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Old Jul 30th, 2011, 11:42 AM
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Myanmar Itinerary Feedback

I am planning a 28 day visit to Myanmar Jan 4th-31st. I have developed the following itinerary based mostly on Jules and Kathie's trip reports and in conjunction with Santa Maria travels. I am a well travelled male on the far side of 50, travelling solo. I have visited all countries in SE Asia and India and Sri Lanka as well. I am a temple fan and enjoyed 5 full days in Angkor and two weeks viewing Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka.

Day 1-2 Yangon: Kandawgyi Palace
Day 3 drive to Golden Rock, visit Bago on the way: Mountain Top Hotel
Day 4 drive back to Yangon in the morning and fly to Mandalay in the afternoon: Hotel by the Red Canal
Day 5 visit Amarapura and Inwa, proceed to Monywa: Win Unity Hotel
Day 6 Monywa – visit Po‐win‐taung in the morning and return to Mandalay, visit Sagaing on the way overnight Hotel Red Canal
Day 7 visit to Mingun by boat in the morning and visit Mandalay in the afternoon Hotel Red Canal
Day 8 Mandalay – Bagan by boat: Tharabar Gate Hotel Bagan
Day 9-11 Bagan
Day 12 Bagan – fly to Heho – drive to and visit Pindaya, then proceed to Kalaw: Pine Hill Resort
Day 13 Kalaw
Day 14 Kalaw – drive to Kakku via Taunggyi, proceed to Inle Lake: Paramount Inle Resort
Day 15-16 Inle Lake
Day 17 Inle Lake ‐ free leisure in the morning and fly back to Yangon in the afternoon
Day 18 fly to Sittwe and boat to Mrauk U
Day 19-20 in Mrauk U: Shwe Tha Zin Hotel
Day 21 boat to Sittwe‐fly to Thandwe (Ngapali)
Day 22-26 Ngapali: Pleasant View Resort
Day 27 fly to Yangon
Day 28: Depart Myanmar

I have declined guides from Santa Maria except for Mandalay and area. I have booked with Min Thu for my 3 full days in Bagan and plan to hire my own boats in Inle. Kakku includes a required local guide. As well I have declined Santa Maria transfer services except on first arrival in Yangon and in Mandalay.

I want to see interesting sites and have enough time to enjoy them without feeling rushed and exhausted from a heavy travel schedule.

Some questions:
1. Would guides be useful elsewhere than planned? I have usually done without them in my travels. Hiring car and driver usually has sufficed.
2. Any feedback on visiting Po-Win-Taung and Pindaya given other things on my itinerary? Worth it? They each add time and considerable transporatation costs.
3. I have a picture on my office wall of Golden Rock and it has motivated me to visit. Can anyone comment on whether a visit is worthwhile?
4. After reading a range of comments, I have decided to forego the Chin Village tour while in Mrauk U because the last think I want to do is gawk. Good decision?
5. Finally, any other suggested changes/comments?

Thanks for your input.

Stephen
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Old Jul 30th, 2011, 01:44 PM
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Wow! What a wonderful trip! 28 days - I'm envious! And you get to visit Bagan and Mrauk-U on the same trip!

I think you have a good overall itinerary. LIke you, we don't often use guides. Personally, I wouldn't add guides anywhere you don't already have them. I think you'll really enjoy Min Thu.

I would get Santa Maria to do airpot transfers for Inle... I don't know how you are planning to get to Kalaw, but having seen the state of most taxis in Burma, I liked knowing I would have a comfortable, functional vehicle for the trip to Kakku. Consider whether you want Santa Maria to arrange that transport. The airport is a good hour from Inle.

Both Po-Win-Tang and Pindaya get some mixed reviews, as does the Golden Rock. I find it is often hard to tell from reviews what attracted a person or didn't about a place. Given that you have a photo of the Golden Rock on your wall, I'd go. One thing I've read is that being there in the early morning adds to the atmosphere. We opted not to go to Pindaya as it looked quite similar to the Perfume Pagoda in VN. I like to have enough time to absorb some of a place, so we opted to forego that in the name of more time on the Lake. But if you have the time - why not? We loved every moment on the lake. Do go to the Southern part of the lake if you can - Sankar. The stupas rising out of the water were lovely.

Travel in Burma is slow and subject to odd delays. The infrastructure is falling apart. As a number of people have observed, the Brits paved the roads and sidewalks in Yangon and they haven't been touched since. So be aware that you may have to flex a bit. For that reason alone, you may want to take out a costly, time-consuming side trip or so.

