Myanmar - any advice on things to see and do ?
Discussion
I just (30th sept to 29th oct) spent a month in Myanmar and had a fantastic time. As you will find out, the locals are extremely friendly and will ensure you have a great few weeks.
Hmm where to start...
Yangon is a vibrant and interesting city. I assume you will go to the large sites such as Shwedagon and Bohtataung pagodas so I won't go into detail. We saw all of the headline attractions so the only little recommendation I can give that you won't find in the guide books is to visit the Golden Duck restaurant on Kan Taw Min lake. Note that Golden Duck has 3 branches in Yangon.
It is your usual Chinese restaurant with lazy suzans etc and depending on what you choose to eat, the food can be average (not selling it well so far) but the location was great to simply get away from the busy streets of Yangon. Very nice view of the lake through the huge glass windows.
During our month, we visited Mount Kyaiktiyo (golden rock) which although amazing to see, took an inordinate amount of time to visit and I wouldn't do again.
We also went to Mandalay, Inle lake, Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, Sittwe (to take the boat to Mrauk U) and Bagan.
We travelled around by train and minibus with one internal flight between Yangon and Sittwe. I should warn you that the trains are hilariously bumpy. Although we didn't get the train between Yangon and Mandalay, I expect this section to be the same as all other sections we did travel on.
In fact, during our overnight journey between Bagan and Yangon, it was so bumpy that the rear carriage decoupled and we stopped in the middle of nowhere whilst it was reattached. I also came extremely close to falling out of the top bunk. A great experience nonetheless!
Bearing in mind all the places we visited, I would say that you must spend at least 3 nights in Bagan. We spent 5 and loved it. Absolute highlight of the trip was the hot air balloon trip at sunrise with Balloons over Bagan. We were travelling on a budget of £40-£50/per person per day all in(which goes very far) but were extremely glad we paid for the hot air ballooning.
Mrauk U was great simply due to the fact that there are so few tourists. Not as impressive as Bagan but still worth the detour.
If I've mentioned any places you'd like more info on then do as it's fresh in my memory.
I'm now in my second month away, sending this from Vietnam and its making me miss Myanmar!
Have a great trip
Hmm where to start...
Yangon is a vibrant and interesting city. I assume you will go to the large sites such as Shwedagon and Bohtataung pagodas so I won't go into detail. We saw all of the headline attractions so the only little recommendation I can give that you won't find in the guide books is to visit the Golden Duck restaurant on Kan Taw Min lake. Note that Golden Duck has 3 branches in Yangon.
It is your usual Chinese restaurant with lazy suzans etc and depending on what you choose to eat, the food can be average (not selling it well so far) but the location was great to simply get away from the busy streets of Yangon. Very nice view of the lake through the huge glass windows.
During our month, we visited Mount Kyaiktiyo (golden rock) which although amazing to see, took an inordinate amount of time to visit and I wouldn't do again.
We also went to Mandalay, Inle lake, Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, Sittwe (to take the boat to Mrauk U) and Bagan.
We travelled around by train and minibus with one internal flight between Yangon and Sittwe. I should warn you that the trains are hilariously bumpy. Although we didn't get the train between Yangon and Mandalay, I expect this section to be the same as all other sections we did travel on.
In fact, during our overnight journey between Bagan and Yangon, it was so bumpy that the rear carriage decoupled and we stopped in the middle of nowhere whilst it was reattached. I also came extremely close to falling out of the top bunk. A great experience nonetheless!
Bearing in mind all the places we visited, I would say that you must spend at least 3 nights in Bagan. We spent 5 and loved it. Absolute highlight of the trip was the hot air balloon trip at sunrise with Balloons over Bagan. We were travelling on a budget of £40-£50/per person per day all in(which goes very far) but were extremely glad we paid for the hot air ballooning.
Mrauk U was great simply due to the fact that there are so few tourists. Not as impressive as Bagan but still worth the detour.
If I've mentioned any places you'd like more info on then do as it's fresh in my memory.
I'm now in my second month away, sending this from Vietnam and its making me miss Myanmar!
Have a great trip
No tips but interested to hear more about your holidays (both of you and others) as planning a driving holiday around Myanmar next year (seems silly not to when i can see the mountains of the country from my bedroom window at the weekend!!!)
