Myanmar in 26 days (January-February 2015)

Myanmar (Burma) wasn't in my top visit list country. But I got the opportunity to be off from work for a month and I had 2 friends come to Myanmar in the same time. Pagodas, Old Bagan and Inle Lake are the most famous tourist interest, yes we visited, and we also went to some location that might inspire you to visit. For the visa, you can register online, easy and fast. Print your visa and bring when enter the country by airplane.

Sunset in Bagan

Fisherman in Inle Lake

Massive boat in Yangon

First day I arrived in Yangon by airplane. I booked the bus to Mandalay in the airport and took taxi to the downtown. I went to Aung San Bogyoke Market to look around and change money. To kill the time, I took the Yangon Circular Train for 3 hours, it was nice experience. And then I spent the afternoon in Mahabandola Garden, right in the middle of downtown, where the Sule Paya are. My bus to Mandalay took a whole night, it was good bus and good service.

A kid in Yangon Circular Train

Mahabandola Garden in Yangon

Second day, I arrived in Mandalay early morning and go to hotel (to meet my friends) by motorbike taxi. After slept for half day, we went out walked to the Palace, but on the way was big rain and we completely wet, so we went back to hotel by taxi. In the evening we went to the night market, and we had a yummy noodle soup.

Noodle soup in Mandalay

Third day was misty, we went to some areas in the south of Mandalay by car. We stop by Shwe In Bing Kyaung(Monastery) and Mahamuni Paya(Pagoda) to take some pictures, and then go to a Snake Temple in Paleik. The temple is decorated with snakes statues, and they do have real snake. After that, our driver took us to a complex of ruins pagodas just in the neighborhood. They are starting to do some restoration, but I do like the old one. After lunch, we took a short boat crossing the small part of Ayeyarwady River to Inwa. In Inwa we took horse cart ride for 2 hours and visited Bagaya Kyaung(Teak Monastery), Yanada Hseme complex, and Maha Aungmye Bonzan Kyaung. In the end of the trip, we visited the famous U Bein's Bridge in Amarapura. This bridge isn't connecting river side, but the Taung Tha Man Lake.

A monk praying in Shwe In Bing Monastery

Ruins pagoda complex in Paleik

Female monks in Maha Aungmye Bonzan Monastery

U Bein's Bridge, the longest teak bridge in the world

The Fourth day was nice weather, after breakfast we went to the Jetty(port) to take a boat to Mingun, in the north west of Mandalay. As we bought return ticket, we only had 3 hours to explore this famous area. The big Mingun Paya, with ruin Chinthe in the front. Hsinbyume Paya, the white and big one. Big Mingun Bell, and Ayeyarwady River live.

Arrived from the boat, our driver took us to Sagaing Hill to visit Monks Monastery, Umin Thounzeh with 45 Budha images, The main pagoda in Sagaing, and for sure we can see nice view of the river and Mandalay from distance.

Ayeyarwady river live

The Great Mingun Paya

Hsinbyume Paya in Mingun

Monk University in Sagaing

45 budha images in Umin Thounzeh

The next day, we took a taxi for a day trip to Pyin Oo Lwin in the northeast of Mandalay. Pyin Oo Lwin was a British colony area. As it's located at an altitude of 1,070m, the temperature was quite cold in the morning. We visited a relatively new gold pagoda called Aung Htu Kan Tha and Pwekauk waterfall just in the opposite of that. We also went to Peik Chin Myaung cave a little bit further from the town, which also has a beautiful waterfall just nearby. In the end we visited the National Kandawgyin Garden.

Former hotel in Pyin Oo Lwin British Colonial area

Aung Htu Kan Tha Paya

Pwekauk Fall in Pyin Oo Lwin

Peik Chin Myaung cave in Pyin Oo Lwin

A waterfall close to Peik Chin Myaung cave

National Kandawgyin Garden in Pyin Oo Lwin

On the 6th day, we took a bus to Nyaung Oo, a place in Bagan which has cheaper accommodations than another area in Bagan. The bus took a half day, the view on the way was dry and some bad condition villages. Once arrived, we went around looking for place to stay. Before sunset we still had opportunity to visit Shinara Hang Oak Kyaung (monastery), walked through the village, Shwezigon Paya, and sunset by the Ayeyarwady river.

