked two Yangon-based agents for proposed itineraries with similar (but not identical) stops and hotels. Myanmar Damsel came back with a price quote that is 50 percent less than the other one. I am therefore leaning toward Myanmar Damsel if it is recommended as a reliable company. I would love to hear your opinion if you've used its service before! Thank you in advance!

Hanuman

I don't know the travel agent you've mentioned but I don't think you have enough nights to make the trip worthwhile. If you don't have any more free time then I suggest 1 night in Yangon, 2 nights each at Inle and Bagan.

Kathie

I also don't know this company. I expect the price difference is due to differences in hotel prices, which have increased dramatically in the last couple of years. Check as much info as you can on the hotels they are putting you in.

Can you add any time to your trip? Hanuman has given you a reasonable plan, but have your one night in Yangon on your way out so you make sure you don't miss your flight out of Yangon. Indeed, try to get a flight out to either Bagan or Inle as soon as you can after landing in Yangon. Still you will only have one full day in each Bagan and Inle. Too bad - both are magical.

ngodeia

Thanks for your answers!

Hmmm ... Now I'm a bit worried about the fact that no one has used this travel agent before. I guess I'll do more Google searches.

I can't add any more days to the trip. Right now, the plan is 1 night Yangon -> 2 nights Bagan -> 1 night Inle -> 1 night Yangon.

I originally didn't even include Inle Lake as I really only wanted to see Bagan, but after reading some more about Inle, decided to add one night.

Hanuman

I strongly suggest that you change your plan to 1 night Yangon, 2 nights teach at Bagan and Inle.

Here are some pictures from my trip a few years ago that might help you to make a better plan.

http://khun-pook.smugmug.com/Holidays/Myanmar

Kathie

I night in Inle is worthless. Either spend two nights there or skip it. It takes two nights somewhere to have one full day. I'd recommend you fly to Bagan as soon as possible after landing in Yangon. Save your one night in Yangon for the end.

If you are interested in Buddhist temples and stupas, the ones at Inle have a unique iconography.

pat7592

We are planing to travel with them, Myanmar Damsel. Did anybody finally travelled with them?

Silverswimmer

This is what I have just posted on a similar thread
It is not on my "Recommended Myanmar Agents" list which is an analysis of those frequently recommended on TA, including ones that have arranged my visits in the past.
They have never been mentioned on that forum but I did find them mentioned on Thorntree in a post in 2012
"Hi,
I just came back from Myanmar and if you need a good and trustworthy travel agent I would recommend Myanmar Demsel. Their web-site is www.itravelmyanmar.com. The owner name is Ms Nwe Nwe and she is helpful and friendly.
Good luck."
I must admit I have never heard of any visitors losing money with a Myanmar Agent and if you are happy with the itinerary and price you should be fine.
Did you compare their prices with others or just go for their offer?
SS

pat7592

Hi Silverswimmer. We are 2 french couple wanting to travel 2 weeks in Myanmar in February with a local agency.
Our friends had this adress, Myanmar Damsel from a friend of a friend of a friend who travelled with them 2 years ago. I am happy with the itinerary and the price. The agency is very reactive and friendly in the emails. It is just that now I have to transfer 50% of the tour cost on a Bangkok bank. Everything is probable OK and the agency is probably good, but usually, I like to have feedback or checking things on the web when a transfer is asked. I am going to trust this agency, because our friends seem to trust the friend of a friend of a friend, and I will give you my feedback in late February when I come back from our travel. Thank you for the answer!

ngodeia

Hi! I posted the original question. I did end up using Myanmar Damsel for my January trip. Their arrangements worked perfectly and we were happy with the guides and drivers in each location. The accent of the guide in Bagan made his English difficult to understand at times, but we got through by asking follow-up questions, etc. Moreover, his encyclopedic knowledge more than made up for it. The owner of Myanmar Damsel or her assistant, I can't remember which one exactly, even called one of the guides to talk to us while we're there to make sure we were satisfied with everything and that we were enjoying ourselves. The one thing my husband and I didn't enjoy was the trip up Mt Popa. It was way too tacky for our taste.

susiesan

I agree about Mt Popa. It was rainy the day we went so we couldn't see any view at all. It was so wet and dirty. The temple at the top is not very well maintained and was tacky. I wish we had skipped it. It was a very long drive for a big nothing.

pat7592

We are the 2 French couples coming back right now from our trip with Myanmar Damsel. We have been very satisfied with everything with them, the guides were very careful and respected very well the program fixed before, and did always the best they could. I arranged the program with Thida Nwe Nwe in November and we decided 2 days in Rangoon, 3 in Mandalay, 3 in Bagan, 4 in Inle including a 2 days trek from Kalaw to Inle and night in a monastery. We had 4 different english speaking guides in each place (since the french speaking guides are more expensive and rare, and we preferred a real english immersion). I highly recommend you Myanmar Damsel. Except the night in monastery which of course must be sober, we had very nice 5* hotels, especially the Aureum Palace resort in Bagan which is exceptional and so romantic with an incredible view upon the ruins.

David54

Belatedly, I agree that your proposed trip is far too short. And to help readers know a little bit about Myanmar Damsel (which I hope you used), I am including the same review that I am about to post on TripAdvisor:

My wife and I just returned from a 9-week trip to Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia. Although in the USA, Canada, Australia, Europe and some other places we typically rent a car and travel by ourselves, we thought it prudent to have a local tour company set up drivers, guides and private vehicles for this adventure.

