After starting my year of travel with 3 Weeks in S. Korea followed by 3 Weeks in Japan, I stopped briefly back in Bangkok to celebrate my birthday with friends – including the friends that I would travel Myanmar with. So after a few days to arrange our Visas, we flew to Mandalay and spent a month exploring this marvelous country.
The tourism infrastructure is still ramping up, so it takes a long time to travel between cities – you’ll see that reflected in the long travel days. That said, the looooong bus rides were absolutely worth it!
Here’s our itinerary at a glance:
- Day 1: Fly to Mandalay from Bangkok
- Day 2: Bus from Mandalay to Hsipaw
- Days 3 & 4: 48 Hours in Hsipaw
- Day 5: Train from Hsipaw to Mandalay
- Days 6-8: 3 Days in Mandalay for the Festival of Lights
- Day 9: Travel Mandalay to Inle Lake
- Days 10-12: 3 Days at Inle Lake for the Boat Festival
- Day 13: Bus from Inle Lake to Bagan
- Days 14-16: 3 Days in Bagan
- Day 17: Travel from Bagan to Bago (not a fan) (Overnight bus from Bagan to Yangon + 5 hour minivan from Yangon to Bago)
- Day 18: Travel from Bago to Hpa-an
- Days 19-26: 8 Days in Hpa-an
- Day 27: Travel Day = Bus from Hpa-an to Yangon
- Day 28: 24 Hours in Yangon
- Fin. Back to BKK!
Interested in Burmese food? You can find What I Ate In: Myanmar here.
And here’s the summary (with pictures!)
Day 1: My 2 Aussie friends and I arrive in Mandalay and meet up with 2 more friends – a couple of Swiss travelers my Aussie friends met during some of their previous travels.
Day 2: Travel day – took the bus from Mandalay to Hsipaw (in Shah State)
Days 3 & 4: 48 Hours in Hsipaw – a lovely quiet and remote region unaccustomed to seeing tourists (yet) where we were met with tons of huge smiles and waves.
Day 5: Travel day – train from Hsipaw to Mandalay
Train ticket office in Myanmar 
Train Ticket in Myanmar 
Buying noodles on the train in Myanmar 
Burmese boy on ox as seen from train in Myanmar 
Brumese women boarding train in rural Myanmar 
Goteik viaduct in Shan State, Myanmar 
Burmese train station, colorful decorations getting ready to
Days 6-8: 3 Days in Mandalay where we explored lots of pagodas, visited the U Bein Bridge & got to experience Thadingyut (the Festival of Lights). A few highlights (but click the link for more photos!)
Thadingyut Festival of Lights in Mandalay, Myanmar 
Minty green pagoda in Mandalay, Myanmar 
sila-rhan (burmese nuns) on Ubein bridge in Mandalay, Myanmar
Day 9: Travel from Mandalay to Inle Lake
Days 10-12: 3 Days at Inle Lake for their famous Boat Festival. Here are a few highlights, click on the link for more!
Burmese nuns in pagoda at Inle Lake, Myanmar 
Boat racing festival at Inle Lake, Myanmar 
Burmese ‘fisherman’ at Inle Lake, Myanmar 
Burmese monks collecting morning alms at Inle Lake, Myanmar 
Burmese vendor at market at Inle Lake, Myanmar 
Shwe Yaunghwe Kyaung
Monastery at Inle Lake, Myanmar
Pagoda at Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar 
Pagoda at Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar 
Pagoda at Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar 
Never heard of burmese wine? There’s a reason for that.
Day 13: Bus from Inle Lake to Bagan
Days 14-16: 3 Days exploring all the famous old temples of Bagan on rented scooters.
View over Bagan temples 
Evidence of why restoration work is needed 
Some burmese people are living in the temples, evidenced here by laundry drying 
Day 17: Travel from Bagan to Bago (which consisted of an overnight bus from Bagan to Yangon and then an additional 5 hour minivan from Yangon to Bago). I immediately got a ‘bad vibe’ in this city and was definitely not a fan. We made the best of it and visited some temples, including the “snake pagoda” which I was surprised to find had a real giant python. But all the same I was very happy to only spend one day here and move on.
Pagoda in Bago, Myanmar 
Pagoda in Bago, Myanmar 
Pagoda in Bago, Myanmar 
Burmese vendor in Bago, Myanmar 
Big Buddha in Bago, Myanmar 
Big buddha in Bago, Myanmar 
Burmese monks at Pagoda in Bago, Myanmar 
Snake Pagoda in Bago, Myanmar
Day 18: Travel from Bago to Hpa-an
Days 19-26: 8 Days in Hpa-an which we absolutely loved. Visited the local mountain, Sadan Cave, local watering holes, 1,000 Buddhas and of course, more pagodas
View of Hpa-an, Myanmar 
Watering hole in Hpa-an, Myanmar 
View from mountain in Hpa-an, Myanmar
Day 27: Travel Day: took a bus from Hpa-an to our final destination of Yangon.
Day 28: 24 Hours in Yangon visiting the famous Schwedagon Pagoda as well as the Sule Pagoda.
Fin. Back to BKK!