I would probably be driving in via the northern Thai border (same one that Top Gear went out of Myanmar from) and would like to try and get to the coast and islands on the western side + down to Bagen, although if lucky can get visa permissions to enter through either Pratchuap Khirikahn or Hellfire Pass and will save a lot of extra mileage!
I would probably be driving in via the northern Thai border (same one that Top Gear went out of Myanmar from) and would like to try and get to the coast and islands on the western side + down to Bagen, although if lucky can get visa permissions to enter through either Pratchuap Khirikahn or Hellfire Pass and will save a lot of extra mileage!
Hi John,
I have read quite a few posts written by you in the past and gather that you live and work in Thailand?
This will make it perhaps a lot easier to plan your road trip than someone over landing through Asia wanting to travel via Myanmar. This is simply because in my opinion, the only real constraint to accessing permit-only areas is time.
I have had a look at the places that you mention which you hope would save you time on your road trip and have some thoughts..
The Prachuap Khiri Khan (Singkhon) crossing appears to only be open to Thai nationals. Do you have dual citizenship or will you be travelling with a Thai national? The latter may make the process for you to be granted access here easier. If you do enter there, I believe you would also need to permission to travel within Tanintharyi Division (state) outside of Dawei city. I have no doubt this would be possible but you'd probably have to wait at least 2 weeks for permission.
I looked up Hellfire Pass. An interesting read but I couldn't actually find a border crossing? Google maps has it about 15km inside Thailand but perhaps I was looking in the wrong place.
More generally, main road quality was excellent. I would assume you're driving a 4x4 just in case. But think Vietnamese road quality, not Cambodian (despite recent improvements) or Laotian!
Driving into Bagan would be fantastic. The minibus drive from inle lake to Bagan went over some amazing passes. I know they went to some extremely remote stuff in top gear but even just sticking to slightly more well trodden routes, the scenery was phenomenal.
One final hurdle would be that I am pretty sure you need a Burmese driving licence to drive in Myanmar. An international permit won't do. This is not impossible to obtain but you will probably have to pay for someone to get it for you in Nay Pyi Taw.
I saw one British number plated over lander driving near Bagan so its not impossible to self drive of course!
Please ask if you'd like to know more. When I'm back home in 10 days or so I'll try to remember to upload photos.
I have read quite a few posts written by you in the past and gather that you live and work in Thailand?
This will make it perhaps a lot easier to plan your road trip than someone over landing through Asia wanting to travel via Myanmar. This is simply because in my opinion, the only real constraint to accessing permit-only areas is time.
I have had a look at the places that you mention which you hope would save you time on your road trip and have some thoughts..
The Prachuap Khiri Khan (Singkhon) crossing appears to only be open to Thai nationals. Do you have dual citizenship or will you be travelling with a Thai national? The latter may make the process for you to be granted access here easier. If you do enter there, I believe you would also need to permission to travel within Tanintharyi Division (state) outside of Dawei city. I have no doubt this would be possible but you'd probably have to wait at least 2 weeks for permission.
I looked up Hellfire Pass. An interesting read but I couldn't actually find a border crossing? Google maps has it about 15km inside Thailand but perhaps I was looking in the wrong place.
More generally, main road quality was excellent. I would assume you're driving a 4x4 just in case. But think Vietnamese road quality, not Cambodian (despite recent improvements) or Laotian!
Driving into Bagan would be fantastic. The minibus drive from inle lake to Bagan went over some amazing passes. I know they went to some extremely remote stuff in top gear but even just sticking to slightly more well trodden routes, the scenery was phenomenal.
One final hurdle would be that I am pretty sure you need a Burmese driving licence to drive in Myanmar. An international permit won't do. This is not impossible to obtain but you will probably have to pay for someone to get it for you in Nay Pyi Taw.
I saw one British number plated over lander driving near Bagan so its not impossible to self drive of course!
Please ask if you'd like to know more. When I'm back home in 10 days or so I'll try to remember to upload photos.
Hi Simon,
We only wanted to spend one night in Kin Pun which is the town at the foot of Mount Kyaiktiyo where the hotels are.
However, we were flying from sittwe to yangon in the morning and took a taxi from the airport to the train station to catch the train to Kyaiktiyo.
