“Starting March 2020, landings in Myanmar have been banned for all international commercial passenger flights. The measure is valid until at least May 31, 2021. A limited number of special international commercial flights land in Myanmar.” (source mae.ro)
While there are still restrictions in Myanmar, that doesn't mean we can't plan vacations for late 2021 or early 2022. Below you'll read Anda's experience, how she prepared her trip, her adventures there, and some tips.
Why Myanmar?
I had been planning to go to Myanmar (or Burma) for several years. I had heard about its diversity from various sources! A country that has long been closed to tourists, largely due to the tumultuous political situation (culminating in the February 2021 coup d'état) and about which not many people know (most head to Laos), as a result it is not very crowded. Since opening its borders to visitors, tourism has gradually blossomed year by year (it went from about 700 thousand visitors in 2008, reaching 4,3 million in 2019).
What can you visit in Burma? Pretty much anything… from religious monuments/sites, ancient cities, mountain lakes, hiking in mountainous areas , a spectacular archipelago of 800 volcanic islands with lush vegetation populated by 3-5%, to good food (this is also because I am a big fan of Asian food, plus I like to try all kinds of culinary experiences on all my trips).
Organization
We had 18 days! Although it seems like a lot, it turned out to be just enough to see a small part of everything this country has to offer. Burma is surprisingly long and the distances between objectives, long, so I made a plan of action with many flights (although in many countries I prefer night buses between objectives -you sleep in one city and wake up in another-, the country does not have a transport system as well developed as in Chile, Brazil or other highly touristic countries).
There is no direct flight from Romania to Myanmar, we took a flight with Aeroflot to Bangkok (about 550 euros, 15h each way) and then a Bangkok-Mandalay flight with Air Asia. We chose Mandalay to start! We preferred to start in the north with the sightseeing, then go down to the south (and the beach) towards the end of the trip. The initial plan was 3 nights in Bangkok, 2 in Mandalay, 2 Bagan, 2 Kalaw, 2 Inle Lake, 1 Yangon and 5 Myeik.
What can you do in Bangkok?
For Thailand , you can get a visa on arrival at the airport. I know it costs money, but by some miracle, it didn't cost anything during our stay (shit!). Bangkok is a city with an extremely active day and night life, so the possibilities are endless. We chose to visit the Wat Pho temple where you can see the Reclining Buddha, walk around the complex and even try a traditional Thai massage. Next door is the Grand Palace where you can get lost in the gardens and palace buildings. Be careful not to have your arms uncovered (at least wear a short-sleeved shirt and your pants should not be extremely short). Lumpini Park is an oasis of greenery in a busy city. You can walk along the alleys, with boats on the lake, sit on the grass and watch passersby or those doing tai chi or even take part in aerobics/dance classes. The city experience is not complete until you go to Chinatown to get lost in the crowds, try the food from the small, few-table restaurants or street vendors, and taste the diversity of fruits you find everywhere.
Another “must” (although somewhat overrated) is the boat trip on the city canals to the “floating market” where you can buy trinkets, souvenirs or snacks/fruit. We ended the few days with an outing on Khao San, a street known for its hustle and bustle, colorful and animated by small shops full of traditional products and not only, by tourists and locals, bars, restaurants, live music , dance, massage centers, counters with fried insects, fruit, hostels and pretty much everything else you can get in just 400 m. A unique experience in Bangkok was the bike trip through the city, in areas less known to tourists, on narrow streets and places hidden from the tumult of the main arteries.
And here we are after a few days in Bangkok, on our way to the airport. Checked all documents, passport, all cutlery. We decided to get the visa for Myanmar upon entering the country because on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs it is written that from 2017 it is possible to get a "visa on arrival".
