Traveling in Myanmar
Myanmar (Former Burma) is know as the country of the golden land. This is in part because its landscape is covered in beautiful temples painted in gold also known as Pagodas. If you’re planning on visiting this beautiful nation and you’re a bit thight on schedule, I belive that you can see the main attractions of Burma in as little as 10 days. This is our advice on where you should start and where you should end it. Myanmar is a very beautiful country but at the same time it can be a challenging experience. Exploring this country that recently opened its doors to tourism in 2012 is what we can call a ''tough cookie''.
Before you to Myanmar, here are a few important things that you should keep in mind:
- They only accept crispy clean US dollar bills and kyat currency. Therefore make sure the bills are not ripped or they will not take them.
-The food in Myanmar is not very good (Unless you're willing to spend a lot in higher end restaurants) and at times they have very poor hygiene. I was sick myself for 3 days after eating “chicken”. So be careful where you eat. Make sure you do not take ice in your drinks, undercooked meat or vegetables that have been soaked in tap water.
- When you arrive at each destination by bus, there will be about 15 locals waiting for you outside the bus to offer your guest houses, food, articles or taxis. Remember, just take a deep breath and ask them to give you a minute. They will understand. Take your time to get yourself together and then walk back to the crowd to negotiate and find the most convenient deal for you.
- Once your trip is done make sure you get rid of all your kyat money before you leave Myanmar! As soon as you get out of Myanmar that money becomes useless and no bank in the world will give you anything for it.
- Rememer, to travel to Myanmar you have to get a visa before you arrive. It costs around 50$ and takes 1 day to get it in Bangkok. However, one of the most ideal way is to get one is online. Please remember that online Visas are only accepted if you're flying into Burma. They will not accept them if you arew arriving by land. We used this webpage to get our Visas and we had no problems: http://www.visacenter.ca
Day 1 to 2: Yangon
I would recommend to arrive to Yangon very early in the morning, check into a hotel or hostel (Hostel World offers many different choices in this city) and then take a cab to see the main attractions. Each cab should be around 1000 to 2000 kyats (which is 1$ to 2$ USD). Taxis are very inexpensive in Myanmar and I would suggest that you use them as your primary source of transport when moving around this city. To be honest, if you are thigh on schedule and you are the kind of person who loves to move fast, Yangon can very well be done in one day. Your hotel should be able to tell you which are the main Pagodas to see and also the main street markets and restaurants that are popular. Some of the things you must visit during your stay there are the temple of the Shedagon pagoda and chinatown (which is filled with street food and will surely give you a great cultural shock!). Yangon is a very busy city with heavy traffic, so if you are taking the bus or taxi it can take up to one hour to your destination. The city is very chaotic but interesting to see. Avoid taking the train tour since is very slow and nothing out of the ordinary. If you have seen slums in a third world country before, then this is just one more and it will offer nothing new. You can spend sometime walking around the busy street of the downtown near chinatown. Overall, I would recommend 1 day to 2 days in this city. Remember, save your precsious time for what is coming ahead, you will not regret it. Once you're done with Yangon, the next morning take a 4:30 AM bus to kyaiktiyo which should be roughly around 10 000 kyats ( 10$ USD). Your hotel should be able to arranged this for you without any problems.
Day 2 to 3: Golden rock
Usaully when you buy you bust ticket at you hotel you can also ask for a pick up service to the bus station. If they do not offer a pick up service (which in never usually the case), you can get a cab to Yangon's main bus station which is located about 1 hour from the down town area. In the station you can catch a bus that will take you to Bago in about 5 to 6 hours. The bus will then go through Bago and do another stop at Kyaikto (the actual town where the golden rock is located at). Once in Kyaikto, you will have to take a taxi to Kin pun which is only 5-10 minutes away from Kyaikto. Kin pun is an even smaller village serving as the base camp to the golden rock. This little Village offers a "shuttle service", if you can call it that, to the Golden rock on top of the mountain. The ''Shuttle service" is a large pick truck that has been added benches to fit about 40 people and takes 30 to 45 minutes to the top. They usually try to fit as many people and marchandise as possible making it a little bit uncomfortable and delaying the departure up to one hour until it's full. The cost is around for this ride is around 3$ USD. Once you are on top of the mountain you have to pay another 6$ USD to see the Golden rock. I know this all sounds very complicated but it isn't. Jus take one step at the time and don't feel shy to ask locals for directions. They will be more than glad to help you. Also remember that women are not allowed to touch the Rock because of burmese cultural beliefs. However, the view points of this temple located up in the mountains will offer great breath takings view to compensate.