The only train (which I was aware was the case) that departed in the afternoon, departed Yangon at 1825 arriving at 2317. So we arrived in Kyaiktiyo town at 2317 and had to take a half hour motorbike to Kin Pun. Once checked in it was past midnight. Bearing in mind that I **highly suggest** you get up AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE in Kin Pun to take one of the trucks on the 1 hour journey to the summit, from which it is a 20 minute walk to the rock.
In other words... We were up at 530am after a knackering previous day hence it all feeling like an ordeal.
Seat 61 is a fantastic resource and completely accurate in Myanmar: http://www.seat61.com/Burma.htm#Yangon
If I were you I would be Getting the 902am train from Bago, arriving in Kyaiktiyo town at 1155am. This means that buses and taxis will still be running to Kin Pun town which is where you will sleep for an early start.
Of course if you take the later train, the trains are few and far between so you will arrive in Kyaiktiyo at 2317 thus no taxis or buses will be around. So you will have to take the motorbike to Kin Pun as we did... All fine but would have rather not.
Anyway, sleep in Kin Pun. A hotel I thoroughly recommend is Bawga Theiddi. You can book through agoda. Ask for a room in the main hotel block. This may sound odd but their "deluxe" rooms are a 20 minute walk down the road. Whereas the main hotel is directly opposite the truck stand: you get an open back truck with seats in the flat bed to the top od the mountain. This is an experience in itself of course!
I wish I had the above advice before we went but you live and learn.
Sorry this message seems to have turned into a "how to visit golden rock" guide but the blogs etc on the internet aren't 100% useful but I feel my guide is pretty fail safe having followed the blogs but still had to take the motorbike etc.
I should also say that you the first trucks leave the depot for the top at 5am. NOT 6am as we were told by hotel reception. It is 100% worth getting up as early as possible as you can watch the sky change colour with the golden rock in the foreground. Plus it gets very busy very early. We were leaving the summit at 830 and it was heaving.
I will have to give some info on other stuff too so please ask what you'd like to know about. I can't help on Bago as we didn't go but I believe it is worth visiting.
As for my little trip in Vietnam now, we have travelled south to north. I spent 4 weeks in Vietnam 2 years ago but we only got as far north as da nang. So I am currently in a new area for me and loving it. Trying to see the world at 22!
We only wanted to spend one night in Kin Pun which is the town at the foot of Mount Kyaiktiyo where the hotels are.
However, we were flying from sittwe to yangon in the morning and took a taxi from the airport to the train station to catch the train to Kyaiktiyo.
The only train (which I was aware was the case) that departed in the afternoon, departed Yangon at 1825 arriving at 2317. So we arrived in Kyaiktiyo town at 2317 and had to take a half hour motorbike to Kin Pun. Once checked in it was past midnight. Bearing in mind that I **highly suggest** you get up AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE in Kin Pun to take one of the trucks on the 1 hour journey to the summit, from which it is a 20 minute walk to the rock.
In other words... We were up at 530am after a knackering previous day hence it all feeling like an ordeal.
- however**
Seat 61 is a fantastic resource and completely accurate in Myanmar: http://www.seat61.com/Burma.htm#Yangon
If I were you I would be Getting the 902am train from Bago, arriving in Kyaiktiyo town at 1155am. This means that buses and taxis will still be running to Kin Pun town which is where you will sleep for an early start.
Of course if you take the later train, the trains are few and far between so you will arrive in Kyaiktiyo at 2317 thus no taxis or buses will be around. So you will have to take the motorbike to Kin Pun as we did... All fine but would have rather not.
Anyway, sleep in Kin Pun. A hotel I thoroughly recommend is Bawga Theiddi. You can book through agoda. Ask for a room in the main hotel block. This may sound odd but their "deluxe" rooms are a 20 minute walk down the road. Whereas the main hotel is directly opposite the truck stand: you get an open back truck with seats in the flat bed to the top od the mountain. This is an experience in itself of course!
I wish I had the above advice before we went but you live and learn.
Sorry this message seems to have turned into a "how to visit golden rock" guide but the blogs etc on the internet aren't 100% useful but I feel my guide is pretty fail safe having followed the blogs but still had to take the motorbike etc.