In preparation for the three-week Myanmar segment of the trip, I contacted a number of tour companies in Yangon, both large and small. Some didn’t respond at all, some responded but couldn’t communicate well in English, and some responded and simply weren’t very helpful. And then there was Myanmar Damsel Travels and Tours, and its General Manager, Nwe Nwe Khine, who are in a category all by themselves. (Contact information:; email: [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]; website: www.itravelmyanmar.com; office phone: [+95] 1-538-250; cell phone: [+95] 9-510-5376; address: 66/68 San Yeik Nyein 6th Street, 4th floor, Suite 4A, Building B, Kamaryut Township, Yangon, Myanmar).

I had already done quite a bit of research on Myanmar but still had a lot of questions, and so I began to fill in the blanks with long emails to Nwe Nwe. Not only were Nwe Nwe’s responses comprehensive, professional, and well-written in English, but it was clear that she knows her country inside out, and loves what she does for a living. She also apparently didn’t mind my long emails or the sheer number of my questions, and took the time to answer them all in detail, usually by the next day. Frankly, I was surprised by her responsiveness, which I had never before experienced from a tour company.

With lots of help from Nwe Nwe, we set up an itinerary, as follows:

- First we flew from Bangkok to Yangon and spent 2-1/2 days there;

- Then we flew to Mandalay where we spent four days exploring the nearby areas (e.g., Paleik, Sagaing, Mingun, Inwa, Amarapura and Pyin Oo Lwin);

- From Mandalay we drove to Monywa (to see Bahi Tataung, Thanboddhay and the incredible caves at Po Win Daung and the Shwe Ba Taung);

- From Monywa we proceeded to Bagan by car (stopping to see the ruins at A Myint and Pa Khan Gyi along the way) and by private boat (a 2-1/2 hour ride on the Irrawaddy River, ending with sunset views of the riverside pagodas);

- Then we spent four days in Bagan (with one of the days consisting of a boat ride to Salay);

- From Bagan we drove to Inle Lake (with stops at Mondai Village, Meiktila and Kalaw);

- We then spent four days at Inle Lake (with private boats for 3 of the days— don’t miss Sankar, by the way— and a side trip to Kakku on the fourth day);

- From Inle Lake we flew back to Yangon, where we spent another day and a half (including a full-day planned visit to Bago and half a day shopping) before we caught our departure flight to Singapore.

Nwe Nwe set up the entire trip for us, including private vans, guides and drivers, the internal flights, our private boats, the balloon ride at Bagan (not to be missed), and even a show at the Marionette Theater in Mandalay. And not only did everything go off without a hitch (in itself a truly amazing feat in Myanmar), but we had some of the best guides, and without a doubt the best driver, that we’ve ever had in all of our overseas travels. At the last minute, the “best guide” at Bagan (Sai) became available, so Nwe Nwe switched us to him, and he was fantastic. And then there was Tim, our driver from the time we landed in Mandalay until we arrived at Inle Lake, who could not do enough to make our trip memorable, who helped my wife in and out of the van and up and down riverbanks, who placed pillows behind her head for long drives, and who became like a son to us.

All of this, at literally half the price of what we would have paid through some of the other tour companies I had contacted.

As if all she was doing for us was not enough, Nwe Nwe personally came to the airport when we first arrived at the airport in Yangon, just to meet us face-to-face. Then, the next-to-last day of the trip, she took us shopping in Yangon. Both of these times our guide was with us as well, but Nwe Nwe took the time out of her busy schedule to personalize the trip for us, and to make sure that she herself added special moments and experiences that we would never forget. In fact, we were so happy with the trip, and felt so close to Nwe Nwe, that we bought her a gift just before we left for Singapore (which we had never done before for any tour guide or tour company). It was a way-too-small gesture of thanks on our part, and could not come even close to expressing our gratitude for the incredible time we had in Myanmar, all thanks to Nwe Nwe and Myanmar Damsel Travels and Tours.

But stay tuned, since it didn’t end there. As it turned out, I had mistakenly purchased a picture-filled coffee table book of the Bagan pagodas, that was all in French (for some reason I spaced out and thought I had bought the English version), and didn’t realize it until I reached Singapore. When I emailed Nwe Nwe to see if the same book could be obtained in English, she purchased the book and mailed it to us in the States, all at her own cost!

Long story short, Nwe Nwe became not only our tour arranger par excellence, but also a friend; and should we ever be fortunate enough to visit Myanmar again, it will only be with Nwe Nwe’s assistance. Thank you, Nwe Nwe for a fabulous trip!

pat7592

Yes, we also had an extraordinary experience with the trip that Thida Nwe Nwe arranged for us. Before booking we made many changes in the program and asked many questions. The answers by mail were very quick. We could see she tried to make the best. She made the best to get the hotels we mentioned. I think she really works hard and likes her job. During the travel, she called us (via the guide phone in the car), in order to know if everything was fine. Once, an internal flight was delayed, which was not such a big thing, and she added a free lunch for us, in a restau in Bagan, and asked the guide to make arrange the program and time in a way we miss nothing of the sightseeing. The price was rather good considering we had 5* hotels, especielly the wonderful Aureum Palace in Bagan and Aureum resort in Inlé.