You can do this trip in 1 day from yangon but I strongly recommend that you sleep at Kin Pun. It will make your trip 100% more enjoyable and less rushed. The rock is very beautiful and if you get nice weather you can get a spectacular view. However, if you're short in time and you wish to get on to the next destination remember that you can see the rock in as little as 1-2 hours. What takes long is getting up there due to their "shuttle system" ( about 1 hour ).
Day 4: Traveling to Inle Lake from Yangon
Depending on how much time you're planning on speding at the golden rock, you can easily book a morning bus to Yangon and arrive there in time to book your bus to Inle lake. Note that Most buses leave from Yangon to Inle Lake around 4 pm. Take a morning bus from Kyaiktiyo to Yangon which should take between 5-6 hours. Just make sure that when you arrive to the bus station in Yangon, you do not to listen to the kids that will try to take you to their bus companies for comission. I recommend you to look around first to find the most comfortable bus. Whenever available, inverst in a VIP bus. It is only 1 or 2 dollars more and it will make a whole difference. Remember, the drive to Inle lake from Yangon can take about 13 hours so you're better off booking a night bus where you can get a good night sleep. It is totally worth it to pay a little more.
If you decide to leave the golden rock on the same day to head to another destination and not waste time, it is possible also! However, be advised that you will most probably not make it back to Yangon to take the Inle Lake bus at 4 pm. Therefore, you will have to book a night bus to Mandalay from Yangon and continue your journey there. Most buses from Yangon to Mandalay leave around 8 or 9 pm and take about 8 hours to arrive to their destination.
Day 5 to 6: Inle Lake
The bus will drop you off in the little town of Shwenyaung. Then you have to catch a taxi to Nyaungshwe which is the closest town to the lake. You also have to pay an entrance fee of 10 USD to get to Nyaungshwe. The boats only leave early in the morning, around 7-8 am. It cost between 15$-25$ usd depending on the time of the year. The more people you are, the cheaper ( around 6 people maximun). In the morning it gets a bit chilly in the boat but do not worry, the rest of the day you will be melting. The ride lasts until 4 pm or 6 pm and they take you to many little shops in the lake where they show you how they make cigars, boats, cotton clothes, lottus cloths and much more.
Once the boat trip is done and you are back in town, you can rent a bicycle ( 1,000 Kyats or 1 USD) to go to the vineyard for wine tasting. Its located on top of a little hill about 20 minutes away from the main town. The location on top of the hill offers a fantastic view of the town. The wine does not taste very good, so try the wine tasting for 2$ before you buy a whole glass of wine you might have to force down your throath. I recommend 2-3 days inle lake. If you have time, make sure you rent a shared taxi to go see the Pindaya caves which are located about 1 hour away from Inle Lake. Once you're satisfied with Inle Lake, Book a night bus to Bagan.
Day 7 to 9: Bagan
If you followed my advice by taking the night bus, you should be arriving to Bagan around 4:30 am! If you can get the bus drivers to drop you infront of your hotel, you might be able to save the 20$ entrance fee to this touristic area. Else, once the bus drops you at the main station, you can try to negotiate with the taxi driver to skip the toll to avoid paying the entrace fee.
