Inle Lake - Boat Cruise

Throughout my 5-day trip in Myanmar, I spent most of the nights on the road heading to the next destinations, with the exception of spending a night in Bagan on the second day. Somehow, I don't feel it is any more tiring than staying for a night in a hostel or hotel. Maybe the very fact that I can sleep in a moving vehicle helps rejuvenate my energy.

After about 9 hours journey from Bagan (costs 10,000 kyat, about USD 12), our bus stopped at Taunggyi, and from there, we have to transit to Inle Lake with a taxi. By the time we reached the town, we were all shivering in coldness. The close proximity to the lake itself makes the temperature here at night much colder and simply unbearable. We have to find a hotel that is willing to let us borrow their bathrooms to freshen ourselves up and hang around the living room to wait for sunrise. As both of us were only making a quick pit stop here in Inle Lake and will be heading back Yangon later in the afternoon, renting a room seems unnecessary. And luckily, we found one, Gold Star Hotel.

Not much people this early in the morning..

At about 5 in the morning, we decided to go out for a stroll, leaving behind our backpacks in aforementioned hotel. The sun was yet to rise and we were shivering nonstop. We stopped by at a local restaurant for breakfast before continuing exploring the town. While we waited for boat operators to begin the day, we saw rows of saffron-robed monks walking in single file, collecting alms. Myanmar is a Buddhist nation and this is quite a common sight.

Look at how their robes covered their whole bodies...it is that cold

Our boat cruise began at about 8 in the morning, when the sun was all bright and shine. We hired a boat for about 17,000 kyats (about USD 20), shared among the two of us, for about 5 hours of exploration in the lake. It was just amazing to be on the boat, cruising deep into the centre of the lake, watching the inhabitants going through their regular lives. Although the strong wind brushing our faces made us shivered more.

Bagan - Second Day

While the first day ended with a beautiful sunset, the second day started with a sunrise. I woke up around 4.30 a.m. and cycled my way to Bule-thi Pagoda, a small, strategically located temple that come with high recommendation as the place to be for sunrise. Cycling in Bagan wee in the morning can be quite an adventure especially in December for there were barely enough street lights along the road coupled with the chilly weather. Plus, the torchlight I had with me was just too small and inconvenient while navigating the bicycle. I really should invest in a headlight.

However, all these minor obstacles mean nothing once I reached the temple and saw what was in front of me. As picture means a thousand words, I rather show you the photos than describing it to you.

Morning mist added mystic to the photo

As the daylight got brighter, I even managed to see hot air balloons flying freely in the sky. Riding a hot air balloon overlooking the ancient temples in sunrise is a popular activity here in Bagan but it is rather pricey. So, if you can't afford it, go see it on the ground. It is simply quite a sight to behold.

Hot air balloon

Feeling emotionally satisfied, I went back to the hotel to join Boris. After breakfast, we went exploring the town, riding along the bank of Irrawaddy River and roaming the wet market. After that, we continued with the temple exploration.

Boats docked along the riverbank

Bustling wet market

Flower lady

As I had mentioned in the previous post, cycling is the best mode of transportation here in Bagan as you can leisurely go at your own sweet pace. Naturally, I enjoy my time roaming around the plain with my two wheels. We stopped by a total of 4 pagodas for the day and two of it are simply not to be missed; Shwe-san-daw Pagoda which offers some of the breath-taking views of the ancient city and Dhammayangyi Pagoda for its sheer massiveness.

Shwe-san-daw Pagoda

View from the top of the Shwe-san-daw Pagoda

Dhammayangyi Pagoda, the largest temple in Bagan

I wish I have more time to spend here in Bagan but by night fell, we have to leave for our next destination, Inle Lake.

