how much do you guys spend per day averagely?

10 USD per day for food
20 USD per day for food can be very splurge

one meal there between RM6-8.

for Yangon itself, the expenses are higher than other district. USD 20 per day will be fine

Hi I'm thinking about going to Yangon and Bagan next year.
Anyone specifically been to Bagan before? What's the best way to get around Bagan?

Rent Electrical Scooter / Electric motor Bicycle

has anyone been to taunggyi? is it near to nyaung shwe (inle lake)?

Exploring Bagan by electric scooter.. every hotel will have rental service

You can as well cover Inle lake if you have time..

Pass by je, nyaung shwe is a better place to base yourself for inle lake

Just came back from Myanmar last Saturday.
We went to Taunggyi mainly, Inle Lake and Bagan.

Rented a Van to bring us around for the whole trip

Yangon -> Taunggyi around 10-12 hours
Taunggyi -> Inle Lake around 1 hour

Taunggyi -> Bagan around 8-9 hours


Bagan -> Yangon around 9 hours?

Weather around Taunggyi is cooling, less than around 18 Celcius at night, day time around 23-25 Celcius

Food wise, pretty good, Taunggyi food taste like chinese food !

Planning to hire a guide to tour around loikaw, somewhere mid March 2020. Would like to find 1-2 persons to share cost. Please PM if you are interested.

More info abt the place
https://www.remotelands.com/travelogues/dis...ibes-of-loikaw/

hi do you have the contact for van rental?

Myanmar is an underrated country to visit now. The country has got so much to offer but tourism is not at its full scale yet. Everyone must put Myanmar at your bucket list too visit before it gets too commercialised.

Information about travelling to Myanmar is not as much as other South East Asia countries because it was opened for tourism not too long ago. However, we still managed to Google-searched some details about the accommodations & logistic within the country since availability of smart phone hence online bookings (e.g. hotels, bus operators, etc) is getting easily accessible.

Here’s a short video highlight of our recent trip to Myanmar in Dec19.



Our 8-Day-7-Night itinerary:

Day 1 - 30th Nov 2019
KUL - RGN
We took the early flight, arrived Yangon at 8.00am, then had breakfast and withdrawn local currency at airport.
Checked into a Day-Use hotel for short nap and freshen up (it’s gonna be a long day)
Visited Shwedagon Pagoda.
Took night bus (JJ Express) at 8.00PM which will take approx. 10 hours to Bagan.

Day 2 - 1st Dec 2019
Arrived Bagan at 6.00AM
Getting surrounded by taxi drivers offering hotel transfer.
Taxi driver dropped us somewhere to watch sunrise, then to hotel to check-in.
Rent a e-Bike then go around Bagan town.
Watch sunset at unknown site.

Day 3 - 2nd Dec 2019
Watched sunrise.
Explored Bagan town.
Watched sunset.

Day 4 - 3rd Dec 2019
Watched sunrise (trust me, you won’t get enough of sunrises in Bagan).
Booked a private car to Mandalay (approx. 5 hour travel time).
Arrived Madalay at 5.00PM just in time to watch sunset at U Bein Bridge.
Checked into hotel.

Day 5 - 4th Dec 2019
Mandalay Teak Wood Temple.
Mahar Gandar Yone Monestary (千人憎饭).
Mingun May Thein Tan Pagoda (White Temple).
Night bus at 8.00PM to Inle (approx. 8 hours).

Day 6 - 5th Dec 2019
Arrived Inle at 5.00PM (walking distance from bus stand to hotel)
Boat tour to Inle Lake - silver factory, house of long neck lady, lotus weaving, seagull feeding, sunset watching.

Day 7 - 6th Dec 2019
Explore Inle morning market and town.
Night bus at 8.00PM to Yangon (approx. 12 hours).

Day 8 - 7th Dec 2019
Deposited luggages in RGN airport and explored Yangon town.
Back to Malaysia.

This post has been edited by brian3455: Apr 4 2020, 06:42 PM

IMPORTANT NOTES

Money Exchange
USD and Kyat are the main currencies accepted in Myanmar. We noticed that price tags in USD will cost more after conversion, so we made payment in Kyat all the time.
MYR to Kyat is around RM2.70 to 1000 Kyat (as of Dec19). Money changers in Malaysia will not exchange for Myanmar Kyat (MMK), so we had to exchange MYR to USD, then change to Kyat when we reached Myanmar. Alternatively, we can also withdraw Kyat from ATM machines in Myanmar (all ATM have CIRRUS network). Please make sure you call you banks to activated International Withdrawal and ensure POS enabled.
Credit cards are widely accepted in major town like Yangon and Mandalay, but not smaller towns like Bagan & Inle.

Attire
Weather in Myanmar is similar to Malaysia, however, make sure to adhere to dress code imposed by temples before entering. These temples usually don’t allow short pants, spaghetti strap top and hot pants. Please bring along a scarf/sarong a.k.a Longyi to cover yourselves when visiting temples. Otherwise, you are required to rent Longyi from them.
Besides, shoes are not allowed in temples, so you need to take off your shoes and leave it outside the temples. To avoid your shoes being stollen, you can bring plastic bag to carry your shoes along (some local kids will approach you to sell plastic bags).

