Offwego to Burma
 

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions and answered silly questions. I've made virtually no solid plans but I've got my uber crispy C-notes, a rough idea of where I want to go and three weeks to figure it all out. I'll let you know if I find anything interesting along the way.

This will be the first trip in over a decade that I haven't brought a laptop along. Freakishly freeing! :)

Have a great time Lori, looking forward to the details.

Lori, have a wonderful time. I'll look forward to your report!

Have a nice trip, Lori. I look forward to following along.

Craig, don't you have a report to write?? :)

I'm multitasking...

Have a great trip. I'm sure you'll fall in love with Myanmar. Are you taking a pen and notebook?

No pen and paper but have an itouch and a camera :)

21st C girl

Trip to Burma was amazing. I booked everything through Santa Maria and was very happy with that decision. Had I to do it over, I would forgo their drivers and hire my own on the street. I found local drivers to speak better english, be more willing to go off the tourist trail and infinitely cheaper.

Favorite part of the trip was Inle Lake. Bagan was underwhelming and glad I didn't spend more time there; maybe I'm templed out from living in Siem Reap too long, not sure. I did find it super annoying being tormented by sellers at every temple, so I mostly went to the smaller, and so then less fantastic sites.

I found the food in Burma to be pretty bad in general which is strange since there are good Burmese restaurants here in Siem Reap...I managed to lose weight on the trip, so I reckon that's a bonus! :)

I did not find it to be as cheap as I was expecting.

Doing the "loop" of Yangon, Inle, Mandalay, Bagan was a good entry into the country although I did feel a bit "herded" and somewhat detached from the man on the street. I am looking forward to going back on my own and getting into the more remote areas. Investigating a river trip; the times I spent on a boat this trip were particularly wonderful.

We saw the Moustache Brothers in Mandalay; highly recommended. If you go, smuggle in some western magazines such as Newsweek, Time, etc; very much appreciated by them.

I was stopped in the street by policemen making note of my passport number and noting where I was going. Upon entering certain office buildings, a note was made in a book about why I was there and who I was seeing. All this I found amusing. Wonder what they do with all those composition books full of random data about where foreigners go? I also found it interesting that the propaganda billboards are translated to English.

Pics here:
http://tinyurl.com/loripicsburma

Thanks to everybody who gave tips, if I can answer any questions I'm happy to.

Forgot to mention that I had no trouble getting on the internet anywhere except Inle but I stayed in a hotel that stated they didn't have it, perhaps other places do. In Yangon and Mandalay I could get on Facebook and Yahoo without problems. In Bagan I could get on gmail only. Speed was very slow but I'm used to that :)

Great Pictures and thanks for the infor on the internet. Did you have your own laptop or use the internet cafes?

Lori were you expected to carry your passport with you at all times in case anyone stopped you?

I'm so glad you enjoyed Burma! Lovely photos you took.

It's interesting how you felt about Bagan. I loved Bagan, and we're making a short stop there again this trip. The temples are very different from Angkor. In contrast to Siem Reap, it felt to me like there were very few sellers. Of course, we also had a horsecart driver who took us to less visited temples, and at the popular temples took us to a side entrance so we avoided all that at many temples.

Inle is really special. Did you get to the Southern part of the lake?

And I agree about Burmese food. I think it has to do with what ingredients are readily available.

Very nice photo Lori - you're gifted!

Toatlly agree with the food. The only thing I really remember enjoying was a spicy shrimp dish we had at Inle Lake!

We did not get swamped by sellers at the Bagan temples at all. Could have been our timing or the fact that like Kathie we asked to be kept away from the popular places at busy times. I remeber going to one place that had lots of stalls but they were empty the sellers had not arrived yet! Consequently we hardly bought anything!

Am going to look at your photos as soon as I get the chance!

One word, Lori - Chindwin.

BTW, You were only atopped in the street because you look <i>suspicious</i>. The rest of us had no such problem.

Hey Dogster where have you been?

Here:
triffitt.wordpress.com

Wow , thats who are are. Impressive work.

Love your new website, dogster!

offwego- thanks for your informative report. I have booked 28 days in Myanmar in January using Santa Maria. With them, I have booked an airport transfer in Mandalay, car and guide in Mandalay for 2.5 days and airport transfer to Inle from Heho via Kakku (using compulsory Kakku guide only). I am making my own arrangments for cars/taxis and guides elsewhere.

I am inclined to keep the Santa Maria transfer from Heho but would be interested in your thoughts about Mandalay. Did you use local drivers/guides there? Which sites did you visit in the area and what transport would you recommend? Do you think guides are worth it in the Mandalay area at $25/day? Thanks for any info you can provide.

Stephen

Chindwin. DingDing. That sir, is the correct answer.

Kathie I was so tired of the sellers after the first day that I gave up and got on a bike the second day and returned to a few big temples to see if I could sorta sneak in another entrance, etc. Not to be. They would always find me, hound me down, follow me around, it was really annoying. After 5 years in Siem Reap I fancy myself as having some pretty good avoidance methods, but nothing really worked. I gotta say it lessened my experience at Bagan. At least at Angkor, once you're inside, you can relax.

Inle was on the other hand absolutely magical.