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

You can take a bus to Bagan from Yangon at 15,000 kyat (about US$18) and it takes about nine hours to reach the ancient city. A one-time entrance fee of US$15 is charged to enter Bagan Archaeological Zone. You can buy the tickets at popular sites. However, there are reports that you can avoid paying the hefty entrance fee and to be honest, we didn't pay it too. There were no one asking us about it. As for the hot air balloons ride, Balloons Over Bagan operates the activity and according to the website, the price rate for 2013-2014 is at US$320 per person. You can look for more information here in the website.

Bagan - First Day

I guess it's high time for me to continue with my Myanmar write-up after leaving it unattended for almost 5 months! Looking back at those photos really bring up amazing memories I had in the awesome country and it has almost been a year already! Before my trip to Myanmar even a real deal, I always plan to include Bagan into the itinerary. I remembered seeing photos of this ancient city on the Internet, normally taken around sunrise, with morning mist clouding the temples and ruins, giving off a mystical atmosphere. It prompt me to want to capture the scenery myself. And I was not disappoint when I was there.

I took the night bus from Yangon to Bagan on the first day of my arrival in the country. Together with a fellow Taiwanese backpacker, Boris, we reached the ancient city around 3 a.m., eyes barely opened, shivering like crazy. It is cold season in December but I underestimated the coldness as my hoodie barely enough to shed me some warm. No visible streetlights and the 'bus terminal' is nothing but a row of shops in the middle of a road, all closed. Disoriented and without a map, it was not a good situation to be in.

Our driver that brought us to the hotel and around Bagan

Luckily for us, there are horse carts and motorcycles waiting for potential customers and we hired a horse cart to bring us to a budget hotel. We found one in about 10 minutes, Hotel Eden, a simple and decent one with its double room costing about US$ 30 per night. We settled ourselves down and called it a night.

Friendly Burmese going through their days

After 4 hours of rest, we began the day cruising the many temples and fallen ruins in Bagan. I find it the best way to get yourself familiarise with the place is to hire a horse cart on the first day only to continue exploring with bicycle the following days and that was what we did. We hired the same driver that brought us to the hotel for the whole day at a reasonable price of 20,000 kyat (about US$24) for the whole cart.

Shwezigon Pagoda

The temple at the background being Htilominlo Pagoda

The driver brought us to many pagodas, some of them are the famous ones in Bagan that should not be missed such as Shwezigon Pagoda (similar to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon in design and structure), Ananda Pagoda (Bagan's holiest and most important temple), Htilominlo Pagoda (one of the many built by King Htilominlo), Thatbyinnyu Pagoda (the tallest temple in Bagan - 61 metres), and many more. There are also temples we visited which names are not known to us. In fact, some of them are nameless or simply known as temple number so-and-so. The abundance of these holy monuments in Bagan is simply astounding that a mere 2 days is not enough to visit them all.

Buffet lunch with Burmese food at Golden Myanmar 2 Restaurant

Atop an nameless temple, overlooking the surrounding monuments

To end the day, we went to Shwe-leik-too Pagoda for sunset. As the sun slowly descents into the horizon, we just sat on top of the temple, absorbing the stunning view and doing nothing else. Watching the sky turning into a myriad of colours is a wonder itself.

Ananda Pagoda, the holiest of them all

Sunset view

*TO BE CONTINUED* 

Myanmar - Bogyoke Market

So, back to my Myanmar trip.

After my visit to Bogyoke Aung San Museum, I took a taxi to the next destination, Bogyoke Market. Also known as Scott Market, this bazaar is located in city centre, inside Pabedan township and is the place to go for souvenirs such as gems, art paintings, clothes, et cetera. This is also the place to go to for black market money changer, where you can exchange your dollar for the local currency at the best rate.

Bogyoke Market aka Scott Market

Some street food found inside the market

The appeal of this Bogyoke Market is not only the gems and antiques being sold but also the colonial construction of the building. The importance of this market can be attested to with the market being inscribed into Yangon City Heritage List, a list of national landmarks to be preserved for future generations.