Shinara Hang Oak Kyaung in Nyaung Oo

Shwezigon, the main pagoda in Nyaung Oo

7th day was a real Bagan exploring, we rented bicycle which is very cheap and going around the Old Bagan by a map I got from the Yangon Airport. From our hotel, we headed south to see the Tower, but it was too expensive to go up. We passed many pagodas(paya) and temples(pahto) in very hot weather and dry area. Some main building you should visit is Dhammayangyi Pahto, Shwesandaw Paya(for sunset), Ananda Pahto, and Mahabodi Paya. Some other buildings are nice too, only one day is not enough to explore Bagan.

Interesting way to carry baby in Old Bagan

Sulamani Pahto in Old Bagan

Almost sunset time in Old Bagan

Night live in Bagan

As we still have long list for a whole trip, we have to go to another location. Not far from Bagan, there is a mountain called Popa. The special from that is there is a rock tower in front of that, Mt.Popa Taung Kalat. Unfortunately we was there in the noon, very hot and shiny. We used the public transport which is need to change one time in Kyaukpadaung. We arrived back in Nyaung Oo just before sunset, so I decided to rent a bicycle and went to Shweleiktoo Paya to take pictures of sunset in Old Bagan, it was amazing view!

Mt. Popa

Mt. Popa Taung Kalat

Public transport in Myanmar

Amazing sunset view in Old Bagan

The pagodas in Old Bagan

Our 9th day was mostly on the long way from Nyaung Oo (Bagan) to Nyaung Shwe (Inle Lake) by an old minibus. But the view on the mountain range was nice. We arrived just right before dark.

On the way from Bagan to Inle Lake

10th day was sunny, but pretty cold in the morning. After breakfast we rent bicycle and go to the east side of the Inle Lake. First destination is the Red Mountain Winery for wine tasting. And then we headed to a village called Maing Thauk, took a boat across the lake to Khaung Daing village. This area has natural hot spring, but it was too hot already. We ride our bicycles back to Nyaung Shwe and have some rest in the town before go back to the winery for sunset.

Very nice view in Maing Thauk village

Red Mountain winery and wine yard

The 11th day of our trip was about trekking, we started from Nyaung Shwe right after breakfast, headed to the east, and keep going up. We wasn't really sure about the name of villages we passed, as the local we met didn't speak English at all. The land are quite dry, was a hot day, but pretty good view. We ended up on the hill at noon, and went down to the winery. After sunset we went back to the hotel.

The hilly area

We meet some woman on the top of the hill

Many people in the winery for sunset

The next day was a mainstream one to do in Inle Lake, rent a boat all day long. But it's worth to do! Just make sure the price, time and places to see before jump into the boat. As we have night bus to Yangon, so we couldn't see all of the interesting spots. The most famous attraction is the unique technique the fishermen using for rowing their boat. We met some kind of birds too, and a bunch of seagulls. We went to the main pagoda with local market beside that. We seen the floating village and garden as well.

Fisherman in Inle lake

Seagulls following locals boat

Floating village in Inle Lake

Our boat passing the floating garden

We arrived in Yangon the next day, early morning. We went to the Railway station to buy train ticket to Bago and drop our luggage there. Yangon was very hot as we walked to Shwedagon Paya. We spent one hour in the complex and then took a city bus to the downtown and then walked again to Botataung Paya. From Botataung Paya we took city bus again to Sule Paya and then walked around the downtown. In the afternoon, after had a lunch, we jumped into the train. It took less than one hour to reach Bago(Pegu), the city we will stay for one night.

Shwedagon complex

Inside the Botataung Pagoda

Bago is a small city but has quite many interesting sites to visit. As we will take a bus in the noon, so we rented bicycles only for a half day. We went to Naung Daw Gyi Mya Tha Lyaung, a big reclining budha, with some interesting buildings surrounding. And then we went to big white pagoda called Maharzayde Paya. Through the main road(the road connecting Yangon to Mandalay), we visited the Kyitepon, a big 4 sitting budhas looking at different directions. The last one was the biggest pagoda in Bago, Shwemawdaw Paya. We had a yummy lunch in a local restaurant while waiting for the bus. We arrived in Kinpun just before sunset and take a rest before trekking to Golden Rock next day.

