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How to travel Myanmar in 7 days

Myanmar is an old country with a recorded history that goes back hundreds of years. Its culture is complex and its government policies intricate. I’ve read the news. I know about the military’s treatment of its people, reporters, and occasional tourists. I was worried. But there’s a way to do it safely and responsibly. Here’s what I did in  7 days.

About Myanmar

When I was growing up in Thailand, I learned about the long history of warfare between the Thais and Burmese. When I think of the Thai-Burmese relationship I see images of ransacked cities, gold melting off pagodas, and dead elephants and soldiers. But the reality is often more complicated.

Like America, Myanmar was a colony of England. From 1824 to 1948 it underwent wars with the British and became known as a province of British India. It finally gained independence after WWII and Japanese rule like several southeast Asian countries. Colonialism marred it, just like it did its many neighbors. Until recently, the country had been under one military regime after another, with much of its spending siphoned to the military at the cost of infrastructure. Based on UNICEF report in 2012-13 fiscal year, it has spent 29% of its entire budget for the defense forces, while the education sector received just 11%, the health sector 5.7%, and social welfare at 0.29%.

The 2015 election granted the overwhelming majority seats to the National League of Democracy. Since then, efforts have been made to reallocate its spending. Although evidence of its past decisions is apparent in potholed roads and homelessness.

Civil unrest and disputes between its people dominate Myanmar’s past and present. There are more than 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar, with 7 being the largest minority nationalities: The Chin, the Kachin, the Karenni (sometimes called Kayah), the Karen (sometimes called Kayin), the Mon, the Rakhine, and the Shan. Each group has their own language, culture, and history, making up Myanmar’s rich tapestry. Yet, not all tribes are recognized and not all the people who were born there its citizens.

So how does one navigate through this rich and beautiful land rife with conflict? Answer: With a combination of caution and thirst for experience, together with help from local guides. Hiring guides was not something we normally do. But we were glad we did. In doing so, we were able to cover a large section of the country and sample the many flavors this wonderful place has to offer. Click on the links to see the detailed travel log of each day.

Day 1: Yangon – Street food tour and Shwedagon Pagoda

A street food tour is a must for anyone visiting any country. Yangon is special for its architecture of dilapidated colonial buildings mixed in with modern skyscrapers. We walked around neighborhoods, ate authentic street food frequented by locals, and hung out in a park in the middle of the city. Afterward, we visited the Shwedagon Pagoda at night to experience the peaceful vibration at one of the most famous Buddhist sites in the world.

Day 2: Yangon – Botataung temple, fisherman’s village

A bombing during WWII in 1943 destroyed Botataung temple. It was only rebuilt after Myanmar gained independence in 1948. A special place among Burmese, you can find worshippers pray wedged in various corners of the gilded temple. After, we took the ferry across the Yangon River to a fisherman’s village and a non-profit boarding school that educates children from ages 5-13 from all over Myanmar.

Day 3: Bagan – the ancient city

Bagan is an ancient archeological city that was the seat of the Pagan kingdom from the 9th to the 13th centuries. At its height, there were over 10,000 Buddhist temples, of which 3,122 remained. It is a must visit for admirers of history and Buddhism. Yangon to Bagan was also my first of many overnight bus rides in Myanmar.

Day 4: Bagan sunrise and Mount Popa

Witnessing the beauty of the morning rays peeling open the cloak of darkness and bathing the valley with warm orange light, revealing red brick temple tops and its green surrounding, was the apex of my trip. Afterward, we drove a few hours to Mount Popa where we climbed up 777 steps to the top and watched a rainbow arch over the majestic landscape after heavy rainfall.

Day 5: Shan State and Pindaya Cave

After another sleepless night in an overnight bus from Bagan in Mandalay State to Shan State, we drove to Pindaya Cave. The stalactite cave has 10,000 Buddha images climbing up its sides, with the oldest estimated to be from the 17th century.

Day 6: Inle Lake

Inle Lake was the most touristy spot we visited in Myanmar. But it is still worth a trip. We spent our day riding in a jewel-colored long-tail boat through the beautiful lake. We visited temples, monastery, and villages on stilts.

Day 7: Phaungdawoo temple, Shwe Indein Village

A graveyard of a thousand stupas surrounding a village called Shwe Indein. Check. A market where one can buy green tea leaves and wild turmeric from hill tribe’s women for a song. Check. Another beautiful ride along Inle Lake. Check.

Our trip to Myanmar has been unforgettable. The people are kind, the food delicious, and the bus rides hellish. There is still an innocence to the country which I suspect may change as it becomes more touristy. The people smile openly and are generous with stories. Regardless of the politics of this country, I was reminded that people and government do not always share an ideology. Each person just wants to live their life peacefully and hold their loved ones close to their heart.

Myanmar, may you never lose the best parts of yourself.

