| M Steggles |
14 May 2005 |
Stayed at Summit Parkview Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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I was in Yangon during the May bombings. Still, I felt terribly safe as a single female over 50 traveller. By all means take your camera and walk through People's Park to the Pagoda, go to the Bogyoke Aung San Museum and have Ma Thin Thin give you a tour. If you need something luxurious, go for tea at the Strand. The Sabai Sabai is excellent for lunch although the quality decreases on a busy weekend evening. If you are interested in traditional pottery, take the ferry to Twande. Go the Gar San Glass Factory where lovely pieces can be purchased for as little as 50 cents US. They do a really good job packing. Be careful and shop around before buying anything in the Aung San Market and if you need glasses check out Academy Optical at 140/141 Bogyoke Aung San Market. Progressive lens in flexible frames including eye exam were $63 US!
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| L Kenyon |
21 February 2005 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Augustines near Green Elephant Restaurant is still the best for antiques. Ask for Mark!
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| L Kenyon |
24 September 2004 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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For antiques after much hard work STRONGLY recommend Mark at Augustines near the fabulous Green Elephant restaurant - prices less than 30% of Bangkok - taxi drivers however reluctant to take you there because of low commissions.
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| J Tullis |
03 March 2004 |
Stayed at Thazin Garden Hotel, Bagan - Bagan, Myanmar.
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Strongly recommend getting a licensed guide. It totally enhanced our experience. We only had one day to tour Bagan, so we hired a car. It was hot, so the air conditioning helped. We dined at all three of the restaurants on the river in New Bagan. They are tourist-focused restaurants and each has a regular clientel of tour groups. Riverview was the best food. Sunset gardens was the nicest view. And Si Thu was cool b/c they had a marionette show, but the food wasn't anything special. Our favorite was River View.
We also would suggest getting to the market in Nyaung U. It is well worth the visit. It is a bit crowded, but worth while and very different than the markets we went to in Inle Lake and Yangon.
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| G Subramaniam |
12 February 2004 |
Stayed at Golden Island Cottages 1 - Inle Lake, Myanmar.
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In Inle do not miss the absolutely fascinating and colourful Nampan Market (market day is once every five days). The Bamboo hats might come in handy on the sunny boat rides on the lake.
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| E Norton |
26 January 2004 |
Stayed at Grand Plaza Parkroyal Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Yangon is a very interesting city, fascinating markets, good buys. Augustines' Antiques has good buys. Green Elephant and Ashoka are good restaurants. Be prepared for very poor communications (telephone and FAX) within Myanmar and very expensive international communications. We were ripped off at the "official" exchange rate booth at the airport just after leaving customs. Try to change most of your money at the hotels or in the markets. Otherwise, officials are for the most part friendly and helpful. Bagan is a must place to visit. We have visited Luang Prabang, Angkor Wat, and Bagan, and found Bagan the most fascinating.
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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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| R Sargent |
04 April 2003 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Great shopping for jewels and gems. Don't even try going towards the area where Aung San Suu Kyi lives unless you don't mind rifles pointed in your face.
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| N Remise |
05 March 2003 |
Stayed at Bagan Hotel River View - Bagan, Myanmar.
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Lots of sightseeing. Bagan plain is packed with thousands of monuments and temples on 50 square kilometers. The best way to visit is with horse carts (parked just outside the hotel): bicycle is OK on roads, but proves difficult on sandy tracks. Interesting morning market in Nyaung U.
Good dining in hotel garden restaurant. Another good option: Sarabha restaurant, just outside Old Bagan city walls.
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| S Yee foong |
21 February 2003 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Hotel serves very good Italian good. Chinese restaurant in hotel is not particularly good. No large shopping centres available except for the market.
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Traveller's Tales: Shopping suggestions in Myanmar