Big reclining budha in Bago

Maharzayde Pagoda in Bago

Kyitepon in Bago

Our 15th was another trekking day. We went up to Golden Rock from Kimpun in a sunny day, passed many small shops. Just before the entry point, we had lunch in a restaurant with a nice view. And then we decided to go down to the waterfall, and come back for the sunset in Golden Rock. Unfortunately the waterfall was disappointing, and then we slowly going back to Golden Rock through a shortcut. We arrived on the top just before sunset and it was thousands of people there. As it was already dark, we took a truck(the only public transport here), it was fast and scary.

A Monastery we passed on the way back to Golden Rock

The famous Golden Rock

Truck, the only one public transport that allowed to go up to Golden Rock

The next day we took a bus to Hpa-an, it took about 4 hours with 2 times stop in the local restaurants. Once we got place to stay, we went to Mt. Hpar Pu, the view from the top is breathtaking. We needed to take a short boat ride across the Than Lwin River. The rest of the day we went for dinner and planning how to explore this area tomorrow.

A picture i took from the bus just before arrived in Hpa-an

View of Hpa-an and the mountains taken from Mt. Hpar Pu

Nice spot on Mt. Hpar Pu

We decided to rent motorbike to explore the surrounding area of Hpa-an. First location was Mt. Zwegabin with Lumbini Garden. Walked up through staircase was harder because of the heat. There is a pagoda, monastery and shop on the top. The view on the way and on the top was really nice. According to the map we got from our guesthouse, there is a shortcut to Saddar Cave, but it was far and not really good road condition. We manage to get the Kyauk Kalat pagoda and monastery in the middle of a pond before sunset, not far from Mt. Zwegabin.

Lumbini Garden

View from the top of Mt.Zwegabin

Inside the Sadar Cave

On the way back from Saddar Cave

Kyauk kalat pagoda and Mt. Zwegabin in the back

I can say Hpa-an was my favorite area in Myanmar, but we have to get moving. We took a boat to Mawlamyine (Moulmein), the view was nice but i fell asleep in the middle of the way. It took about 4 hours. Once we get accommodation, we went to the Strand Road for sunset and we welcomed by hundreds of seagulls.

On the way from Hpa-an to Mawlamyine

Seagulls in Mawlamyine

On the 19th day, we took a taxi to go around, as the interesting sites was quite far. We went to Kyaikmaraw Paya, which has different pose of budha than the common one. We was lucky because it was Mon State National Day, almost everybody dressed up in red color. They celebrated in pagoda's complex with some games. After that we went cross a hill to the biggest reclining budha, Win Sein Taw Ya. Just before that we welcomed by budha statues. On the way back to Mawlamyine, we stopped by 2 limestone mountains. One called Myanmar Mountain, and the other one called Hindi Mountain.  We also stopped by the Railway Station to buy train ticket to Dawei. And then the driver drop us on Mawlamyine hill, which has some sites in walking distance.

One of the games, part of the Mon National Day celebration

3 meters tall budha statues welcoming before the big one

Win Sein Taw Ya, the world's biggest reclining budha

View of Myanmar Mountain from Hindi Mountain

A nice monastery complex in Mawlamyine

Mahamuni Pagoda in Mawlamyine

Very early in the morning, the driver picked up to the Railway Station, to go to Dawei. We mostly slept on the way, until the sun rising and we stopped at Thanbyuzayat Station. There were many food and drink sellers. The journey continued to Ye Station, where we needed to change to a shorter train, as we headed to the mountains area. The train went slow, and the bushes hit us by the wide open window. It was an interesting whole day ride. From the railway station, we took motorbike taxi to the town.

Morning activities in Thanbyuzayat Railway Station

The view on the way from Mawlamyine to Ye by train

Inside the old train from Ye to Dawei

Our actual destination here was the beach, so after a night rest in hotel and breakfast in tea house, we headed to Maungmagan Beach by a tuktuk. There were only 3 accommodations in this area, for such a long beach. As we stayed right in front of the beach, we swam and had seafood lunch on the beach.

