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 Myanmar travel tales
Our customers share their travelling experiences in Myanmar.
Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation.
Also, you might want to read our
Bagan city guide,
Inle Lake city guide,
Mandalay city guide,
and Yangon(Rangoon) city guide.
Pages (9 of 22):
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| C Koelnsperger |
17 August 2003 |
Stayed at Thamada Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Before we travelled to Myanmar, our perception was unsafety, riot, drugs, etc (for all the negative things that appear in the news). We spent 9 days in Myanmar which at first we thought it might be too long. Our perception was completely wrong. The beauty of the country, the friendliness of the people, the unspoiled nature, the magnificence of all the religious stupas, all these really made us want to come back. We felt like we travelled back to the past, to the place that we always want to have and to live in.
We were impressed by the people who work so hard and were so sad that they can only earn what we think is penny to us. We usually started with bargaining, knowing that what we were offered was a tourist price, but we ended up paying more than what they requested. And we felt happy of doing that, of seeing the smiles and appreciations from their faces. And we know that our money went directly to their hands, not to their government.
For us who enjoy the convenience of driving cars, there are some out there who have to drive the trishaw with all their energy to earn 1 US$ for a few hours.
At the end, what we got from this trip besides seeing all the interesting places, is happiness deep inside us, of forgetting the chaotic city, and enjoy the nature and the friendliness of these Myanmar people.
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| E Rubin |
08 August 2003 |
Stayed at Inle Lake View Resort - Inle Lake, Myanmar.
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Inle is amazing. Make sure to visit the weaving factories at the southern end of the lake. Also take lots of film--it is hard to imagine any place more photogenic.
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| E Rubin |
01 August 2003 |
Stayed at Popa Mountain Resort - Mandalay, Myanmar.
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Mount Popa is amazing. Just be aware that if you choose to climb the 777 steps to the top of the monastery, you will be doing so barefoot, as shoes are not allowed. The steps are covered much of the way but there are several sections that are basically ladders. There are wild/semi-tame monkeys all over the monastery, and they occasionally grab visitors' possessions or jump on visitors. They also leave their droppings everywhere -- and remember, you will be barefoot! The view from the top makes it all worthwhile, though. A magical place.
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| H Prince |
06 July 2003 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Don't convert hard currency to Kyat, the local currency, other than the $200 US one must convert to Foreign Exchange Currency (FEC) on arrival at the airport.
Use the FEC to pay part of your hotel bill to get rid of the money which cannnot be converted back to hard currency. The dollar is accepted, even preferred, everywhere in a country that is in hard economic times. Find out what the street conversion rate is, you will be approached by money changers, and try to get people like taxi drivers to convert hard currency at the street rate rather than the official rate, which will be about 40% lower than the street rate. Always negotiate the taxi rate before you begin the trip, there are no meters. The hotel will take you back to the airport in an air conditioned private car for $5 which is less than the taxi from the airport on arrival at $6, use the booking agents you will see as you leave the baggage claim area on arrival. Be prepared for a slow arrival process, baggage is slow to be returned, the immigration is bureacratic, and people don't understand the FEC conversion requirement and take time to complete all these steps.
Be prepared for everyone to demand higher prices as a foreigner for entrance fees, for example, the fee is $5 to enter the She Dagon pagoda-a must see, breath-taking, world class experience, hire a guide, takes about two hours and will be worth it, guide fee is also $5, map is $1.
Pace yourself for the heat/humidity combination in Myanmar, probably the most debilitating in SE Asia, worse than Vietnam and Thailand by far, places I also visited on this trip.
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| D Grant |
26 June 2003 |
Stayed at Traders Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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This was my first visit to Myanmar. The timing was not great, with the recent clash between Government and opposition factions, and its results. However, this did not detract from the fact that the people are charming, the temples are glorious, and the food is wonderful. Procedures at the airport on arrival and departure are unnecessarily complicated, and currency conversions are confusing, but I'm looking forward to going back - on holiday this time.
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| R Scherler |
02 June 2003 |
Stayed at Summit Parkview Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Only brief stay in Yangon - used local taxi service to maximise time -
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| S Crawford |
31 May 2003 |
Stayed at Bagan Hotel River View - Bagan, Myanmar.
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We used horse and cart to get around the temples - it is too large to walk around and in May/ June, it is too hot to ride the cycle. Unfortunately, the balloon rides do not operate from May to October. We can recommend the Sarabha (huge portions!) and Nanda restaurants. The Nanda restaurant has a marionette show that is much better than the Mandalay Marionette and Culture Show.
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| S Crawford |
29 May 2003 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Mandalay - Mandalay, Myanmar.
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We chartered a boat to Mingun which allowed us to stop at villages along the way. Mingun was the most touristy place in Myanmar although there was still not very much hassle. We would thoroughly recommend the 40 minute trip to Amarapura (by taxi) coinciding with lunch time at the monastery (about 10.30 am) as the sight of 1,000 monks lined up 2 by 2 is amazing. We got around Mandalay using trishaws.
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| G Sauber |
27 May 2003 |
Stayed at Summit Parkview Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Don't visit the Karaweik restaurant on Kandawgyi lake - a deserted place at least in the afternoon! Choose a good downtown street stall instead, or for something more upscale, the Green Elephant restaurant (also in Mandalay).
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| S Crawford |
27 May 2003 |
Stayed at Inle Lake View Resort - Inle Lake, Myanmar.
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On arrival from the airport, we made a detour to Pindaya caves before checking into the hotel. This was worth the effort and cost $10 extra for the 4 hour trip. We hired a boat through the resort (this could also have been done locally for half the cost) and spent a full day seeing the best parts of the lake. The boatman took us to all the sights that we wanted and also several tourist traps (cigar makers, cotton-weavers, blacksmiths, silversmiths) although no-one pushed us very hard to buy anything. InDein is the most impressive sight on the lake and should not be missed. Jumping cat monastry is also fun.
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