Min Ga La Par (greetings in Burmese)
I am really blessed that I was guided throughout the trip in Myanmar by my Burmese colleague (Aung Htoo) of mine, making everything so much easier, fun and exhilarating. Myanmar isn't an easy place to visit and roam around as it wasn't as developed in terms of infrastructure and communities; I also noticed that English language wasn't commonly used there too. Overall as a tourist, I felt safe and welcome in Myanmar, people were polite and generally honest towards tourist, not exploiting and threatening.
group photo in Bagan
Currencies conversion: $1usd = 1000 kyats = $1.26sgd
Time difference: 1.5hrs slower than Singapore Time (GMT +6.5)
Visa ($50sgd for tourism) is required for entry to Myanmar (business or tourism); sincerely appreciate and thanks to Aung Htoo for helping us to submit our passport to tour agency to have our visa settled and also booking our air tickets.
Waited and waited and waited and finally here comes the awaited day..!!! 3 months of continuous work just looking forward to this trip. We took Jetstar and met Aung at Yangon International Airport, as we are going in a group, we do has the luxury to hire a private passenger van just for ourselves. After boarding, we proceeded to have our first meal in Yangon city – my first bite on Burmese food!
Hotels in Myanmar is quite expensive as compared to hotels in other parts of South East Asia, Wi-Fi signal wasn't that good as well other than the ones in Yangon hotels; and there are a lot of mosquitos!
Currencies conversion: $1usd = 1000 kyats = $1.26sgd
Time difference: 1.5hrs slower than Singapore Time (GMT +6.5)
Visa ($50sgd for tourism) is required for entry to Myanmar (business or tourism); sincerely appreciate and thanks to Aung Htoo for helping us to submit our passport to tour agency to have our visa settled and also booking our air tickets.
Waited and waited and waited and finally here comes the awaited day..!!! 3 months of continuous work just looking forward to this trip. We took Jetstar and met Aung at Yangon International Airport, as we are going in a group, we do has the luxury to hire a private passenger van just for ourselves. After boarding, we proceeded to have our first meal in Yangon city – my first bite on Burmese food!
Hotels in Myanmar is quite expensive as compared to hotels in other parts of South East Asia, Wi-Fi signal wasn't that good as well other than the ones in Yangon hotels; and there are a lot of mosquitos!
first meal together
first hotel that we stayed in Yangon
residential housing just outside our hotel.
First day was more of moving around Yangon city, visiting places that sells jade, market place and looking around. The first attraction we visited was Shwedagon Pagoda; we visited it in the evening as it will be much more impressive and nice together with the bright lightings and golden structures. Magnificently huge statues and Buddha stupas were seen from the entrance right to the rear. Footwear and socks were not allowed and so all of us have to move around barefooted. There are many people in the pagoda, locals praying, families gathering and tourist walking around taking pictures and some praying as well.
first hotel that we stayed in Yangonresidential housing just outside our hotel.First day was more of moving around Yangon city, visiting places that sells jade, market place and looking around. The first attraction we visited was Shwedagon Pagoda; we visited it in the evening as it will be much more impressive and nice together with the bright lightings and golden structures. Magnificently huge statues and Buddha stupas were seen from the entrance right to the rear. Footwear and socks were not allowed and so all of us have to move around barefooted. There are many people in the pagoda, locals praying, families gathering and tourist walking around taking pictures and some praying as well.
Entrance of Shwedagon Pagoda
many visitors to the temple
Magnificent gold pagodas
devotees and tourists...
sleeping Buddha
Next is our late night BBQ dinner at a crowded back alley area, there are really many tasty food around Yangon. After which we returns back to our hotel for a few beer before retiring our first night.
Morning!
smile for nice food and beer..!!!
so many varieties to choose from
Htut helping us to choose food...
Well rested for the night, I woke up quite early and got myself prepared to set off out to the morning bazaar (local market) which is just a few streets away from our hotel. There I can see morning local crowds doing marketing and eating and is so vibrant, Ice and me decided to try a few local food for our breakfast and so we buy and eat and took some pictures while strolling our way along the bazaar.
local burmese breakfast noodles.
fried dough
Eat until very happy
anywhere along the street, store can be set up
morning bazaar scene
After breakfast, we check out of our hotel and visit to another market place where they sell jade and lots of other handicrafts, nothing very special about it and so we headed off for lunch; Thai Cuisine! The food is sumptuous and delicious; I am really well fed throughout the trip. As we have book night bus to Bagan and its setting off timing is about 2030hrs local time, we have the whole afternoon to slack in a Korean Spa to relax, drink and chill while the Aung brothers make their way back to pack their stuffs to return to join us to Bagan which is about 622km north of Yangon.
shopping....
Thai cuisine lunch..