The bungalow we stayed in Maungmagan Beach

Second day on the beach, we rented motorbikes and drove to Nabule Kanche(Beach). The road wasn't so bad, but very dusty especially after a car passing by. We made a stop in 0km of Dawei big project, so sad that this nice long beach will become a harbour one day. We went to another beach across the hill, it was quiet and nice. Back to Maungmagan, we walked along the beach until the end, exactly in sunset time.

The quiet Nabule Beach

On the way from Maungmagan to Nabule

The 3rd day on the beach, was a walking along the beach to the south. We passed 2 fishermen's villages, some locals families played on the beach, and some quiet spots. Such a calm day!

The southest part of Maungmagan Beach

A quiet area between two fishermen's villages

The fishermen village was dirty

Kids playing football as the tide goes down

On the 24th day of our trip, we did run on the beach in the morning, breakfast and then went back to Dawei by a pick up car. After got tickets, (one bus ticket for me to go back to Yangon, and two flight tickets to Kawthoung for my friends to continue the journey to Thailand), we went for Dawei sightseeing. They have numerous of old buildings in walking distance.

One of the old building you can find in Dawei

Early morning, on the next day i went to bus station by motorbike taxi, and took the whole day bus to Yangon. We stopped two times in the local restaurants, and stopped in Mawlamyine for dropping some passengers. Good thing of daytime buses is we could see the view all the way. From the bus station in Yangon, I took a taxi to Sule Paya which has some cheap accommodations.

My bus from Dawei to Yangon

Sule Paya in the night

Last day of my trip, I went to the post office to send postcards of Myanmar to some friends, and walked through the small streets to buy books. I went to the big market as well, to buy more jade jewerly. I didn't forget to visit the lake, only for picture of massive boat, and the Cathedral. In the afternoon I made it to another small streets to see the locals activities and ended up for grilled seafood dinner.

Cathedral in Yangon

A massive boat inside the Kandawgyi Park in Yangon

The local Market in Yangon

Yangon downtown traffic in the afternoon

Another early morning i had to wake up and took a taxi to the airport. Oh I want longer holiday!

Map of my journey in Myanmar

As I visited for pretty long time in Myanmar, here some facts that might be useful for people who want to visit Myanmar in the future:

• No Motorbike is allowed in Yangon City. Some area of Myanmar such as Mandalay Region and Shan State needs a permit to drive motorbike. But you can easily rent and drive motorbike in Hpa-an and Dawei without permit.
• The drive side in on the right, but some vehicles has driver sitting on the right as well. So be careful! You can press your horn anytime needed though.
• It's very dusty in dry season, and very hot too. So prepare some mask, hat or umbrella if you think you will need it. It's quite cold in the night and morning in Bagan and Inle Lake areas.
• NO shoes on, no short pants/skirt, and no sleeveless  shirt in holy area including pagodas, temples and monasteries. Bring a sarong or longji will be a good solution.
• Most of the hotels are quite old, especially the bathroom. Accommodation started from 7 USD for single room with share bathroom. The nicest hotel we had was in Inle Lake, new buildings, private bathroom with hot shower, price including breakfast was 45 USD for 1 single and 1 double room.
• Don't worry about internet connection, we had wifi in all accommodations we stayed. Even though some of them was very slow.
• There are more ATM machines nowdays that you can use to withdraw money, especially in Yangon and Mandalay. Most hotels accept US dollar as well as the taxi drivers.
• Some area or place required alot of money to enter. Fr example, the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon required 8 USD for entrance fee, which you can get out and in again in the same day. Inle Lake area was 10USD for a week. Mandalay and Mingun also required some amount of money to enter.
• Local foods mostly cheap, as long as not in touristic area. You can get a portion of meat curry with rice and side dishes for 1 USD for local restaurant, and 3 USD in touristic area, including free pot of green tea. The most expensive food we had was in a fancy restaurant in Dawei, it cost 5 USD for a single meal. Drinking water in a big bottle is save and cost only 30 cents. You should try the street foods, snacks, tea house and local alcohol drinks. I saw some locals mixed Rum with water!
• Public transport connecting from one to another area was pretty good, especially the buses. The train was pretty slow but cheap. Boat trip also worth to do in Inle Lake, Ayeyarwady River and Than Lwin River.
• It  is a very safe country for a single woman traveler. I was amazed by that fact, as majority of the citizens are poor.
• Plan your trip before it getting more expensive!