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 Traveller's Tales: Getting around in Myanmar
Know the most popular landmarks in Myanmar. You may read about best transportation, recommended travel itinerary, suggested routes and directions. Also, you might want to read our
Bagan city guide,
Inle Lake city guide,
Mandalay city guide,
and Yangon(Rangoon) city guide.
Pages (6 of 7):
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| M De martigny & ms echon |
09 August 2002 |
Stayed at Traders Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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I started off my journey in exotic Myanmar at the Traders in Yangon. It was an excellent location to acclimatise myself to the streets of Yangon. Scott Market was just a mere stone throw's away. Yangon may not have the most modern spanking department stores you can find in Asian cities like Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur or Singapore, but Scott Market has what you need as a visitor hoping to indulge in some ethnic Burmese shopping. Maybe buy a longyi or lacquer piece.
You will feel different in Myanmar. You will feel like you have just stepped into a bygone era. Yangon might give you the feeling that you have stepped back into the 1940s and 50s. I wasn't born then, but that's nevertheless how I imagine it would be.
Take a break during your walk around the city by dropping in Cafe Aroma, which rivals Starbucks and Spinelli's any day. I am glad not to see images of MacDonald's, Colonel Sanders or Starbucks anywhere in Myanmar. I hope it remains that way. That's what makes Myanmar so unique and different from others in Asia.
The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon is not to be missed. It's beautiful, legendary and historical. It's one of 3 most revered shrines in Myanmar, the other two being Phaung Daw U Pagoda on Inle Lake and the Shwezigon in old Pagan.
Just as a matter of interest, the Sule Pagoda, just 5 minutes' stroll away from Traders, stands in tranquil contradiction right in the heart of noisy Yangon. Step inside and you leave the noise and din behind you.
Pagan, half an hour flight away from Yangon, is certainly not to be missed either, and not just because the Shwezigon pagoda happens to be located in Pagan. If you have little time in Myanmar, make sure that time includes visiting Pagan. Old Pagan is spectacular. With a bit of imagination again, you will feel like you have gone back in time - into a long-gone era. Pagan thrived in the 9th-12th centuries. There's little trace of the modern world as you move around old Pagan, except for the few tourist vans. Ancient red brick pagodas lined up the Irrawaddy faithfully. Take time to enjoy their silhouettes glowing red and golden against the sunset. Climb up one of the taller pagodas and it will be an unforgettable experience. There's nothing like it on earth - to be surrounded by glowing temples, no matter where you turn. It spiritual, beautiful, scary, magical, serene, tranquil .... everything. The feeling is indescribable.
I have seen the sun rising and setting against Ayers Rock in Alice Springs, Australia, which was spectacular. But in Pagan, it is an endless landscape of pagodas rising all around you! I don't think the kings of early Pagan who built the pagodas in unabated enthusiasm from the 9th to 11th centuries quite realised the impact it would have on the modern-day visitor of today.
My next destination was Inle Lake, about 40 minutes flight from Pagan, and I was told by the guide, 15 to 20 hours if you took the train from Yangon. The Inle Lake is home to the Intha people, a properous farming community - by Myanmar standards. It can probably rival Bokhara in Nepal or Kashmir (before the war) in sights and beauty. It is a maze of waterways, but a more tranquil place on earth against hills and mountains would be hard to find. There are rows and rows of floating gardens - wheat, tomatoes, peanuts and corn are among some types of vegetables grown on the lake. You find pagodas and monasteries at every turn of the lake, like everywhere else in Myanmar. As I mentioned earlier, The Phaung Daw U Pagoda on Inle Lake is held in equivalent regard in Myanmar as the Shwedagon in Yangon or the Shwezigon in Pagan.
There are some good hotels lining the lake, but cheaper accommodation can be found at Nyaung Shwe, the jumping-off point for a trip to the lake.
If there is any place on earth where I would love to make a return visit, it would have to be Myanmar. My next visit will be soon enough, maybe this year end, and it will include what I have had to miss this time round, not for lack of interest, but rather of time, and that would be journeying to Mandalay and other parts of the country.