Have a wonderful trip. We are very much looking forward to our time in Burma in November.
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Old Jul 30th, 2011, 04:22 PM
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Oh we loved Burma! Your trip sounds great.

Like Kathie I would not recommend arranging any more guides what you have set up sounds perfect. Min Thu is a treasure. We had Santa Maria arrange for a car & driver to take us from Mandaly to Bagan & then from Bagan to Kalaw & then Kalaw to Inle via Kakku. Three separate days & 3 different drivers but this worked out very well I would think about having them arrange some of those types of transfers for you.

We are lovers of temples also. Spent 10 days in Siem Reap on our return trip because the first time around was not enough!

We had 22 days in Burma so 6 less than you but we did not stop at Ngapali so we had a similar amount of time for the other places. I admit that Po-Win-Taung and Pindaya were originally in our plans but after a lot of thought we did not end up planning to go to those places basically we just decided to use the time elswhere. So I cannot comment on what those places are like hopefully someone else will be able to give you an idea. I find googling photos helps me sometimes decide. We ended up not going to the Chin villages so cannot help you out there.

We loved Kakku. Ended up spending a few hours there. The place is magical as the breeze blows & the stuppa bells ring & there was only about 6 other tourists we saw there the whole time. (this was just post elections last year & I think tourism was down) InDien on Inle Lake is also a great place. Take a walk up the dirt road to the left of the main covered walkway area. At to start of the trail there are some ruined stuppas/temples inside some of which you can see crumbled statues. Ask Kathie suggests if you have the time the south end of the lake is a great trip.

Enjoy Burma
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Old Jul 30th, 2011, 09:14 PM
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We will be just in front of you it looks like. We fly from Yangon to Mandalay on Jan 2nd.We have just 16 days and doing the main circut. Are you from Vancouver? By your Fodors name I assume you are. We are from the island. Your trip looks amazing and it will be interesting to hear your travel stories if you do a trip report, which I hope you do.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 02:17 AM
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Sounds like a wonderful tour.
However I am very concerned that you have declined transfers. Usually the tour companies can arrrange transfers as cheaply or cheaper than you can, and with a lot less fuss and bother.
For example at Heho airport the transfer to Inle is quite a long way, and while we had a driver i dont recall other drivers coming up to ask if we wanted a transfer

The Paramount is excellent at Inle, the people are so nice there. However agin this is about a 45 min boat ride and if you dont have a transfer organised you could waste time and money. Make sure you leave time to get there before dark as they say it is dangerous on the lake at night. Our tour company organised a boat and driver for us while we were there and he was excellent. no need for a guide.
So think about getting transfers and drivers from the tour company as they can supply good ones that speak some english and are reliable. Furthermore there is little if anything to be saved and the potential for major time wasting. Any other country I would advise you to wing it but here is different.
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 07:42 AM
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Thank you to everyone for your detailed replies. Kathie and Jules, your trip reports and posts have been a real help to me in planning this trip and making decisions on what travel agency services to include or decline. So big thanks.

And a special thanks to Kathie for recommending Min Thu. I feel fortunate to have been able to book him.

Hi to live42day. Yes I do live in beautiful Vancouver. It sounds like I'll be sliding into Min Thu's carraige the day after you depart Bagan!

A point of clarification. My comment re declining transfers was perhaps unintentionally misleading.

I have declined transfers in and out of Yangon on 2 of the 3 occasions I'll be travelling through there, on departure from the Mandalay hotel to the dock, in and out of Bagan, in and out of Thandwe for Ngapali, and out of Inwe back to Heho....which I will arrange directly with Paramount Inle Resort. I have found the agency transfer charges to be high: $25 each way in Yangon compared to $8 from the airport taxi booth, for example. So where it's a short and simple transfer, I thought I'd go with on the spot arrangements. Do you think I should reconsider these?

Rest assured, on arrival in Heho I am planing on using a car and driver supplied by Santa Maria for 2 days to cover the drives from Heho to Kalaw via Pindaya and then onward to Kakku to Inle Lake, including the lake transfer out to Paramount. Because of its length, I saw this more as a side trip rather than a transfer. And for the record, I am arranging transfers in and out of Sittwe/Mrauk U as well.

Still interested on any feedback from travellers who have visited Pindaya, Po-Win-Taung, or Golden Rock. Thanks.

Stephen
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 08:24 AM
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Ah, I now understand about the transfers. Yes, I find taxis easy and cheap at Yangon, though reports indicate that the price has now gone up to $10. Transfers at Bagan airport are also extremely easy. Minthu or his brother can do the transfer if you'd like. It's about 6000 kyat.

