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 Traveller's Tales: Places to go and see in Myanmar
Take a tour of the top places to go in Myanmar. You may read about must see places and activities in the area. Also, you might want to read our
Bagan city guide,
Inle Lake city guide,
Mandalay city guide,
and Yangon(Rangoon) city guide.
Pages (7 of 9):
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| G Li |
30 September 2002 |
Stayed at Mandalay Swan Hotel - Mandalay, Myanmar.
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I have visited many palaces throughout the world. Some palaces and truly stunning and amazing. Even smaller palaces were generally interesting, charming and exciting in their own way. However, despite its large size, there is nothing to see inside the royal palace of Mandalay. It feels like an empty Hollywood stage set. All the buildings are empty. All you see are identical pillars after pillars inside each and every building.
You can see a nice sunset at the top of Mandalay Hill. Many students studying English go there to meet foreigners, practice their English, and learn about the outside world. The are among the friendliest people that tourists can meet.
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| G Li |
28 September 2002 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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After visiting a number of spectacular United Nations World Heritage sites throughout the world, I think Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon is a must see.
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| G Gutjahr |
15 September 2002 |
Stayed at Strand Hotel, The - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Myanmar definitely is a lot less developed than Thailand or Indonesia; at the same time, this is what makes the country feel more genuine.
This makes even the usual tours (Yangon markets, Bagan) exciting.
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| M Dathan |
23 August 2002 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Yangon is a rather depressing place to visit. You can almost smell the decay (and corruption?) of the city. For starters, the whole city could do with a fresh coat of paint! The Sofitel is in a good position to see the great temple and the local markets.
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| R Payarol |
17 August 2002 |
Stayed at Traders Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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We visited Mandalay, Bagan, Inla Lake, Kalaw, Kyakhito and Yangon. Don't miss Bagan and Inla Lake (there you spend 1 night in a hotel inside the lake. Restaurants recommended: in Yangun "Sabai Sabai", in Bagan "Sarabba" in Old Bagan.
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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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| S Borron |
13 July 2002 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Yangon is not a place I would go out of my way to visit again. The military presence there is somewhat stifling, the city has limited things to see. The people in Yangon are decidedly less open than in Mandalay. The Green Elephant is a great restaurant for Myanmar food and handicrafts.
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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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| 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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| 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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