THE GOLDEN LAND

This next destination, I’d have to say was my favourite trip all year. I’ve travelled extensively throughout South East Asia, so thought this would be another fusion of Buddha statues, lemongrass and night markets, but this was something quite different and unexpectedly special.

Myanmar, or as the Brits still love to call it Burma, was a former British colony before declaring independence in 1948. Only since the military junta was dissolved in 2011 have they opened up their borders and really started developing their tourism so it’s certainly on the radar for a lot of travellers in 2013. On its borders are Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Laos and China which is quite apparent in the popular local dishes and the physical features of the people varying from state to state.

We started our journey in the former capital, Yangon. Our flight arrived around midnight, which surprisingly seemed a popular time for a lot of flights, so immigration took a good 2 hours ZZzzzz...I will never complain about HK airport again (one of the most efficient in the world hands down!). We were only staying for a few hours of shut-eye at a hotel near the airport then back to our waiting lounge for a domestic flight onto Bagan.

From my understanding, each domestic airline only has a few aircraft flying mainly the same route twice each day from Rangon --> Bagan --> Mandalay --> Heho --> Bagan or vice versa.

For some reason, they all seem to be scheduled to leave at the same time (around 7am) resulting in regular delays, as the airports are tiny. This means, if the first flight leaving Yangon is delayed, it results in the Bagan ---> Mandalay flight also being delayed and so on. It’s just part of the Myanmar experience I concluded, after discussions with other travellers also waiting at the airport. Although, I’m sure as their tourism develops so will their airport systems.

My (general) tips:

- privately-owned domestic carriers (e.g. Air Bagan, Air Myanmar and KBZ) are much more reliable. Myanmar Airways International, the military government-owned aircraft had a lot of delays, cancelled flights and to be quite frank don’t have the best safety record

- take plenty of USD in cash and exchange it at Rangon airport. We found even 5* hotels in other parts of Myanmar did not take credit card for payment upon check out, as they either didn’t have the facilities or they didn’t work. Plus, most ATM’s (if there was one) did not accept our International debit cards either so at one point we literally had run out of money. Luckily a random souvenir store accepted our HKD at a terrible exchange rate.

- Visit from Sept-Feb, not in summertime. It was getting close to unbearably hot even in Feb when we visited.

Bagan, the ‘quintessential’ Myanmar; the orange sun setting across the dusty horizon dotted with pagoda’s.

Get a private guide and driver (for the entire stay in Myanmar), don’t be a hero. It’s dusty, it’s hot, there’s a lot of pagoda’s to see and ground to cover so you’ll appreciate an air-conditioned vehicle, cold water and fresh towels at every pit stop.

 

Don’t miss the sunset from the Shwesandaw pagoda. Get there early to get a good spot. Ask your guide to take you to a local village. Yes it’s clearly a tourist gimmick on some level, but seeing aspects of their way of life, in the way they farm, their local produce and wares and just chilling with a family for a cup of tea and a play with the kids was interesting and memorable.

If you have the time ask your guide to stop by the orphanage (can’t remember the name, but I think there’s only one main monastery in Bagan). If you go during their lunch time you can help prepare the food and eat with them. One elderly monk looks after 72 orphan boys all by himself, surviving only on donations from the local community. Each day, the boys take a bowl each around the local village to collect any food which gets put into the communal large food pot.

A group of orphans playing a simple game blowing small scraps of paper closer and closer together to try and get them on top of each other with each breath. The prize, an elastic band. Boys will be boys.

Where I stayed:

Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort (5*) ~ approx. USD$350/night per night in a River View room http://www.thiripyitsaya-resort.com/index.html

A true sanctuary and escape from the heat and dust.

The good:

- enjoy locally brewed beer whilst watching the picturesque sunset by the pool

- extensive and delicious local dishes on their a la carte dinner menu

- conveniently located right near the entrance to the old town

Room for improvement: 

No free wifi in rooms, only in foyer but to be fair technology wasn’t their forte as they only had Credit card services on Tuesday’s (I think they brought a portable machine in from town) and they advised that it only worked intermittently. This was quite alarming as we were running low on cash and were hoping to settle our bill on Visa card when we checked out.

My tip: ask for a room away from the river as there were quite a lot of mosquitoes meaning we couldn’t enjoy our outdoor terrace area as we would have liked

After we’d seen enough pagoda’s for a lifetime, we flew to Inle Lake, up north, which was surprisingly much cooler. This area is home to fishing communities that live on and around the lake in huts on stilts, and the famous one-legged paddlers. The one hour boat transfer from the main town of Inle, upstream to where our accommodation was a fantastic way to see the unique fishing and paddling techniques and various flora and fauna that inhabited the lake.