Here's my two cents about guides in Mandalay: absolutely not important unless you have no idea what to do or where to go in which case you will be taken on "the circuit" which is fine, but super hard to get them to break out of it. All over Mandalay you'll see tiny blue and white trucks with benches. Find one of those guys that seems jovial and has some English and head out. I had a MUCH better experience once I figured this out.

The Mandalay airport is far from town; I did find it nice to have the SM driver there with my name on a sign and have a nice ride to town, but after that it's sorta overkill.

From Mandalay we went to U Bien Bridge twice, at different times of the day; we went to Mingun which was nice mostly for the boat ride. We saw a Pagoda or two, went to Mandalay Hill for the obligatory sunset, and I shopped for textiles (much to the taxi driver's delight~!:) I saw the Moustache Brothers one evening, which I recommend.

The police: they just needed my passport number and destination, no one asked to see my actual passport. I could have told them whatever I wanted and sometimes did.

Took my first trip in a decade without my own computer and did not miss it. Nowhere had wifi anyway. I used internet cafes and/or whatever computer they had at the hotel(s)

Fabulous Dogster,love it.

Lori, As you know I also love textiles and plan to shop for them in Mandalay. Any recommendations you have for specific places to buy would be much appreciated. I also plan to shop in Yangon. BTW, did you get any of the lotus fiber textiles at Inle?

I'm not a big fan of using guides (with a few notable exceptions), as I do a lot of research ahead of time. I asked only for a car and driver for our time in Mandalay. Frankly, after the god-awful taxis we rode in in Yangon, I wanted to make sure we had an ok vehicle!

Kathie I found the best selection of old and new pieces at a place called "Rocky", 27th Street, between 62nd and 63rd. 09-2013447. I did not get any of the lotus fiber textiles at Inle as it was pouring rain the day we were near there and we opted to head back to the hotel.

There was a place selling hilltribe textiles and jewelry at Scott's Market in Yangon that had some nice pieces at a very good price. I can't remember the name of the place but it was on the 2nd floor and seemed to be the only one of it's kind at that market; I'm sure if you asked someone they could tell you where it is.

Happy hunting! :)

Many thanks, Lori!

I've described that same shop in here, lori, multiple times - but nobody listens to me. It is excellent - AND the one next door.

Here's a Chindwin teaser for you.
http://dogster5.wordpress.com/chindwin-2/

You can only go in September or October. Better turn round fast.

Oh, I have your description of a shop in Scott's Market in my notes, dogster, so don't feel neglected. I'm just looking for as many recommendations as I can get.

I love the photos, very tight cropping that really works. The colours are so vibrant.

I was never stopped by the police, in fact I cant recall seeing any police although they must have been around. Being stopped reminded me of an incident back in 1984 when a mad Frenchman nearly had us in trouble with the army; despite the best efforts of a super polite Burmese communist party official who tried the stop the Frenchman incriminating himself. I must write up this incident sometime as it is so funny (now not then ) and something Dogster could turn into a great story.

As for the touts around Pagan I hardly saw any except the painting vendors who were usually half asleep. I seemed to attract more touts in Angkor who followed us around the temple and even when we were eating lunch.

As to the cost of the drivers all our drivers were included in our tour organised by Shan Yoma and the price was so reasonable I didn’t entertain not using their drivers. I must admit I didn’t get an itemised price, just a total for everything included.

I must agree Burmese food is ordinary at best. Exceptions are the Moon Vegetarian in Pagan and the Taste of Mandalay but I wasn’t impressed with the Monsoon etc. I find Burmese food lacks the freshness of Thai or Khmer. The food in Siem Reap is excellent and worth a visit for the food itself. However I prefer Burmese food to Vietnamese or Lao; just a personal thing I guess.

Anyway thanks for the photos and the trip report, it makes me want to return once again.

As an aside: Just finished reading 'Saving fish from Drowning' which is a good read if interested in going to /or been to Burma IMO.

offwego.....thanks for the info on Mandalay in response to my question. Appreciate it.

stephen

Your photos are superb! Greatly enjoyed them!!!

I would also like to applaud the pics. Excellent work there, Lori. You are an artist, a caring, sharing human being and, in my eyes at least, a Siem Reap Superstar.

ah shucks. :)

Lori, your photos are awesome! It is a photogenic destination, but you have taken that natural designation and raised it a couple of notches.

What hotels did you use? Particularly in Mandalay and Inle. And were you booked ahead?

Sounds like overall internet is improving in Burma.

Thx wintersp.

In Mandalay stayed at the Mandalay View Inn, across the street from the Sedona. $35/night. Charming, locally owned, spotless, sweet staff, excellent internet cafe (with Facebook & yahoo a couple of blocks away. Best food we had in Burma was Indian food for breakfast at the tea shop next door.

At Inle, stayed at the Paradise Inle Resort Hotel which I adored. Stilt bungalows out over the water, very well equipped $45/night. Uber romantic in the rainy season :) The bar/restaurant was a tad overpriced with mediocre food but I would stay there again, this time BYOB.

Booked all the hotels through Santa Maria because they were 30-40% cheaper than what I could get on my own, so yes I booked them ahead, which I did not like one bit once I got there. SM was very good about changes on the fly.

Lori,

Love, love LOVE, your photos. What a remarkable, emotional, artistic eye you have.

I can "feel" Burma through your photos

Very nice. Thanks : )