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| A Havard |
24 July 2002 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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don't buy Mandalay Air Line air ticket from abroad, it is more expensive.
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| C Tan |
14 June 2002 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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If you were to stay at Sofitel Plaza Hotel, it is going to be very convenience. You can walk to the famous Bogyoke market from the back of the hotel, it takes only 10 minutes. There is a very new and clean shopping centre and supermarket next to the hotel for any urgent replenishment of necessities. It will take only 10 minutes drive to go to Chinatown, Indiantown and Sule pagoda. Taxi rides cost usually around 500 kyats. In front of the hotel there is a famous church too. Lastly, it takes about 45 minutes to drive to ariport and if you use a taxi from outside it cost only 1600 kyats.
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| M Jonet |
03 June 2002 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Myanmar people are very friendly and I had a great time in that country, specially in Bagan. But since it is not yet totally developped if you think about going to that country, the best would be to pass by an agency who will organise a local guide for you. I have the chance to have some local friend and it was really cool but language is really an issue. if you are using credit card, only VISA is accepted and you have to verify more than twice to be sure the hotel accept the card otherwise they will charge you an extra 10%. Take lots of extra cash with you because there again if you want to cash out some money from your credit card only very few limited places will do it for a 20% charge....
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| J Grey |
10 May 2002 |
Stayed at Governor's Residence, The - Yangon, Myanmar.
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As with all cities, taxis will try it on, so negotiate and if the price doesn't move try another one. However the city isn't so big that you can't walk around and you always see more on foot. The area around the Pansea Hotel is full of old colonial houses that are now embassies, this is a very nice area for a stroll. Although there is no view of the Shwedagon Pagoda from the hotel, it is only a 10-15 minute walk away.
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| J Grey |
09 May 2002 |
Stayed at Mandalay Swan Hotel - Mandalay, Myanmar.
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Mandalay seems to be a little world all of its own. Exchange rates are lower there and things are a bit more expensive. However the people are lovely. A very friendly trishaw driver found us on our first day and we left ourselves in his charge from then on. Without him we would never have sat in the office of the headmaster of a monks' training school discussing the syllabus nor have been served ultra sweet tea and cake at a wedding before having our photos taken with the bride and groom. If you have the chance do go and see the Moustache Brothers, forget the dinner and shows that the hotels put on , this is the real thing.
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| W Rudi |
07 May 2002 |
Stayed at Savoy Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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In the near of the shwedagon paya, a good place.
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| J Grey |
07 May 2002 |
Stayed at Popa Mountain Resort - Mandalay, Myanmar.
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We visited Mt Popa after two days hard temple visiting at Bagan. The Mt Popa resort provided a very welcome break for our feet and the cool temperature and pool aided our relaxation prior to more temple visiting in Mandalay. The temple at Mt Popa is a little glitzy especially compared to those at Bagan and watch out for monkeys on the walk up.
If you're heading to Mandalay by road from Bagan (highly recommended, you see so much more this way even if you do break down), Mt Popa is a lovely place to stop.
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| P H smith |
02 May 2002 |
Stayed at Kandawgyi Palace Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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The hotel was very helping in arranging flight tickets to Bagan.
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| W Steven |
05 April 2002 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Shewdagon Pagoda, (5US$)lovely but a good deal of scaffolding and renovation at the moment.
Bogyoke market, great fun, lots of interesting things to buy and cheap.
Maha Wizaya (Free) a relatively new temple complex near to the Shewdagon lovely and worth seeing.
Sule Paya hard to miss located in centre of town.
Chaukhtatgyi Paya (donation)a very quiet spot housing an enormous reclining buddha.
Bogyoke Aung San Museum (2or3 US$) Nice architecture, few photos of the family and furniture ie; beds, tables etc Aung San's old car and an interesting book collection. Very basic good be improved upon as a museum.
Yangon Zoo (5US$) poor but what one might expect.
Inya Lake beautiful.
Cocktails at the Strand a beautiful building. Afternoon tea 10US$.
Taxis are plentiful and very reasonable and will wait if requested.
A two night stay is sufficient in order to see the highlights however an extra night may allow time to visit Bago.
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Pages (6 of 7):
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