| |
 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 (1 of 9):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
| M Steggles |
14 May 2005 |
Stayed at Summit Parkview Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
|
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!
|
| R Paik |
12 April 2005 |
Stayed at Thamada Hotel - Yangon, Myanmar.
|
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.
|
| J Miksic |
25 March 2005 |
Stayed at Thande Hotel Old Bagan - Bagan, Myanmar.
|
I would recommend the Mi San restaurant at Bu Paya Junction, Old Bagan. The restaurant has good Burmese, vegetarian, and Chinese food, and the staff fan you the entire time as you eat! The owner is extremely friendly.
I would recommend that visitors make an attempt to visit some of the more distant ruins. The area of the Kandawgyi and other shrines in the far north of Nyaung U, for example, has some of the finest mural paintings in all Bagan. The view from Thetkyamuni and other temples in the area over the Ayeyarwadi is the best of all sites, since the ruins are situated on rather high hills very close to the riverbank.
|
| G Stretton |
17 March 2005 |
Stayed at Inle Lake View Resort - Inle Lake, Myanmar.
|
Inle Lake and its surrounding area felt like stepping back to a bygone era. The beauty of the lake is a compelling enough reason to visit, but the sight of traditional crafts such as cigar rolling, boat making & steel hammering are fascinating for both adults and children alike. If you are a photographer bring lots and lots of film/digital cards! As with most places though in South East Asia today, however, you feel that its only a matter of time, before traditional methods succumb to drive of the tourist dollar.
|
| N Cunningham |
17 March 2005 |
Stayed at Dusit Inya Lake Resort - Yangon, Myanmar.
|
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.
|
| K Chatwin |
07 March 2005 |
Stayed at Savoy Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
|
Having just completed a tour of Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, the latter was our favourite and Yangon our favourite city in it. Wandering around Chinatown, the old market (not Aung San, which is a tourist trap at its worst), around Sule Paya and Shwedagon were just awesome and we found the people more genuine than other places visited.
|
| J Stachnik |
01 February 2005 |
Stayed at Paradise Hotel - Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar.
|
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.
|
| R Martin |
24 January 2005 |
Stayed at Hotel Nikko Royal Lake Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
|
For travelers with the spirit of adventure, Myanmar is a very interesting destination. If you love places like India, you will love Myanmar. The people are friendly and welcoming; the Temples and Pagodas are amazing, and the food...well the food isn't so good. But food aside, Myanmar has a high WOW factor. If you go, you can't miss the Temples of Bagon. Bagon is about as spectacular as Angkor Wat...it is quite stunning and relaxing. I traveled to Yangon, Mandalay, and Bagon. Yangon was great for sightseeing and shopping. Mandalay is overrated and deserves only two days. I didn't run into anyone who liked it. Bagon, like I said earlier, is not to be missed.
Bring only US cash as they don't accept credit cards anywhere in the country, even in five star hotels. There are no ATM's in Myanmar either...which means that you need to plan ahead with your cash management. One hundred dollar bills will get you the best exchange rates while smaller bills will net you up to 7% less in exchange. Almost everywhere people will come up to you and say "change money"? If you try to cash traveler's checks, banks only accept a select few and even then, they will take a 20% commission on cashing them. Bottom line...bring Dollars. Euro's are almost impossible to exchange.
Internet service in Myanmar is a joke. Remember back to your 14.4 modem? Myanmar is slower than that! It took me 38 minutes to send one email. Also, the govenrment blocks MSN Hotmail and Yahoo mail so you will need to pay for a service that latches onto the government's server (draw your own conclusions on the reasons for this). I fortunately use a lesser known web-based mail and it wasn't blocked at all but because it was so slow, I hardly ever used it. Traveling throughout Myanmar can be trying at times but you will be well rewarded for your efforts.
|
| H Dilbeck |
22 January 2005 |
Stayed at Sedona Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
|
We went to Myanmar for 10 days on our first trip to the country: Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake. We would consider returning to Yangon and Bagan; we would return to Mandalay only as a base for exploring farther north. Inle Lake does not inspire us to revisit; it seems to us long on hype, but we admit the boat trip to the village of Nyuang Shwe and the walk along the road near our hotel provided insights into local life we did not get at other places. Overall, based on our experiences and comments from others who traveled there earlier, Myanmar seems to be taking steps to make travel to the country a more agreeable and less bureaucratic experience. We appreciated the ability to acquire a visa over the internet. Perhaps the country will improve internet service within its borders, which is the worst we have witnessed. We did not observe, thankfully, a bevy of beggars we expected based on writings of earlier travelers and our experiences in India.
|
| K Thompson |
17 January 2005 |
Stayed at Savoy Hotel Yangon - Yangon, Myanmar.
|
Yangon is a great city and should be high on anyone's list for a weekend break in Asia! The people are open and friendly and very keen to chat with foreigners and make you welcome. A number of great restaurants serving Burmese cuisine offer sensational value, especially Aung Thukka, near the Savoy hotel at which a meal for two costs 5USD and is fantastic. The Shwe Dagan Pagoda is breath-taking; investing in a guided tour is well worth it. For about 5USD a charming and knowledgeable guide will spend as long as you want wandering the temples and answering, in my case, a myriad of daft questions! Lastly, Bogyoke Aung San market is unmissable. Along with Chatuchuk and Saigon, the best market in Asia! One salutary lesson was learned though; not to change money in the airport fx booth. The rate is around half what you will get on the black market and there is no longer a requirement to enter the country with local currency.
|
|
Pages (1 of 9):
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Book a hotel in Myanmar
|