I should also say that you the first trucks leave the depot for the top at 5am. NOT 6am as we were told by hotel reception. It is 100% worth getting up as early as possible as you can watch the sky change colour with the golden rock in the foreground. Plus it gets very busy very early. We were leaving the summit at 830 and it was heaving.
I will have to give some info on other stuff too so please ask what you'd like to know about. I can't help on Bago as we didn't go but I believe it is worth visiting.
As for my little trip in Vietnam now, we have travelled south to north. I spent 4 weeks in Vietnam 2 years ago but we only got as far north as da nang. So I am currently in a new area for me and loving it. Trying to see the world at 22!
Edited by ollie j on Monday 17th November 15:28
Thanks for the info - i'll divulge it all later, had a few large bottles of Myanmar !!
I preferred the north of Vietnam to the south so i'm sure you'll have a great time. Try and get up to Sapa for a stark contrast to Hanoi. Don't miss out on the huge caves south of Hanoi as they are mighty impressive, can't remember the names currently but if you haven't found them out already i'll go back on my blog.
I preferred the north of Vietnam to the south so i'm sure you'll have a great time. Try and get up to Sapa for a stark contrast to Hanoi. Don't miss out on the huge caves south of Hanoi as they are mighty impressive, can't remember the names currently but if you haven't found them out already i'll go back on my blog.
ollie j said:
I looked up Hellfire Pass. An interesting read but I couldn't actually find a border crossing? Google maps has it about 15km inside Thailand but perhaps I was looking in the wrong place.
the boarder is actually called Nam Ron (N 13.92140 E 99.06219) but everyone locally refers to it as Hellfire Pass, looks more like a northern Pakistani border!!!RE thai / Burmese only on these borders, i know that other nationalities can cross with the correct paperwork as i have seen people crossing into Myanmar at Hellfire Pass with pre-arraigned visa's from the embassy in Bangkok
ollie j said:
I would assume you're driving a 4x4 just in case.
only way to travel in Thailand ollie j said:
One final hurdle would be that I am pretty sure you need a Burmese driving licence to drive in Myanmar. An international permit won't do. This is not impossible to obtain but you will probably have to pay for someone to get it for you in Nay Pyi Taw.
I drive on a Thai License, and as there are enough thai's driving across the border i assume that is enough but will check, thanks for the heads up. ollie j said:
Please ask if you'd like to know more. When I'm back home in 10 days or so I'll try to remember to upload photos.
for both me and the OP 
@K50 DEL I will certainly put some photos up when I get home. I should probably do a trip report for this trip as well as a couple of previous trips including a road trip via Kosovo earlier in the year. I am certain they would be of great help to some.
Simon, great photos! Clearer sky than the day we visited Shwedagon. Also, there was some matting around the base accompanied by bamboo scaffolding as they were reapplying gold leaf to some parts.
Simon, great photos! Clearer sky than the day we visited Shwedagon. Also, there was some matting around the base accompanied by bamboo scaffolding as they were reapplying gold leaf to some parts.
OK in the mean time I thought I should upload some photos I took with my google nexus. Took better photos with my SLR but these will do for now:
I see your bottles and raise you a tower. This cost £3 in Super 81 restaurant, Mandalay. Food was pretty good too!
Golden Rock at 730am
Zoomed in from a distance, on the walk back to the truck.
Waiting for the hot air balloon to fill with air before departure.
Enjoy!
I see your bottles and raise you a tower. This cost £3 in Super 81 restaurant, Mandalay. Food was pretty good too!
Golden Rock at 730am
Zoomed in from a distance, on the walk back to the truck.
Waiting for the hot air balloon to fill with air before departure.
Enjoy!
There were a few western tourists yes. A lot of Asian tourists too - mainly from Korea but perhaps the time we were there coincides with a national holiday.
A lot of people will say that it is easy to get off the beaten track all over Asia which is of course true but I would definitely argue that it is a lot easier to do in Myanmar.
For starters, how many people do you know who have been compared to how many people have been to Thailand or Indonesia?
Also, if you get up really early to visit certain big sites such as the temples at Bagan, you will find the place deserted. This was true a few years ago at Angkor but is no longer the case.
So in short... Get there as soon as possible! I understand that tourism is increasing exponentially each year so it is already far busier than it was, say, 5 years ago.