The night bus to Bagan (JJ Express) is cozy, spacious and well facilitated. It provides power socket for charging, LCD screens on seats and seats that can fully recline and with good legroom and even provides blanket! It can be book online at www.myanmarbusticket.com; in simple, it is a mobile hotel excluding bathroom facilities. We initially wanted to take a domestic flight which cost approximately $260usd; but it is way too costly as compared to this bus ride which cost 18,000 kyats (1 way). Also, considering flying to Bagan, we will reach early and will have to book hotel room to stay, by choosing this option of night bus ride, we save air fare as well as 2 nights hotel stay – perfect deal! The bus ride took around 9 hours and has 3-4 stops in between where we had our supper, I doesn’t feels the ride as 80% of the time I was soundly asleep.
before setting off in our cozy bus
spacious seat...
mid way stop supper...
We arrived at Bagan at around 0600hrs local time, and it feels cold. Private Van is already there waiting for us, picking us up and bringing us to our hotel to check in. We have to move fast and set off fast after putting down our stuffs as we are catching sunrise at Bagan temples. The sunrise view is beautiful, experiencing the cold morning and climbing around pagodas barefooted; soon enough hot air balloon were rising and it fills the sky, moving pass sunrise and whole plot of land of pagodas. We did not ride the hot air balloon because it cost around $250 usd per pax (crazy price just to float around).
hot air balloons and sun rise and pagodas
shooting barefooted most of the time...
pagodas spreaded out everywhere...
crossing hot air balloons...
Just like the Angkor Wat, Bagan temples are archeological sites with pagodas and temples built right back from 11th centuries. Many were built and also many had fallen, deteriorating down to small stubs and rock slabs remains. As a form of respect, we have to be barefooted for all the sites we visit; probably this is the longest distance and time that I have ever walked barefooted outdoor.
We took a break and go for a sumptuous Burmese local breakfast before heading back to the sites for more visit to the temples and pagodas. We also dropped by Bagan Golden Palace that was once lived by the King. Also visited the largest temple in Bagan named Dhammayan Gyi Temple; built by King Narathu in 1165 AD.
many visitors to the templeMagnificent gold pagodasdevotees and tourists...sleeping BuddhaNext is our late night BBQ dinner at a crowded back alley area, there are really many tasty food around Yangon. After which we returns back to our hotel for a few beer before retiring our first night.
Morning!
smile for nice food and beer..!!!so many varieties to choose fromHtut helping us to choose food...
Well rested for the night, I woke up quite early and got myself prepared to set off out to the morning bazaar (local market) which is just a few streets away from our hotel. There I can see morning local crowds doing marketing and eating and is so vibrant, Ice and me decided to try a few local food for our breakfast and so we buy and eat and took some pictures while strolling our way along the bazaar.
local burmese breakfast noodles.
fried dough
Eat until very happy
anywhere along the street, store can be set up
morning bazaar scene
After breakfast, we check out of our hotel and visit to another market place where they sell jade and lots of other handicrafts, nothing very special about it and so we headed off for lunch; Thai Cuisine! The food is sumptuous and delicious; I am really well fed throughout the trip. As we have book night bus to Bagan and its setting off timing is about 2030hrs local time, we have the whole afternoon to slack in a Korean Spa to relax, drink and chill while the Aung brothers make their way back to pack their stuffs to return to join us to Bagan which is about 622km north of Yangon.
shopping....
Thai cuisine lunch..
The night bus to Bagan (JJ Express) is cozy, spacious and well facilitated. It provides power socket for charging, LCD screens on seats and seats that can fully recline and with good legroom and even provides blanket! It can be book online at www.myanmarbusticket.com; in simple, it is a mobile hotel excluding bathroom facilities. We initially wanted to take a domestic flight which cost approximately $260usd; but it is way too costly as compared to this bus ride which cost 18,000 kyats (1 way). Also, considering flying to Bagan, we will reach early and will have to book hotel room to stay, by choosing this option of night bus ride, we save air fare as well as 2 nights hotel stay – perfect deal! The bus ride took around 9 hours and has 3-4 stops in between where we had our supper, I doesn’t feels the ride as 80% of the time I was soundly asleep.
before setting off in our cozy bus
spacious seat...
mid way stop supper...
We arrived at Bagan at around 0600hrs local time, and it feels cold. Private Van is already there waiting for us, picking us up and bringing us to our hotel to check in. We have to move fast and set off fast after putting down our stuffs as we are catching sunrise at Bagan temples. The sunrise view is beautiful, experiencing the cold morning and climbing around pagodas barefooted; soon enough hot air balloon were rising and it fills the sky, moving pass sunrise and whole plot of land of pagodas. We did not ride the hot air balloon because it cost around $250 usd per pax (crazy price just to float around).
hot air balloons and sun rise and pagodas
shooting barefooted most of the time...
pagodas spreaded out everywhere...
crossing hot air balloons...