The best area to stay is old Bagan, avoid staying in new Bagan, it is far from the temples and quiet. The most economic hotels in Bagan are the Winner hotel ( 14$ to 20$ USD for a room with two single beds) and the Princess Bagan! (which is around 20$ USD but is luxurious and has a gorgeous pool!). Both of these hotels are located in the heart of old bagan, they have A/C and they're both 5 minutes away from each other by foot.
Bagan is by far the best destination in Myanmar. I would recommend to stay there between 3-5 days so you can recover from your long journey. Bagan is a very spread out town surrounded by over 3000 temples and pagodas that most were originally built between 1100-1300AD and some as early as 900AD. They have many similarities and many differences from the many other countries and temple sites that I have visited over the last nine months. There are many ways you can tour the temples here. You can rent E-Bikes for the day which is a great way to see the sites here. You get a very nice electric bike for $5/day. The roads are flat and it is easy to find your way around. You can stop and walk around the pagodas and go inside and even climb up many of the temples. You can also rent a bicycle, if you feel like doing some sport, (only 1000 kyats) and do some of the temples of old bagan.
There are so many temples to see, I would recommend 2 days to explore all the temples. If you are tired of going to temples, you can get a shared taxi from your hotel to visit Mount Popa. It costs only 10$USD and it only take a few hours to do this attraction.
Another activity that is worth checking out is the Hotel resort that owns the Bagan tower ( which is a brand new tower from where you can take a look of the temples from very high up) charges only 5 000 kyats to enter ( 5 USD $). Also you have to go to the resort and take a look at their infinity pool! When I went prices had gone up from 10$ to 30$ if you want to swim. Otherwise seeing it and taking pictures is free. If you are very hot, this hotel also offers another pool across the reception hall which is only 10$ USD. Once you're satisfied with Bagan, book a night bust to Mandalay as late into the night as possible since it is only 6 hours away.
Day 10: Mandalay
Mandalay. This is a city just like any other city in a thirds world country. It looks very similar to Yangon but a lot less busy and you can easily see everything in just 1 day. You should be arriving here around 4-5 am if you took the last night bus from Bagan. If you want to check into a hotel, I recommend: Nylon, Green garden or ET. They're all at walking distance from each other so you can visit all three of them to see which one gives you the best price. Green garden will probably be the winner but beware: Their cheapest rooms do not have A/C. In Mandalay A/C is a must! It gets hot as hell during the night. With no A/C you will pay only 10$ USD but you will also have to be ready to face the unberable heat. With A/C you will pay anywhere from 15-20 USD$. Take a day tour around the city in a motor bike ( 15 to 20$) and by 7 pm you will have seen everything there is to see in Mandalay. In the bus station where you arrive from Bagan you can easily find a driver who will be willing to drive you around all the main attractions for about 30$ USD for the car. If you are traveling solo you can get a motor bike tour for about 15-25$ USD. Just leave your bag at the bus station where you booked your night bus ticket and take anything of value with you.
Day 11 to 12 ( Optional) : Pyin Oo Lwin
If you've finished seeing Mandalay and you still have some extra time before your flight back home, you can always go to Pyin Oo Lwin. Its a small town in the north east of Mandalay located only 3 hours away by bus. However, do not expect to see much in this town. The only activites that are worth your time are the waterfalls and the garden of the city. The waterfalls are definetly a must visit but the parc is nothing out of this world. It's a cute garden with live bands and a great place for a family picnic. Nevetheless, if you do not have enough time to see this town - you can be reassured that you are not missing out on too much.
While you're back packing through Myanmar you will most probably hear other backpackers claiming that Hsi Paw is a location out of this world and that it's a must see. The truth that is that it is not. It is just another jungle and if you're not into trekking in the mud and the rainy forests of Myanmar then you have no reason to be there. However, If you're into these stuff, this place is located about 6 to 8 hours by bus from Mandalay ( It takes this long mainly in part because the bus will take detours to stop at little towns on the way). Nevertheless, If you decided not to go then you will not miss out on anything out of this world. Hsi Paw is just a burmese forest like all the others.
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