How can you not rely on what is written there? We took pictures, we had everything we needed. And then comes the surprise at the airport: we cannot board without a visa obtained in advance!!! I translate to the woman what is written on the official website, she insists that we cannot board without one and that she frequently faces this problem with tourists….she wins….The moment comes to panic: not only are we missing the plane but also because the trip was meticulously planned to the minute with accommodations, air transport and buses, all of which were purchased in advance. On the domino principle, one piece falls, all are gone. Of course, the visa cannot be obtained in a flash, immediately, in the best case scenario it can be done as an emergency in 1-2 days. But it is Sunday and it is normal that no one answers the phone number, emails and other contact methods . While we are sitting and trying to find a solution, I look once more at the website where the letter of the law is written and what do you see? On the business visa part (normally, a part I wouldn't have read because I wasn't interested) it says in small letters "unlike the tourist visa, the business visa can be obtained at the airport border"... checkmate!
We returned to the accommodation where we extended our stay by a day and waited for the problematic visa. 2 hours after I arrived at the accommodation, I also received the visa 😁
The official website where you can get your visa in advance is: HERE
What would a trip without mishaps be like? You would no longer have cute stories for your friends
And we arrive in Mandalay, our first destination in Burma. Expect humid heat, roads…like ours, dust, and a country untouched by great progress but on the other hand untouched by hordes of tourists. The internet is unexpectedly cheap: there are a few companies (in our group we got from both phone companies that we found in the respective store, the prices are about the same: about 2000 kyat, about 6 lei for the sim plus top up of as many GB as desired, 8 would be about 9000 kyat). And the food is the same, we went to restaurant no. 2 on trip advisor and we paid about 120 lei for all 5 of us and the table was full, including drinks. The area is full of pagodas, on the first day after we arrived we saw Kuthodaw pagoda, we climbed Mandalay hill and in the evening we went to a traditional puppet show.
You can negotiate with them for transport, we visited all of the above with the help of a local who took us and waited for us everywhere. Basically they say a price, you say half of what they ask and from there the "negotiations" begin.
The next day we took a morning trip to the sunrise to see the U Bein bridge which is about 1 km and is supposed to be the oldest and longest teak bridge in the world (circa 1850)
The next stop was at Amarapura (the former royal capital of the country). The city shocks with its white color and meticulous architecture.
The next location after Mandalay was Bagan. It is part of the UNESCO heritage and contains about 2000 (of the 10000 from the glory days) of Buddhist temples, stupas and pagodas spread over an area of tens of square kilometers. It is one of the most impressive sights I have seen in my travels. The hotel where we stayed (from the roof of which you could see the sunrise over the pagoda plain or the hot air balloons flying over) provided us with electric bikes so we could ride to the sunrise in the morning to admire the view. If you want to admire the area from the balloon, it will cost you around 250-300 dollars per person. We went a little before sunrise and climbed a pagoda from where we saw the sun show and admired the balloons rising in the sky.
After sunrise we went around the area to see some of the larger temples that have been preserved and we didn't miss the few small lacquered pottery factories, specific to the place. The local market is a good place to see the diversity and try local culinary products. If the sunrise caught us atop a temple, the sunset was spent taking a relaxing trip down the Irrawaddy River.
Kalaw was a breath of fresh air on this sunny trip
Like the way between Mandalay and Bagan, the one to the next destination, Kalaw, was by bus. Although I was expecting something worse, it was quite comfortable and relatively clean. I bought the bus tickets online, before the trip, to tie everything together without having the surprise of not finding tickets at a time that would suit me or enough for everyone (we were a group of 5).
Kalaw was a breath of fresh air on this sunny trip. It is a hilly area, where the difference in level is immediately felt through the drop in temperature. You will see many colonial-style houses, everything is green and looks slightly removed from the context of the rest of the country visited. Here we did a day hike in the hills of the area, including a village of some ethnic minorities. The last evening he caught us at a restaurant with the next day's driver who was going to take us to our next destination, in front of a wine and a song, accompanied by his guitar.