Just like the Angkor Wat, Bagan temples are archeological sites with pagodas and temples built right back from 11th centuries. Many were built and also many had fallen, deteriorating down to small stubs and rock slabs remains. As a form of respect, we have to be barefooted for all the sites we visit; probably this is the longest distance and time that I have ever walked barefooted outdoor.
We took a break and go for a sumptuous Burmese local breakfast before heading back to the sites for more visit to the temples and pagodas. We also dropped by Bagan Golden Palace that was once lived by the King. Also visited the largest temple in Bagan named Dhammayan Gyi Temple; built by King Narathu in 1165 AD.
our breakfast side dish
white pagoda
Bagan Golden Palace
Thatbyinnyu Phaya
Next is lunch, very sumptuous also; I’m getting fat for this trip… and heading back to hotel for 2-3 hours rest before heading out for the late afternoon activities. I fainted on my bed and overslept.
Late afternoon visit is to Ananda Temple which is a huge and white temple and next is to Irrawaddy River for the long tail boat ride to appreciate sunset on the river. Dinner is BBQ; eating a lot again (OMG) before heading back to our hotel to drink chit chat and gather outside our rooms for some drinks before resting.
Ananda temple
sunset at Irrawaddy river
sunset at Irrawaddy river
glowing pagoda
BBQ dinner
4th day of our trip, waking up and after having provided breakfast at the roof top of our hotel, we headed off to Popa Mountain National park. Along the way we stopped by a local house that brewed
and sells their wine. The wine taste like vodka to me (haha). Next we proceeded to southwest of Mount Popa where it has another peak named Taung Kalat. Taung Kalat is 737 meters above sea level and has plenty on staircase to the top; enjoy climbing to the peak. After Popa Mountain, we headed straight to Mandalay which is about 3 hours’ drive from Bagan.
Taung Kalat temple on top of the cliff behind me.
view from the top of Taung Kalat temple
Bagan Golden Palace
Thatbyinnyu Phaya
Next is lunch, very sumptuous also; I’m getting fat for this trip… and heading back to hotel for 2-3 hours rest before heading out for the late afternoon activities. I fainted on my bed and overslept.
Late afternoon visit is to Ananda Temple which is a huge and white temple and next is to Irrawaddy River for the long tail boat ride to appreciate sunset on the river. Dinner is BBQ; eating a lot again (OMG) before heading back to our hotel to drink chit chat and gather outside our rooms for some drinks before resting.
Ananda temple
sunset at Irrawaddy river
sunset at Irrawaddy river
glowing pagoda
BBQ dinner
4th day of our trip, waking up and after having provided breakfast at the roof top of our hotel, we headed off to Popa Mountain National park. Along the way we stopped by a local house that brewed
and sells their wine. The wine taste like vodka to me (haha). Next we proceeded to southwest of Mount Popa where it has another peak named Taung Kalat. Taung Kalat is 737 meters above sea level and has plenty on staircase to the top; enjoy climbing to the peak. After Popa Mountain, we headed straight to Mandalay which is about 3 hours’ drive from Bagan.
Taung Kalat temple on top of the cliff behind me.
view from the top of Taung Kalat temple
Popa mountain behind me
Distillation process
forcing her to test the self brewed alcohol...
Mandalay, another big city, tourist attractions and in the heart of Myanmar, here we targeted to visit U Bein bridge. U Bein Bridge is a crossing that spans Taungthaman Lake, it is 1.2km long and was built around 1850 AD and is believed to be the oldest and longest teak wood bridge in the world. There are many tourists there and we can always rent a small boat to bring us out to the river to have some photo taking of the structures against the sunset at $5usd. I loves the sunset at U Bein Bridge, with 2 camera cross sling across my body and a bottle of beer in my hand; perfect!
cameras cross sling with beer in hand
playing with my ultra-wide angle lens fitted on my Eos-M
sun setting behind U Bein Bridge
believe to be the longest teak wood built bridge in the world...
5th day in Myanmar, we are having so much fun and laughter, rock ballads played in the van while travelling between cities and stolen naps while travelling, and this isn’t what road trips and backpacking is about? Today is our venture to Dattawchike waterfall which is in Pyin Oo Lwin; approximately 70km from Mandalay. This is something different as usually we will have to climb uphill to waterfall and descend downhill back to our vehicle but this time round it is the other way round! Our van brought us right up to the peak, and we slowly descend our way down to the waterfall which is at around mid-hill area. Taking pictures and hopping and jumping around as we are all full of energy at the start of the trail, payback time comes later.
running downhill...
wooden splinter pierced through my shoe.
helping each other along the way down...
