In any case, I've had a handful of people ask after our itinerary, so I'll start there and include the highlights along the way. Most of my trips to Asia start in Singapore, where most of my relatives live, and this time, we also stopped off in Thailand to spend Christmas with one of Elliot's best friends who lives in Phuket. Below is just the Myanmar portion of our trip.
December 27 - Bangkok (DMK) to Yangon (RGN) on Air Asia
Our flight from Phuket to Bangkok was so delayed we very nearly missed our flight to Yangon, despite having allowed ourself four hours for the connection! However, we convinced them to let us carry our bags on, made a mad dash through the airport and, yes, were the very last ones onto the plane. There was an American couple that were making the same connections as us, and we later found out they had placed fifth in the CBS TV show The Amazing Race!
Our plan in Myanmar was to 'wing it' where possible, travelling like backpackers, but as Yangon is the former capital of Myanmar and its largets city, we thought we'd book our hotel there in advance. We arrived in the city at around 7pm and after checking in to our hotel (the May Shan, which was fine but nothing special, though the wifi in the lobby was a treat), we headed out to explore.
Be sure to stop at a lacquerware workshop, too, where you can learn the process of weaving, painting, and decorating lacquerware, and then buy some really beautiful Myanmar pieces.
We also rented a river boat and took a little cruise down the Ayerwaddy River. This was another highlight of our time in Nyaung U – the boat engine very noisy (as Lonely Planet did tell us would be the case), but the river is enormous and really beautiful. Our boat captain even brought us to a little beach shack for a drink!
Our flight from Phuket to Bangkok was so delayed we very nearly missed our flight to Yangon, despite having allowed ourself four hours for the connection! However, we convinced them to let us carry our bags on, made a mad dash through the airport and, yes, were the very last ones onto the plane. There was an American couple that were making the same connections as us, and we later found out they had placed fifth in the CBS TV show The Amazing Race!
Our plan in Myanmar was to 'wing it' where possible, travelling like backpackers, but as Yangon is the former capital of Myanmar and its largets city, we thought we'd book our hotel there in advance. We arrived in the city at around 7pm and after checking in to our hotel (the May Shan, which was fine but nothing special, though the wifi in the lobby was a treat), we headed out to explore.
We discovered we were moments away from the Sule Paya (or Sule Pagoda), which is more than 2500 years old – older than the Shwedagon Pagoda!
We then headed to the night market, where there were lots of interesting fruits that I didn't recognize – including these, which I believe are wax apples
Our first trip on a bicycle rickshaw, which are common in Myanmar and seat 2 passengers, back-to-back.
December 28 - We had opted early on to only spend one night in Yangon, at least at the beginning of our time in Myanmar. Having been in Singapore, Bangkok and Phuket, we thought we'd be more eager to get out of the big cities and onto the more adventurous portion of our trip.
Early on the morning of the 28th, then, we boarded an Air Mandalay flight to Nyaung U (also spelled Nyaung Oo), the nearest town to Bagan, an area renowned for its thousands of Buddhist temples. A Christmas Day flight from Yangon to Heho (another city in the Shan State, where Bagan is) that had crashed and killed two and injured 11 left us feeling a bit worried; the tiny airport where almost everything was done manually (not a computer or conveyor belt in sight) didn't really help.
Nevertheless, we got to Nyaung U in one piece!
Nevertheless, we got to Nyaung U in one piece!
Nyaung U, Old Bagan, and New Bagan are the three towns where travellers to the area normally stay. We decided to look for a hotel in Nyaung U based on the advice of a few blogs we had read that identified it as the busiest town of the trio. Definitely good advice - it was already pretty small and dusty!
We arrived mid-morning and wandered around until we found a hotel. We had started hearing rumours in Yangon about difficulties finding accommodation (given the peak season and rising popularity of Myanmar as a tourist destination in general) and had already met quite a few single travellers who confirmed this. However, of the five hotels we stopped in at, three could accommodate us and one had room but turned us away as foreigners! Apparently, there was a religious festival happening that weekend so hundreds of Myanmar people were expected to travel to the area, with all its thousands of temples!
In any case, we ended up staying at the Eden Motel for three nights, at a cost of USD $25 per night. Not cheap – but accommodation in Myanmar generally isn't (at least not yet).