Weather
Even though the weather in most areas are similar to Malaysia, but Bagan and Inle is colder due to it’s geographical locations. When we rode our bike out to watch sunrise/sunset in Bagan, then chilly wind could easily get into your bones, literally. As for Inle, the humongous lake chills the average temperature for the surroundings. Temperature in Inle is approximately 20 degree, similar with our Genting highland.

Transportation
Overnight Bus - We travelled between towns mostly by overnight buses - time & cost saving.
We booked overnight bus from JJ Express, a bus company inspires to offer airlines alike services with onboard “cabin crews” who serve snack, drinks, comforter, etc. From the crews’ uniform to public announcement, they put a lot of efforts in giving airlines like experience.
These buses are really comfortable that you could recline your seat almost flat, but their aircon is way too cold so make sure to wear extra layers of clothes for a good sleep. They will stop at R&R for toilet break too.
When we arrived at destination, we got surrounded by taxi drivers offering hotel transfer. So make sure you know how far away is your hotel to avoid being offered “cut throat” price.

e-Hailing - Grab is widely available in Yangon and Mandalay, but not in Bagan and Inle. However, e-bike is cheaply available in Bagan & Inle, it cost USD5.00 for full day (7.00AM to 7.00PM).

Horse Cart and Tuktuk are available in Bagan, if you have extra budget, private rental cars are also available. But we stick to e-bike because we get to take our own sweet time and have the freedom of going out/coming back as and when we like.

e-Bike - battery operated motorbike that could go as fast as 40km/h. There are e-Bike renting tent in almost every street in Bagan. No deposits required, just choose your bike and go (pay when you return the bike). if you need the bike for following day for sunrise watching, just exchange a new bike so that they can re-charge the used one.
Fee is USD5.00 for 12 hours - 7.00AM to 7.00PM
We asked the owner: "are there any cases where customers took their bikes and never returned it?" he said he has been in the business for 4 years but no such cases happened before - people visiting Bagan are all nice people

Language
People in Myanmar (Burmese) can speak simple English. Everyone is so friendly!
Mingalabar means Hello.

Food
We tried to be adventurous in trying Burmese food, like Shan Sticky Noodle that we tried on 1st day, we didn’t like it. So we didn’t try local dishes thereafter. i guess it was the way they merinate the meats, the taste is weird XD
Generally their food is oily and too salty/sweet than our liking.
Due to the dusty environment, we did not try any roadside food at all.
Food is generally similar to Malaysia taste in proper restaurants. Prices are reasonable too even in touristy locations. Each meal cost an average of aRM10+ per person.
Avocado juice is cheap! We had it almost every meal
Beer is cheap too

Entrance Fee
Bagan, Inle and Mingun are archeological areas, so the government imposed entrance fee when entering these areas.
Bagan zone - 25,000MMK per person (approx. MYR75).
Inle zone - 15,000MMK per person.
Mingun zone - 5000MMK per person.
Bus drivers will stopped at entrance of these areas, then a conductor will collect the fee from everyone, so get ready your cash (payment in cash only).

Verdict
We immediately felt in love in Bagan and Inle, we like the peacefulness and authenticity of these towns. We felt sad when leaving these towns
Hence it is highly recommended to visit Myanmar before it gets too commercialised.
I am sure I’ll visit this lovely country again soon.

This post has been edited by brian3455: Apr 4 2020, 09:21 PM

YANGON

Shwedagon Pagoda - it is one of the most famous pagodas in the world. According to some, the pagoda is 2,600 years old, making Shwedagon the oldest pagoda in the world.



Yangon Street View








This post has been edited by brian3455: Apr 4 2020, 11:06 PM


Attached thumbnail(s)

BAGAN

Sunrise & Sunset in Bagan










The e-Bike Rental Operator


This post has been edited by brian3455: Apr 4 2020, 09:33 PM

MANDALAY

U Bein Bridge - the longest teak wood bridge in the world.




Mahar Gandar Yone Monestary - witness thousands of monks lining up for lunch and offering food to monks.




Hsinbyume Paya, a.k.a. Myatheintan Pagoda (White Temple)
Built by King Bagyidaw in 1816AD. Like the Taj Mahal, this paya was meant as a monument to the tragic death of the king's wife, Queen Hsinbyume, who died in childbirth. It is one of the most Insta-worthy temples to visit in Myanmar.


This post has been edited by brian3455: Apr 4 2020, 09:53 PM

INLE LAKE

Boat tour visit to the house of long neck ladies




Seagull feeding and sunset watching in Inle Lake




Map of Inle Lake - boat ride from top to bottom take 7 hours




Explored Inle Lake town and saw a wedding was happening


This post has been edited by brian3455: Apr 4 2020, 09:45 PM

Thank you for sharing. very good information for those who plan to go there.

For the currency exchange, there are few money changer at the Yangon International airport arrival hall accept Ringgit Malaysia.

Grab is very convenient in yangon area.

Anyway, the peoples are very nice.

Plan to go Bagan and Inle after your review.

Thank you.

anyone hav any idea how to book overnite BUS from yangon to bagan online? it seem google hav no active website that able to do so..

This post has been edited by David900924: Jul 19 2022, 07:16 AM