We arrived at the waterfall and had some food and drinks there, having fun until it was time to go back where we have to climb uphill back to our vehicle. It was 1800m descend which means we have to ascend 1800m, return route was way much tougher than descending; it is physically demanding and air is also slightly thinner as compared to sea level. The mountain ladies are fantastic, with canned drinks on their back, still offered to help us to carry our bags on the way up. We were sweating and panting but they were dry and chatting along the way up (no kick!). She offered to carry my camera and bag for me, but No Way! It is man’s pride to carry his own things irregardless of how tough it is! Of course, I made it to the top, panting but not out of breathe; reward myself with a bowl of hot tom yum soup instant noodles (grins).
group photo at the waterfall
mountain lady helping Sampath carry his bag
with canned drinks packed inside her backpack.
While we are having all these fun, our driver did us a favor by hunting around the place to search for affordable hotel for us to stay in Pyin Oo Lwin. We founded a nice hotel eventually and decided to stay there for a night. It is way much colder in Pyin Oo Lwin as compared to previous places that we have gone. Pollution is also worst; I can smell burnt smell once I open my window, probably due to burning of wood to keep warm by the villagers. After checking in to this nice new hotel, we move on to our next activity which is visit to December Mini Farm. It is a small farm with domestic animals like cows, horses, rabbits and goats, it also has strawberry plantations and a few huts with tables allowing guest to gather for a private session of catching up.
overview of huts for guest to chill and relax
boo you moo moo....!!!!
i am poking you.... hahaha
strawberries harvesting...
Next is visit to the Maha Nan Damu Sacred Cave; it has many Buddha stupas inside and the cave felt quite eerie as it is very moist and quite dark, winding turns and has no other visitors other than us! Probably it was getting late hence no one else is around, and I nearly got freak out by a fake giant crocodile; as I was left behind by the others, taking pictures alone when suddenly there was a giant fake crocodile around a bend that I did not notice until I am standing right in front of it!
a lot of Buddha statues in the cave
the gigantic crocodile that scares me... duhzz
Statue that looks so real...
Done with the cave adventures, we went back to our hotel for a shower before heading out to the roadside stores. We had BBQ dinner again and were just chilling by the streets and relaxing and snacking on our BBQ food with beer; slacking away the night. After that, we visited some pubs around the area, but most of them look quite run down and hence we returns back to hotel around 2300hrs local time to rest instead.
chilling and drinking by the road side stores
Ice wanted to take over the store.. haha
Time flies and soon our trip is coming to an end, today we are setting off back to Mandalay in the evening to take JJ express bus back to Yangon. Prior to that, we still has some time to go to some other sites to play; so we check out of our hotel and went to a temple nearby that has beautiful and wide landscape scenery view, went to another local market to taste some local food and last stop to the Botanic garden where we loiter around the park and enjoying our beer as well as taking some candid pictures. After Botanic gardens, we made our way back to Mandalay to have our dinner and some shopping in the nearby shopping center before proceeding to board JJ Express bus back to Yangon.
scenic landscape view behind me...
market place ...
Sampath sideline job
beer warrior...
beering in autumn...
offering the black swan to drink...
almighty power..!!!
dinner in Mandalay...
1 last night in Yangon! We arrived in Yangon around 0630hrs local time and Aung’ dad came over to fetch us to his place, so nice… we went back to their place for a while to settle down first before heading out for dim sum breakfast in the famous dim sum store in Yangon. The place is very crowded and crowds are moving in and out of the restaurant swiftly. They served by putting everything on our table, and we will eat whatever we like, untouched ones will be taken back and will not be charged. As our group is too big, it is a pity that we are not able to sit together with his parents to eat together, after finishing our breakfast, we bid goodbye to his parents from another table (which is far across the restaurant) and went to visit the Sule Pagoda. We did not enter the pagoda but instead stroll around it and take some nice pictures of its surrounding buildings and the pagoda itself.
the popular dim sum house in Yangon
everything just serve to the table
exterior of Sule Pagoda
colonial building.
Hotel is ready for check in, and this is the most cozy and comfortable hotel that we had to end our last night in Myanmar. We literally just slack and relax the whole day in the hotel, enjoying its facilities; went for a good massage, shampoo and facial and had fish and chips for lunch in the hotel restaurant, we even went got 2 hours KTV session in the hotel!
my cozy hotel room
Dinner was targeted to be at Karaweik hall but however we weren't that hungry as it only serves buffet and is quite costly, instead we went to another place to have steamboat instead… awesome!
Karaweik hall
After dinner we went back to our hotel Jacuzzi pool bar and drank our last night there in the pool bar, relax and chatting.
Time flies, 8 days went pass with just a blink of eyes, nevertheless this trip is amazing and fun and I really appreciate and thank Aung Htoo, Aung Htut and Aung Htet for bringing us around, translating for us and having so much fun with us too. Also, helping us working out with a very good budget in arranging for transportations and accommodations too, this trip was upgraded to fantastic with you guys around. Big Thanks!! JI SU TEM BA LE..!! (Thanks in Burmese)
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