We arrived mid-morning and wandered around until we found a hotel. We had started hearing rumours in Yangon about difficulties finding accommodation (given the peak season and rising popularity of Myanmar as a tourist destination in general) and had already met quite a few single travellers who confirmed this. However, of the five hotels we stopped in at, three could accommodate us and one had room but turned us away as foreigners! Apparently, there was a religious festival happening that weekend so hundreds of Myanmar people were expected to travel to the area, with all its thousands of temples!
In any case, we ended up staying at the Eden Motel for three nights, at a cost of USD $25 per night. Not cheap – but accommodation in Myanmar generally isn't (at least not yet).
We did have an enormous room, though!
Our first view of Nyaung U, from the front steps of our hotel
Initially, we had planned to spend New Year's Eve in Bagan, based on the following Lonely Planet description:
We weren't expecting a big New Year's Eve party, but given that it was peak season (and three days before NYE!), we thought Bagan would be rife with other travellers who would at least be keen to ring in the new year in the traditional western way, i.e. with a toast and countdown at midnight! Not so.
In the end, we decided to spend two days exploring the region, then head to Inle Lake.
A bustling river town with more happening than you’ll find elsewhere in Bagan, Nyaung U is where most independent travellers hang their hat (or backpack). Roaming the back roads towards the jetty or stopping at scrappy teashops will attract friendly wide-eyed looks. There are a handful of temples to see, including the Shwezigon Paya, and a lively market. Visitors staying in New or Old Bagan tend to make it here, if not for the restaurant scene (the closest the Bagan area gets to nightlife) then for the transport links.Don't get me wrong – we loved Bagan and had an amazing time exploring the temples by horse cart and going on a cruise of the Ayerwaddy River – but Nyaung U was hardly "bustling"!
We weren't expecting a big New Year's Eve party, but given that it was peak season (and three days before NYE!), we thought Bagan would be rife with other travellers who would at least be keen to ring in the new year in the traditional western way, i.e. with a toast and countdown at midnight! Not so.
In the end, we decided to spend two days exploring the region, then head to Inle Lake.
The market in Nyaung U
Myanmar people doing their washing on the banks of the river. This was our view from The Beach Bagan restaurant, which was a lovely restaurant about a 10-minute walk (or 5-minute horse cart ride) from the main thoroughfare of Nyaung U.
A typical Myanmar horse cart. These are superb for exploring the temples. Sure, renting a bicycle is a cheaper but much more exhausting option, as not all of the roads are paved and the bicycles are a bit rickety! We saw more than a few tourists walking their bikes through inches of red sand... not fun!
A common view in Bagan: old, noisy trucks and vans with dozens of passengers hanging out of every window and perched on every available surface!
You can get a sense of just how many temples there are in Bagan... THOUSANDS! We visited about 15 in the course of a single day. According to the Lonely Planet:
In a 230-year building frenzy up until 1287 and the Mongol invasions, Bagan’s kings commissioned over 4000 Buddhist temples. And despite centuries of neglect, looting, erosion, and regular earthquakes, this temple-studded plain remains a remarkably impressive and unforgettable vision.
Typical temple activities. Note my scarf tied around my waist - as is the case with many religious sites around the world, you need to dress appropriately to visit the Buddhist temples in Myanmar. No skimpy tank tops or short shorts!
One very old, beautiful temple.
Temples as far as the eye can see
Amazing...
... Even more amazing after one man got down on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend! We all cheered when she said yes.
Be sure to stop at a lacquerware workshop, too, where you can learn the process of weaving, painting, and decorating lacquerware, and then buy some really beautiful Myanmar pieces.
We also rented a river boat and took a little cruise down the Ayerwaddy River. This was another highlight of our time in Nyaung U – the boat engine very noisy (as Lonely Planet did tell us would be the case), but the river is enormous and really beautiful. Our boat captain even brought us to a little beach shack for a drink!
That night, we decided to check out the local party our horse cart driver had been telling us about – it had something to do with the religious festival that weekend but we weren't exactly sure what. Nevertheless, we had some dinner, then rented bikes and rode about 5km toward New Bagan.
We knew we were in the right place when we heard loud traditional Myanmar music playing and spotted all the parked scooters. (FYI, tourists are no longer allowed to rent scooters or hire scooter taxis in Bagan. We kept hearing about one incident in particular involving a female Japanese tourist who was apparently raped and stabbed to death by a male Myanmar motorcycle taxi driver that had picked her up to go sightseeing.)
And this was the performance! It was a bit of a bizarre night – not exactly what you'd expect to draw a large crowd of around 200 Myanmar people ranging in age from 20 to 50, but cool to witness anyway.
Stay tuned for a post on Inle Lake next...