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Myanmar: Bagan sunrise

That first night in Bagan, I woke up to a weight at the end of my bed. My first thought was of Laurie waking me up for our rendezvous with the sunrise. When I felt the weight slipping under the cover I realized I was either dreaming or experiencing something closer to a ghost encounter.

In a city as ancient as Bagan, it is easy to imagine coexisting with spirits and superstitions. But exhaustion won out fear, and the only thing I could muster was a request to the spirit/bad dream to go away. When the real Laurie woke me up at 4:45 AM, I was still exhausted from a night too short. But even with disrupted sleep, sunrise over Bagan is not something you miss.

We rented electric motorbikes from our hotel for 1,500 kyat each ($1.10 U.S.). We rode in the dark to Thitsarwadi temple, one of the many ancient temples near our hotel. It was pretty easy to find with instruction from our guide. Go past the Dhammayazika temple (the big golden pagoda was hard to miss), turn on a small road, then when you see a small sign, turn off to a dirt road around the bend on the right. It took us about 15 minutes to get there.

The temple was small unlike the Shwesandaw, the Sunset pagoda we were at the day before. We climbed up the steep steps and found we were not alone. Several early birds with heavy-duty professional cameras around their necks were already sitting on the edges of the brick overhang. They were waiting the perfect moment to capture the sunrise.

Armed with our mighty iPhones we stood in a scene reminiscing of the movie ‘City of Angels’.  We were like the angels at the beach listening to the tinking of the bells as the sun rose. It was – and I don’t use this word often – magical.

Soon the morning ray peeled open the cloak of darkness and bathed the valley around us with warm orange light, revealing red brick temple tops and its green surrounding. Watching it unfold to the soundtrack of Gymnopedies was peace epitomized. It is human nature to want to find our place in the chaos of life and meaning in random encounters. And I wish that I could say something more meaningful for having witnessed the beautiful scenery, but there really are no words to replace the experience of having been there.

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Myanmar: Bagan – The ancient city

We took the overnight bus from Yangon to Bagan. Although technically we could have afforded plane tickets, we decided to try the local way. I’ve traveled by bus before in Thailand when I was younger, but this was a whole new ballgame. First, it was freezing cold. It seemed the driver was compensating for the hot weather and turned up the AC. Then there’s the roads. They were so bumpy we thought we were on a Mars rover.

To maintain a semblance of comfort, I found having these items helped: 1) Ear plugs (there were snorers); 2) Socks, jacket, scarf, sarong or whatever to keep warm; 3) Sleep mask because they left the lights on; 4) Water and snacks. Not all buses will give you food so don’t count on it; 5) Wet wipes. There were no bathrooms on the bus and the quality of bathrooms at the different stops was not standardized. One of the rest stops only had squat toilets with water in a bucket for washing.

When taking an overnight bus in a country where you lack the language skill, it is important to pay attention to what the driver said or ask your neighbors when in doubt. I know this should be a no-brainer. But at 11 PM, the mind does not think straight.

At the 76 km mark, the bus almost left our little group behind at a food stop because. Our fault. We didn’t know we only had 30 minutes. The driver had some attendants hunt us down while we were eating the last of our hot noodles soup. The walk of shame back to our seats was pretty embarrassing.

We arrived at Bagan just as the sun was rising. Bagan is an ancient archeological city that was the seat of the Pagan kingdom from the 9th to the 13th centuries. At its height, there were over 10k Buddhist temples, of which 3,122 remained. We spent our first day here in 4 of them: Shwesri Gon Pagoda, Htilominlo, Ananda Temple, and Shwesandaw, the Sunset Pagoda. The Shwesri Gon Pagoda from 11th century contains the bone relic of the Buddha. The Ananda Temple, another from the 11th century, has 10k Buddha images. Some depict the story of how the Buddha transformed from a prince to the enlightened one. There were more things we would have learned had we not had to siphon all of our effort toward not passing out from heat stroke. 

The temples would be best visited early in the day. The walls of the temple absorb the heat and by end of the day it felt like 120 degree with 100% humidity inside. It was not easy to stay focused on our knowledgeable guide as he lectured about the differences in Buddha images from century to century. After a while, all we wanted was just a cold drink.

A few things I did learn:

1) Never, ever go to the Shwesandaw for sunset. It was a zoo! The precarious steep steps are dangerous to navigate when congested and the clouds made it impossible to see the sunset.

2) Some tourists can be rude if stuck on the said stone steps. They seemed to bring out the worst in some people. Just move slow and hug the wall.

3) Bobby will buy anything if under enough pressure. There were hundreds of vendors hawking all kinds of tourist trinkets. Some were extremely persistent. Bobby is now a proud owner of a painting he will never hang.

4) Always order the Burmese set meal. Always. You choose the meat (I chose fish and shrimp but there were also beef and chicken), which were then cooked in spices, onions, and peppers. It also came with a soup, a vegetable side, and rice. Heaven.