Simon, the chap in the hotel is quite right. I wasn't kidding about the carriage decoupling! It is horrendous but is one of those experiences in life you simply have to do. Maybe get the train from Yangon to Bago and see how you like it? If you find it tolerable, you can always get longer journeys.
Furthermore, I recommend the Goiktek viaduct which is between Pyin Oo Lwin and Hsipaw. Use the seat61 website for comprehensive info on this.
Edited to add:
The hot air balloon company is balloons over Bagan. They were absolutely fantastic. It cost 300 USD per person so £180 for 45 mins. I know this is more than it costs than in other counties but so what. It was incredible and pictures don't do it justice.
Website:
http://www.easternsafaris.com/balloonsoverbagan_ho...
A lot of people will say that it is easy to get off the beaten track all over Asia which is of course true but I would definitely argue that it is a lot easier to do in Myanmar.
For starters, how many people do you know who have been compared to how many people have been to Thailand or Indonesia?
Also, if you get up really early to visit certain big sites such as the temples at Bagan, you will find the place deserted. This was true a few years ago at Angkor but is no longer the case.
So in short... Get there as soon as possible! I understand that tourism is increasing exponentially each year so it is already far busier than it was, say, 5 years ago.
Simon, the chap in the hotel is quite right. I wasn't kidding about the carriage decoupling! It is horrendous but is one of those experiences in life you simply have to do. Maybe get the train from Yangon to Bago and see how you like it? If you find it tolerable, you can always get longer journeys.
Furthermore, I recommend the Goiktek viaduct which is between Pyin Oo Lwin and Hsipaw. Use the seat61 website for comprehensive info on this.
Edited to add:
The hot air balloon company is balloons over Bagan. They were absolutely fantastic. It cost 300 USD per person so £180 for 45 mins. I know this is more than it costs than in other counties but so what. It was incredible and pictures don't do it justice.
Website:
http://www.easternsafaris.com/balloonsoverbagan_ho...
Edited by ollie j on Tuesday 18th November 12:40
ollie j said:
Anyway, sleep in Kin Pun. A hotel I thoroughly recommend is Bawga Theiddi.
Great sugestion !! Just arrived at midday today, blowing the budget a bit at 25 bucks but well worth it !!Bago was average, a couple of Pagodas to visit and a reclining buddha, only went to the first Pagoda but they wanted 10 bucks to get in and it just looked like a smaller version of the ones in Rangon so i didn't bother.
Had a few beers there though and the locals found me entertaining so i wasn't unhappy with going there.
You accuratly described the trains -'hilariously bumpy' !! I've done a 2 and a 3 hour journey, god knows what the 10-12 hour journeys are like !!
Needless to say i've booked an overnight coach from Yangon to Kalaw in a couple of days !!
Apparantly trekking is popular there so might do a bit of that.
Was there at Easter. Flew into Yangon and took the overnight train to Bagan. Trains are quite brutal - be warned !! Then picked up the ferry up the Irrawaddy to Mandalay which was awesome. Made it across to the Inle Lake which was well worth the effort. Mandalay beer was great.
Ps bought some earrings for the Mrs at Yangon airport after bartering the stall holder down. Had to pay in US$ (Low hundreds) but just been valued and need to be a specified item on my insurance policy 👍.
Ps bought some earrings for the Mrs at Yangon airport after bartering the stall holder down. Had to pay in US$ (Low hundreds) but just been valued and need to be a specified item on my insurance policy 👍.
looks like i will be living/working in bagan for 3-4 mths from the new year.
looking at the OP's pics and google images i doubt i'll be stuck for places to go exploring.
any tips for getting around the country? is the train the only viable method? is there and air route into bagan? i will likely only have weekends free for the first stint [8wks] and would like to see mandalay and anything else of interest. no days off at all for the second stint i imagine.
how does the food compare to the rest of the region? i love being sent to indonesia for the scran! how far will $30 a day get me for food, drink and entertainment?
looking at the OP's pics and google images i doubt i'll be stuck for places to go exploring.
any tips for getting around the country? is the train the only viable method? is there and air route into bagan? i will likely only have weekends free for the first stint [8wks] and would like to see mandalay and anything else of interest. no days off at all for the second stint i imagine.
how does the food compare to the rest of the region? i love being sent to indonesia for the scran! how far will $30 a day get me for food, drink and entertainment?
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