MYANMAR

Day 1: Arrive In Yangon

Arrive At Yangon International Airport And Make Your Way To Your Hotel. The Best Way To Get Around Is By Hailing A Ride Via The Grab App, The Asian Version Of Uber/lyft. We Stayed At The Belmond Governor’s Residence And Absolutely Loved It There. It’s Located Near Most Of The Major Sights Such As The Shwedagon Pagoda. After Getting Settled, It’s Time To Experience The Magic Of Burmese Cuisine. Our Favourite Restaurant Was Feel. It Was So Good We Went There Three Times In Two Days. It’s Less Like A Restaurant And More Like A Food Market With Endless Mouth-watering Displays Of Street Food And Traditional Dishes. Definitely Try The Shan Noodles, They Are Life-changing.

Day 2: Yangon

Your Full Day In Yangon Will Mainly Be Dedicated To Visiting The Numerous Pagodas Around Town. Start Early And Head To Shwedagon Pagoda, The Most Famous Temple In Yangon. Keep In Mind That You’ll Need To Have Your Shoulders And Knees Covered When Visiting Any Temple In Myanmar, And That You’ll Have To Leave Your Shoes Behind. Spend A Few Hours Admiring The Intricate Details And Observing The Rituals Of Locals And Monks. Shwedagon Pagoda Is A Popular Temple And It Was Already Quite Busy When We Went Around 8am In The Morning. In The Afternoon You Can Visit Kandawgyi Lake Or More Pagodas. We Visited The Beautiful Swe Taw Myat Pagoda. It Was A Lot Less Busy Than Shwedagon And We Really Enjoyed Our Time There. Other Pagodas Worth A Visit Are Sule Pagoda, Botataung Pagoda, And Chauk Htat Kyi Pagoda.

Day 3: Yangon To Bagan In The Morning, Explore Bagan

Try To Catch The First Flight Of The Day To Bagan. We Booked A 7am Flight On Golden Myanmar Airlines And Arrived At Nyaung U (Bagan) Airport At 8:30am. This Way You Have The Whole Day To Explore Bagan And Figure Out Which Temples You Can Go To For Sunrise The Next Day. If You Didn’t Know, Sunrise In Bagan Is A Big Deal. If You’ve Ever Seen A Photo Of Bagan, It Was Likely Taken At Sunrise, Depicting Hot Air Balloons Rising Over A Land Of Temples. It’s A Magical Moment That’s Definitely Worth The Early Wake Up Call. Taking Golden Myanmar Airlines From Yangon To Bagan. We Stayed At The Hotel @ Tharabar Gate In Old Bagan. We Chose Old Bagan Because Of Its Central Location To Most Of The Temples. Many Tourists Also Stay In New Bagan Or Nyaung U, Which Offer Cheaper Accommodation Options As Well As More Restaurants And Shops. After Getting Settled, Head Out To Rent Your E-bikes. E-bikes Are Basically Electric Scooters And Are By Far The Best Way To Explore Bagan. They’re Easy And Safe To Drive, Even If You Don’t Have Any Scooter Experience. You’ll Have To Return Them Each Day To Charge And Pick Up New Ones The Next Day, So Choose A Rental That’s Close To Where You’re Staying. Now That You Have Your E-bike, It’s Time To Set Off And Explore The Temples Of Bagan. It’s Hard To Describe The Thrill Of Adventure When You’re Riding A Scooter Through Narrow Dirt Paths And Discovering Abandoned Temples All Around You. I Felt Like I Was In An Indiana Jones Movie The Whole Time. The Majority Of Temples In Bagan Are Now Closed For Climbing Due To Conservation Efforts And Also Damage Sustained During An Earthquake. However We Still Found A Handful Of Open Ones. Some Of These We Discovered By Researching Online And Asking Locals, And Some We Discovered Just When Passing By. On The Map Above I’ve Pinned The Approximate Location Of Some Of The Open Temples We Found. There Are Also Man-made Viewing Mounds Located Throughout The Area. These Can Provide You With An Elevated View Over The Area And Are A Good Option For Sunrise Or Sunset If You Can’t Find Any Open Temples. Another Great Option For Sunrise Is Obviously To Go On A Hot Air Balloon Ride. However At Roughly $300 Per Person They Are Not Within Everyone’s Budget. Since We Only Had Two Mornings In Bagan We Decided We Would Rather Spend Them On The Ground. Return Your E-bike At The End Of The Day And Determine A Pick-up Time For The Next Morning. Check What Time Sunrise Is And Make Sure To Head Out At Least An Hour Before That Time.