Craig has a trip report on Burma here, and he and Jeane went to Pindaya. http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...eport-2007.cfm

One of the things that made me less enthusiastic about Pindaya was the report in the LP that the government went in a "prettied up" the buddha offerings in the caves. Whether that is true - well, look at Craig's photos. It certainly doesn't look like the Pak Ou caves! Whether that bothers you or not is up to you.

Learning that both you and Deb are in Vancouver make me think we should have a Pacific NW gtg after we are all back from Burma!
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 09:28 AM
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Yes Kathie I am all for that! I will be back end of January and although I live on the island come to Vancouver all the time. February or March would be great
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Old Jul 31st, 2011, 06:57 PM
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Ok I understand about the transfers. Our tour company (Shan yoma) included all transfers drivers etc in the price.

We went to the Pindaya caves this time. They are quite nice but not sure if they are worth the drive. My wife ( a devout Buddhist) liked them but I was a little underwhelmed. The caves are in very good condition, much better than Pak Ou in Lao as said before. In fact I think all the caves in Burma are in very good condition and better than other countries. The cave in Pyin U Lwin is similar and also in good condition . Kathi will see this one on her upcoming tour.
I am not sure if it is the Government that keeps the caves in good condition or it is the devoted people that maintain the caves. A lot of the individual images have "sponsored by.. " signs, you even see these signs on stupas at other places.
If you do go to Pindaya there is a nice restaurant beside the lake near there.
We also stopped beside the road and bought honey in a Johhny Walker bottle that was delicious. We bought some more later in Pyin U Lewin which turned out to be mainly sugar and water. Sigh.
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Old Aug 2nd, 2011, 11:46 PM
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Thanks everyone for your input. It has been so helpful and I have revised my itinerary as a result.

Deb and Kathie, I would love to hook up for a get together either before or after our trips. Give me a shout the next time you're planning a Vancouver visit.

I have been a busy beaver since my last posting. I have decided to make the itinerary simpler and to visit fewer places. I am also looking for some balance between seeing sites and relaxing, so I don’t want too hectic a schedule.

I have eliminated the side trips to Monywa, Pindaya, and Golden Rock. As a solo traveler, the transportation costs for these alone were adding almost $1000 to my trip cost.

I will use Santa Maria for some airport transfers, for car and guide in the Mandalay area, and for a car from Heho to Inle via Kakku. Car for Mandalay, over 3 days, including airport transfers will cost a total of $175 and guides a total of $75. Heho-Kaku-Inle car with Kakku guide only is $165. These prices are not cheap but, based on posters feedback, I have decided that a good car and a good guide for the ancient cities outside Mandalay and the transfer to Kakku/Inle are worthwhile expenses.

I submitted my revised plan to Santa Maria yesterday and have now heard back. All hotels are available except for one night in Madalay where I am on a very short waitlist which should clear soon I have been told. BTW, I did try previously to book the Savoy in Yangon for this trip but couldn't get it.

Here is the (pretty much) final plan:

Day 1-2 Yangon
Day 3 Mandalay at noon(Santa Maria airport transfer, car and guide half day city sites )
Day 4 Amarapura, Inwa, Sagaing (Santa Maria car and guide) o/n Mandalay
Day 5 Mingun by boat(Santa Maria car and guide) o/n Mandalay
Day 6 Mandalay at liesure
Day 7 Mandalay – Bagan by boat
Day 8-11 Bagan: Min Thu booked
Day 12 Bagan – fly to Heho – Santa Maria car to Kakku-Inle
Day 13-15 Inle Lake own arrangements
Day 16 Yangon
Day 17 fly to Sittwe and boat to Mrauk U
Day 18-20 in Mrauk U: own arrangements
Day 21 boat to Sittwe‐fly to Thandwe for Ngapali
Day 22-26 Ngapali:
Day 27 Yangon
Day 28: Depart Myanmar

Hotels:

Yangon: Kandawgyi Palace
Mandalay: Hotel by the Red Canal
Bagan: Hotel @ Tharabar Gate
Inle: Paramount Inle Resort
Mrauk U: Shwe Thazin Hotel
Npapali: Pleasant View Resort


Any glaring bad choices or other comments? Appreciative of any feedback. Thanks everyone.

Stephen
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Old Aug 3rd, 2011, 06:29 AM
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I think this is a good plan. If you decide you want to add back in a side trip, you can likely make local arrangements.

I'm sure it will be a wonderful trip. I will look forward to your trip report.
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