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 Traveller's Tales: Things to do in Myanmar
Learn about leisure and recreation in Myanmar. You may read about their travel activities and adventures. Find out their travel tips and guides and discover fun things to do in Myanmar.Also, you might want to read our
Bagan city guide,
Inle Lake city guide,
Mandalay city guide,
and Yangon(Rangoon) city guide.
Pages (1 of 5):
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| 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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| R Paik |
12 April 2005 |
Stayed at Thamada Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Myanmar is a challenging yet unspoiled country to travel through. Train and air schedules frequently change. Rebooking air flights is a necessity, not a courtesy. Long distance buses are cheap, about US$7, for the 10 hour ride from Yangon to Mandalay. But air flights are worth the money for the time savings. In Yangon the Zawgyi House restaurant just east of Scott's Market serves good western and Burmese food. They offer outside and air-conditioned(!) dining. Mandalay's Green Elephant serves upscale interprerations of Burmese cuisine. In the evening there's often a haze of burning mosquito puncks in the outdoor dining area to fend off these pesky insects. Try 'mohinga', the rich-tasting Burmese noodle soup only served at breakfast. I'd recommend a 1-2 day trip to Pyin Uu Win outside of Mandalay to esscape the heat. The local 5-hour train makes every station stop as it snakes up the 3,000 ascent overlooking the plains. Bench seats, no interior lighting, people sitting on baggage in the aisle. In other words a great way to glimpse Burmese life.
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| N Cunningham |
17 March 2005 |
Stayed at Dusit Inya Lake Resort - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Recommended places: Sabai Phui guesthouse - Mandalay. Aircon and bathroom for $5 a night, (you don't need luxury every night!), $16 boat trip to Mandalay (9hrs - more fun tan flying), Bagan Hotel (exclusive), Balloons over Bagan, expensive $225, but worth it, Royal Beach Resort - Ngapali Beach (family run and cheap).
NOT RECOMMENDED - JIMMY'S TOURS AT INLE LAKE. A taxi driver dropped me off there from Heyo Airport, pretending it was the 'Boat Station', before I knew it he'd worked out an itinerary for 1 1/2 days at $120. About 5 times what I needed to pay, if I'd avoided him. He was then unconcerned that his boat ran out of fuel and we drifted for an hour and there was no floating market where he sent me at great expense at 6.30am, due to a full moon holiday. Avoid the slippery little git at all costs. BE AFRAID, IF YOU WIND UP IN HIS OFFICE.
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| G Stretton |
15 March 2005 |
Stayed at Bagan Thiripyitsaya Sakura Hotel - Bagan, Myanmar.
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Wholeheartedly recommend the Balloons over Bagan experience. Although its not cheap it is a fantastic experience.
Avoid the Green Elephant restaurant in New Bagan, particularly if paying in dollars. We went to both and the food is far superior and cheaper at the Si Thu restaurant next door, and the exchange rate quoted by the Green Elephant was an appalling 750 to the $ compared to the market rate at the time of 880.
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| J Stachnik |
01 February 2005 |
Stayed at Paradise Hotel - Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar.
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The Inle Lake area turned out to be one of the highlights of my visit to Myanmar. Because the ecosystem is so unusual, boating on the lake is a unique experience, and highly recommended. I also enjoyed the half-day hike I took into the hill country, and can recommend Soe Naing Oo as a trekking guide. When he's not trekking, Soe pedals trishaw #44 in Nyaungshwe village.
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| L Riley |
29 January 2005 |
Stayed at Golden Rock Hotel - Kyaikhtiyo, Myanmar.
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The view is worth the trek and this hotel is situated about half way up. If you stay here overnight you can watch the sunset and walk back up to watch the sunrise in the morn. The main base town is a nightmare and no one speaks English! You have to climb on board the back of a truck to get to the next section of the climb (the truck has several thin planks of timber to sit on and there is very little space between for your legs) - as you are a foreigner they think you want to sit in front with the driver so they charge 1000 kyat whereas the back is 500. We paid to sit in the front but was shoved behind the seats on a bench three deep with more in the front seats. Beware, we sat like this for two and a half hours until the truck finally left so we missed sunset! Trucks generally won't leave until they have a min of 45 people on them. If you do jump in the back with everyone else, it's worth being a part of thier day to day life and they appreciate you doing it. Going up sit as far to the front as possible so you don't get sqashed and the reverse for the trip down. It's very squashy in these! The hotel is only about 10 mins walk up the 45 deg road from stage two. To get to the top it's another 45min and the road doesn't change. Take water, good shoes and it does get cold at night early morn. Would only be around 10 tourists there. Bus from Yangon bus station takes around 5hrs and pre-book to get onboard - you can book the return once you get there.
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| M Smith |
25 January 2005 |
Stayed at Thamada Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
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Started our independent tour of Burma (Myanmar) in Rangoon (Yangon), using the historic Burmese train system - a real adventure! Train info at www.seat61.com/Burma.htm. Rangoon is a fascinating city - the Shwedagon pagoda, lots of colonial architecture. Taxis about 1,000 - 1,500 kyatt (about 67p - £1) a ride.
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| G Aydt |
04 January 2005 |
Stayed at Mandalay Hill Resort - Mandalay, Myanmar.
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Mandalay city itself isn't a real beauty. But you should absolutely walk all the 1.400 or so steps up to the hill and start about 4 p.m., so you'll be there before sunset. While walking you will meet a lot of Myanmar people, who like to talk to foreigners and who love to practise english. Mahamuni pagoda is also a must. There is a view point for sunset somewhere at the Irawady (I don't know exactly where, you should ask for good places apart Mandalay Hill to watch the sunset). This place isn't yet touristic at all - people are living on their houseboats...great ambiance!!! The surroundings of Mandalay are very nice, very green. Amarapura, Sagaing, Inwa are nice. and there are more places. I've been twice to Myanmar and in both cases I took a taxi with driver from the Inle Lake (Nyaungshwe) to Mandalay (it has to take the old road) and the route is SO nice. You first go a long way through the mountains and then it's green and there are canals. Even if the trip by car lasts about 7 hours - it's worth while!!!
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| U Burgard |
18 December 2004 |
Stayed at Inle Lake View Resort - Inle Lake, Myanmar.
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Lake itself is great. We liked most Indein on market day. Worth spending two or three days. Wonderful and one of the best things to do in Myanmar is the trek from Indein to Kalaw (or the other way) which takes 2-3 days.
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| J D'ath |
29 November 2004 |
Stayed at Myanmar Treasure Beach Resort - Ngwe Saung, Myanmar.
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The best mode of transport is to take the ferry to Pathein (an overnight trip). The beach was great. Compared to Ngapali Beach, there were far fewer tourists, a major plus. In terms of tours, there was not much to do. You could go on an elephant walk or scuba diving but otherwise entertainment was restricted to sipping cocktails by the pool. The scuba diving is at best average with little marine life and the elephant park is 45 mins away and more of an exotic zoo.
Within the village, there are a few nice restaurants which offer a welcome alternative to the hotel food. What is more is they are reasonably priced and more atmospheric.
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