Day 4: Bagan

Set Your Alarm For About Two Hours Before Sunrise And Pick Up Your E-bikes. We Mapped The Temple We Were Planning To Visit For Sunrise, But Still Got Lost A Few Times In The Dark, So You’ll Want To Give Yourself Plenty Of Time. There Will Be Many Other Sunrise Chasers On The Road, Everyone On A Mission To Catch That Magical View. We Were Approached A Few Times By Locals On Scooters Who Offered To Take Us To “the Best Sunrise Pagoda”, We Didn’t Take Up These Offers So Can’t Comment On How Legit They Are.
The Temple We Had Scoped Out Was Already Pretty Full By The Time We Arrived, But We Found A Spot To Sit And Wait For The Sun To Come Up. When It Finally Did, Along With The Hot Air Balloons, It Was Simply Incredible. We Were All In Awe Of The Sight And It Was Like A National Geographic Photo Come To Life. For The Rest Of The Day, Explore More On Your E-bikes And Don’t Be Afraid To Get Off The Beaten Path. It’s Not Necessary To Have A Map Or Know Where You’re Going, Because There Are Temples All Around And You Never Know What You’ll Discover. For Sunset We Ended Up At Another Open Temple And The View Was Spectacular. Sunset In Bagan.

Day 5: Bagan Sunrise, Transfer To Mandalay In The Afternoon

Wake Up Early For Another Sunrise Mission. For Our Second Morning We Had Scoped Out Another Temple. After Getting Lost And Almost Not Finding It, We Arrived Just In Time For One Of The Most Glorious Views Of Our Lives. A Blanket Of Mist Was Covering The Ground As The Sun Slowly Rose, Soon Followed By A Flight Of Hot Air Balloons. It Was Beyond Words. Spend The Morning Exploring More Of Bagan As You Will Be Leaving In The Afternoon. If You Have More Than 1 Week In Myanmar, I’d Strongly Recommend Spending A Couple More Days In Bagan, It Was By Far My Favourite Stop On The Trip. We Arranged For A Private Car To Mandalay For A Bumpy 4-hour Drive. Alternatively, You Can Also Take A Bus Or Fly. We Stayed At The Hotel Apex In Mandalay Which Totally Exceeded Our Expectations. After Checking In We Had Dinner And Watched The Sunset On The Hotel Rooftop Bar And It Was A Great Welcome To The City. Sunset View Over Mandalay From Hotel Apex.

Day 6: Mandalay

Mandalay Is Home To Numerous Beautiful Temples And Today You’ll Be Visiting Four Of Them. Get A Taxi And Make Your Way Across The River To The Town Of Mingun/min Kun For A Half-day Trip. This Is Where You’ll Find The Famous White Mya Thein Tan Pagoda As Well As The Unfinished Mingun Pahtodawgyi. The Mya Thein Tan Pagoda (Also Known As Hsinbyume Pagoda) Is Known For Its Distinctive Shape And Has Become Somewhat Of An Instagram Hotspot. While The Mingun Pahtodawgyi Is Not Nearly As Photogenic, It Has A Pretty Interesting History. It Was Meant To Become The Largest Stupa, But It Was Left Unfinished And Now Has Several Large Cracks In It Due To An Earthquake.
In The Afternoon Return To Mandalay And Visit The Kuthodaw Pagoda, Which Is Known As The World’s Largest Book. The Grounds Feature Over 700 Small Stupas Each Containing A Stone Tablet Inscribed With Buddhist Texts. For Sunset Head Up Mandalay Hill And Visit The Hilltop Su Taung Pyae Pagoda. While The Pagoda Itself Is Nothing Extraordinary, It Does Offer Panoramic Views Over Mandalay.

Day 7: Depart From Mandalay

If You Have A Later Flight, You Can Spend The Morning Visiting The U Bein Bridge, Which Is Considered To Be The Oldest And Longest Teakwood Bridge In The World. Unfortunately We Had An Early Flight And Couldn’t Make It There. The Airport Is About 45 Minutes Away From Downtown Mandalay And The Best Way To Get There Is By Grab/taxi. You’ll Find That The International Departures Are Mostly Limited To China, Singapore, Or Bangkok. For More Flight Options You May Have To Fly Back To Yangon.