We’ve left Burma. 2 weeks, a couple dozen Buddhist temples, hundreds of Buddha statues, millions of smiles sent towards Maks, a couple dozen portions of fried noodles with chicken and more than a few of fried rice with chicken with not much chicken in them. Too high prices, mediocre food and night buses on which you can easily freeze. In the end Burma turned out to be a pain in the ass which we already wrote about (HERE) so after 2 weeks, we were very happy to relocate somewhere where the food is better and the streets are cleaner. 😉 No regrets about it, we’ll write more about that later…
Despite all that, Burma is surely a place worth visiting. For a few days, for a week or for 1.5 weeks so you could at least see the most beautiful things, the country has to offer. I guess everybody (including us!) gets amazed by two places – both of them are tourist attractions but they’re still charming. See for yourself, even during a few days long trip while staying in Thailand.
BURMA – TOP OF THE TOP:
BAGAN
Bagan is known for more than 2 thousand big and small temples, pagodas and monasteries scattered around the area. For us it was the biggest attraction of Burma. We have NEVER seen anything like that before. Bagan is incredibly impressive, you can ride a bike or a scooter and every few metres, you will see another temple; you can climb a mountain and look at the surrounding area full of magical buildings. Someone commented on our Facebook: ‘My God, do such lands really exist?’ Apparently YES. Bagan (Pagan) used to be the capital of Kingdom of Pagan and most of the temples were built between 11th and 13th century. For years they suffered from earthquakes and other damages or fires. Serious restoration didn’t start before the 90s but the way it was conducted was often criticised.
Right now, Bagan archaeological site is 13 long and 8 km wide. The best way to see it is on a bike or a scooter (like we did). In the zone you will find little towns such as Nyuang U, Old Bagan and New Bagan. Nyuang U is the most popular starting point – there’s plenty of hostels, hotels and nice restaurants there.
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When you finally decide whether to see Bagan on a bike or on a scooter, be sure to see all the most beautiful places such as Sulamani temple with beautiful decorative paintings, huge Dhammayangyi temple which looks a bit like a pyramid (you can see it from everywhere around) or Thatbyinnyu which looks like a medieval castle and towers over the area. The best way to see Bagan is with a map with all buildings marked on it, with additional descriptions of the most important ones. Most maps also include indications regarding best places to see sunset and sunrise when in Bagan. Shwesandaw temple is one of the most popular spots as it provides fantastic view of the neighbourhood – including the huge Dhammayangyi. It’s hard to find a place to stand in Shwesandaw at 5 pm, so be sure to arrive early enough! 🙂 Unfortunately, due to gastric problems (yes, it happened to us too!) we didn’t manage to see sunset or sunrise but I guess that if the views are breathtaking during the day, it all must look absolutely spectacular in this special moments!
You can take a bus from Rangoon or Inle lake to Bagan, you can fly there by plane (to Nyuang U from Heho, Rangun or Mandalay) or – like us – take a boat from Mandalay – really nice trip on the river Irrawaddy! Entrance to the archaeological site costs 10 dollars per person.
Bagan is the most developed location in Burma when it comes to hotels, hostels and restaurants. Plenty to choose from with many great options for a calm evening with some nice food (which isn’t that easy in Burma!). We liked A Little Bit of Bagan in particular – great fried noodles great tomato, avocado and lime salad, tasty tofu and pancakes with banana or pineapple for dessert. Good place if you’re travelling with a child which is already tired of eating rice – they have pizza and pasta with tomato sauce similar to Polish/European versions.
INLE LAKE
Inle Lake is the second must see in Burma. Second biggest lake in the country, amazing neighbourhood, fishermen in traditional boats rowing with their legs, temples, houses on poles and floating villages. Breathtaking views – a great way to spend your day. If you already been to Cambodia and visited floating villages on Tonle Sap lake, then it won’t be a novelty to you. The views are pretty similar! But if you never seen people living on the water before, this place will blow you away!
Wooden boats, beautiful greenness around, picturesque houses on poles. A completely different world. During a cruise you can visit local market (after you squeeze through souvenir stalls), ‘cigars’ (cheroots) production and pagodas.
In order to take the cruise, you have to book a trip with one of the tourist agencies, plenty of which can be found in Nyuang Shwe (we booked ours with Mr A Tun located near Golden Kite pizzeria). You can also fix something directly at the place from which the boars leave. Sometimes you just need to get out of your hotel and wait for someone to approach you and ask: “boat for tomorrow?”. We paid 20 dollars for a day-long trip (8.30 am – 5.30 pm) for 3 (private boat). Reportedly you can go as low as 11 dollars if you skip the agency and talk with a guide-rower directly.
Local fishermen with huge baskets for fish, rowing with their feet are one of the biggest attractions on the lake. Right now it’s mostly an act designed to draw tourists’ attention but if you sail a little bit deeper into more deserted parts of Inle, you will also see them. So I’m hoping that there’s at least a tiny bit of authenticity left in Inle Lake. In the morning, the boats usually stop at local market. When you get off the boat, you see plenty of souvenir stalls around (little wooden boats with the baskets I mentioned – a must buy) and lots of tourists. But if you pass the commercial part, you’ll find a real market for locals – picturesque, full of colours, faces painted with thanaka and local snacks. Unfortunately the hygienic condition discourage us from giving them a try so we mainly feast with our eyes – not bellies 😉
How to get to Inle? We took a night bus from Bagan – the trip was quite tiring, it took 9 hours and cost us 11 dollars per person. You can also take a bus from Rangoon or Mandalay. If you’re not into freezing in a bus, you can fly to Heho (35 km from Inle).
Nyuang Shwe will be you starting point – that’s where you should book your hotel; you’ll also find a good variety of shops and restaurants there. Boats to Inle leave from Nyuang Shwe. An all-day trip is packed with attractions, but if you have more time, you can try going to Sankar Lake- reportedly as beautiful as Inle yet less commercialised. Going from Nyuang Shwe to Sankar Lake will take you 3 hours by boat. We decided to give it a pass because of Maks. So many hours on the boat may have been a struggle for him. If we were there alone we would have probably checked Sankar too.
Inle Lake and Bagan aren’t the only places worth visiting in Burma, but they surely make the biggest impression and stay in your head for a long time. If you have more time, check outRangoon and Mandalay area. Places such as Shwedagon temple in Rangoon or Amarapura bridge near Mandalay are pretty impressive too!
Think about combining a trip to Burma with a visit to Thailand, Cambodia or Laos. It’s easy to fall in love with Asia after such a trip! 🙂 The best way to find your tickets to Asia is by checking EMIRATES website. Start with Bangkok and enjoy your ride! 😉
*the entry was written in cooperation with EMIRATES:
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