The road to Inle lake, the next destination, can also be done on foot, it is a route of about 7h/day for 3 days that was designated by Lonely Planet and National Geographic as one of the most beautiful hikes you can do .There are organized tours that provide the guide, luggage transport, 3 meals a day, accommodation in traditional villages. It's on my list for next time because clearly there will be a next time!
Inle lake is buzzing with tourists, the lake being one of the main attractions of the country
After a quiet area like Kalaw, Inle lake is buzzing with tourists, the lake being one of the main attractions of the country. The lake is located at an altitude of 880 m, has fresh water and abounds in fauna and vegetation, the locals also have floating gardens next to the houses built on stilts.
The characteristic image for this lake is of the fisherman rowing standing on one leg, carrying a site-specific fishing basket. This is because the lake is covered in extremely large areas with vegetation and paddling would not be possible. This image can be captured by chance or artificially, many of them waiting for the sunset and the tourist boats to pass by to do various balancing exercises to the delight of the public. Of course, a little tip helps.
Thanks to tourism, the area is extremely developed, there are numerous hotels and accommodations. When it comes to accommodation, in general for a decent, clean double room, bathroom in the room, breakfast, the average price I paid per night was around 20 euros, slightly more in Kalaw and Myeik.
We went on a day trip on the lake to Indein Pagoda which took almost all day. Next to the houses of the locals sometimes you can see floating vegetable gardens (an attraction we didn't catch is the floating market where small traders in boats come with local products to sell). The area is known for the craft of silver, bamboo, silk and lotus fiber products.
at Inle Lake that we also saw women from the Kayan tribe who live in the area and are famous for the multiple rings they wear around their necks.
Shwedagon Pagoda (Golden Pagoda), the largest Buddhist temple in Myanmar
The next city we went to (by plane this time) was the very capital of Burma, Yangon. Here it was more of a transition point for us to Myeik from where you get to the Mergui Archipelago. If we still arrived, we took the opportunity to go see the Shwedagon Pagoda (Golden Pagoda), the largest Buddhist temple in Myanmar. Although I caught it while it was under renovation, it is impressive and well worth the visit. The rest of the city was not necessarily to my taste, the only more interesting thing we did was to go see a former amusement park abandoned and overgrown with vegetation that offers the possibility of "instagrammable" pictures, that is until I pierce you the swarms of mosquitoes in the vegetation.
The last episode of our hectic trip was Myeik where we arrived by plane from Yangon. The "airport" in Myeik is a room where you wait until your luggage is unloaded from the plane and then you go to get it from the trolley on the runway. Unique!
Due to its isolated position, small population, the Mergui archipelago has not been greatly influenced by human presence
Although the area is a terminus for excursions from the archipelago, it is still not sufficiently developed/publicized, as a result there are neither tourists nor very many accommodation units. Coincidentally, I found the hotel on the ground floor of which was also the most famous/praised company dealing with excursions in the archipelago with overnight stays on deserted islands. There is not much to do in the area, although it seems to be an area with access to water, at first glance it is dirty and does not look too "promising". But Myeik is only the departure point for the islands, and here things change.
Due to the isolated position, the small population, the Mergui archipelago has not been greatly influenced by the presence of man and as a result it is a paradise of flora and fauna. The islands have fertile, volcanic soil and lush vegetation and are surrounded by coral atolls.
The first trip was also the most spectacular, we moved away from the gray city and stopped in some islands to enjoy the sun, waterfalls, water, the shade of the forest. In the evening we reached an unpopulated island where we slept in tents under the open sky. The next day we kayaked around the island and went snorkeling.
The last excursion of our adventure was one on the canals between the islands, through the mangroves, with kayaks.
For me this country was a great surprise and I only saw a small part of what it has to offer. I look forward to coming back!
The way back was via Yangon and then Bangkok where I stayed one more night. For the last night we tried Calypso cabaret….you can't go to Bangkok without experiencing something like this. Feelings during the show are mixed but all in all it was something new. Although I always regret when a trip ends, returning home is a good opportunity to settle the memories and give me the time to organize for the next one :))
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