 

Floating gardens; literally a huge garden and crops with no roots, surviving and growing on the lake surface

For the foodies; tuck into the Shan set lunch at the Burmese Cat café. A random island in the middle of the lake where pure Siamese cats are bred. The restaurant itself is set in a converted lake house, serving a generous spread of local scrumptious dishes beautifully presented in banana leaves and washed down with locally brewed beer.

Where I stayed:

Paramount Inle Lake Hotel  (3*) ~ approx. USD$200 / night in an overwater Deluxe cottage with breakfast daily

http://www.paramountinleresort.com

(To be quite honest, I actually wanted to stay at the Inle Princess Hotel, but it was booked out over Chinese New Year, so was pleasantly surprised with this alternative option)

The good:

- very affordable, and great value

- location was right on Inle Lake, in quaint overwater huts with balconies so you were in the thick of all the river action

- they had a look out tower structure, which offered spectacular views of the surrounding area and a great place to enjoy the sunset with a local wine and far too many peanuts

- the manager, a motherly-type, with the sweetest smile greeting you at breakfast and hugs at night

- the ‘Shan breakfast’ option , quite glutinous and stodgy but with the chilli and salty flavours, certainly kept you going for a full day of sightseeing

Room for improvement:

The huts being made out of simple materials like wood, although looked rather quaint, meant there was zero soundproofing. With the motor-boats passing the property late at night and before day break when all the fisherman head out to start their day of fishing, meant your day started too as it was extremely loud

My tip:

Pay the extra to upgrade to the overwater cottages, and request one facing outwards so you have a great view sat on the balcony watching the passing boats of school children heading home and birds nesting on the fencing for the night

Last stop, back to the former capital, Yangon. As we only had that day we hit the ground running and visited Aung San Suu Kyi's house where she was under house arrest for 15 years, then stopped by Chauk That Gyi Pagoda with the reclining Buddha which was an impressive 65 metres long.

I’d heard there was a famous palm reader in Yangon but unfortunately did not realise he needed to be pre-booked months in advance as the waiting list was extremely long. So, as we were waiting for our driver I noticed a little palm reader shop and decided to kill some time I’d see what he had to say. Being the sceptic I am, I was not expecting anything so was quite surprised the first thing he told me after we sat down was that I worked in travel, and that I would always be living overseas and moving around a lot with my work. There were another few unexpected insightful statements and comments about family, my past and that I’d ‘be married twice’ (a little awkward with my partner sat there next to me, retaliating with “we’ll just renew our vows, it’s fine” lol) Anyway, if you have the time and you’re at the lying Buddha, drop in. You may be pleasantly surprised!

There’s various museums, historical buildings, markets and parks on the list of ‘tourist attractions’ in the capital. Of them all, outside the main gem markets are a few local street food stalls serving refreshments and food to crowds of what looked like under-the-table gem traders and gemmologists. A lot of excitement and shouting with magnifying glass apparatus in hand and precious stones stashed in pockets. The legitimate certified shops are all within the market building, however out the back seemed to be where all the action was. For my partner, being a gemmologist himself, he found the whole thing rather fascinating as did I surprisingly. We were informed that although the country is extremely rich in precious stones the military government controls the mines and gem trading, sadly leaving the locals to trade illegally with a much lower margin.

On hotels (we didn’t stay as we flew out 1am that night):

The beautiful old colonial buildings, converted to 5* hotels like The Strand and the Governor’s House, aren’t cheap (around USD$500/night) but being such a big part of the history I think are worth the experience. If we’d stayed a final night, I’d have definitely tried to stay in either property.

Don’t miss the Schewdagon Pagoda after sunset, around 7pm. It’s far too hot to visit during with the day with the sun blindingly reflecting off the polished white marble and gold pagodas. Plus, the lighting at night with the monks performing their evening rituals, even for the non-Buddhist like myself, there is something beautifully spiritual about this place.

This country is so rich in gems, culture and traditions, but with a sad history of civil unrest. The people we were fortunate enough to interact with on our trip seemed to be peaceful Buddhists whose main well-being isn’t yet tourism so their interest in you is simple and genuine. My advice, get there ASAP, before it turns into the rest of Indochina!