Food court, where I have my lunch

After having my lunch here, I went to explore the market. There are two stories in this market and both floors is mostly dominated by shops selling souvenir materials like cloths, paintings, old banknotes, et cetera, as well as Burmese gems. I didn’t buy anything from the market as I didn’t feel like carrying extra weights throughout my trip.

Gems and jewelleries are aplenty in the market

Traditional garments up for sale

I continued to walk aimlessly around the city centre after my visit to the market, taking in the sight and sound the city has to offer. It is easy to navigate around the city even without a map as all you have to do is just to put Yule Pagoda as your central point. When you make too many turns and you are not sure where you are, as long as you can see the temple, you can move back to your starting point.

Unique colonial buildings in the city

One of the few mosques I saw in Yangon

Typical neighbourhood in the city

When it was about late afternoon, I boarded the local bus no. 43 to Aung Mingalar bus terminal for my night bus to Bagan. It was in this bus terminal that I met a friendly Taiwanese chap, Boris, who became my travel partner for the rest of the trip.

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

If you want to buy some Burmese gems as souvenirs, be careful so that you would not ended up with fake jewelleries. To be sure, when you are buying one, ask for the gemstones certificates to authenticate its quality. Only gemstones with certificates are allowed to be brought out of the country. There are strict rules when it comes to carrying gemstones out of the country such as how many gems and jewelleries you can bring back to your country, so before you make any purchases, you should find out more information on this matter first. 

Yangon - Bogyoke Aung San Museum

It was early in the morning when my flight landed Yangon International Airport. My plan to secure a night bus ride to Bagan has me taking a taxi to the main bus terminal, Aung Mingalar bus terminal, first before proceeding to downtown Yangon. Little did I know that I can actually purchase the same bus ticket within the city centre, thus, saving me an unnecessary trip. Well, not that big of a deal.

A neighbourhood in downtown Yangon

Once in the city centre, I began exploring the neighbourhood as well as scouting for potential hotel to call it my home for my last night in the country. I did not make any hotel reservations at all for this round as I want to survey around the city. Eventually, I made a reservation in Okinawa Hotel for a double room (they ran out of dormitory beds) for USD 28.00 per night. A waste of money, as it turned out, for my plan detoured. More on that soon.

The many colonial buildings in the city centre

While I did not spend much time in the city, I did however go to a few tourist spots and one of them is the Bogyoke Aung San Museum. This museum is dedicated to showcase the life of General Aung San, a revered revolutionary and nationalist as well as the father of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Bogyoke Aung San Museum

The building that houses this museum is actually the home that Aung San Suu Kyi grew up in. We are given a glimpse of the Bogyoke’s (that’s general in Burmese) life as most of the exhibitions in the museum are of his belongings such as family portraits, furniture, clothing, and so on. Besides that, memorable speeches and quotes delivered by the general are also on display, giving visitors a sense of how the man became the revered man he is today.

The family house of the General, now a museum

As I toured around the house, I can understand the strong love for her country in Aung San Suu Kyi’s heart. Growing up in such a strong patriotic household, how can you not be instilled with these characteristics?

If you have a few moments to spare, why not give this museum a visit when you are in Yangon?

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

The entrance fee to Bogyoke Aung San Museum is 300 kyats (the exchange rate for kyat is about USD 1.00 to 848 kyats) and it is advisable to take a taxi to go to the museum for it is not located along main road. Taxi fare should cost around 2,000 kyats. The museum opens from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm and closes on Mondays, Tuesdays and gazetted holidays. No photography is allowed in the museum.

Myanmar - Itinerary

As all my photos are now officially lost, my Brunei/ Labuan trip I made last year will not be heavily blogged on. Blog entries without pictures? I'm not that good with words to help you out with the imaginations. However, I will still briefly write about the trip since, I did go to that part of the world.

As of now, I will start with my last trip of 2012, my Myanmar adventure. Had you read the overview of the trip, you will know that I detoured from my initial itinerary. Instead of spending the last 2 days in Yangon, I ended up going to Inle Lake for nothing more than a half day adventure and then took night bus back to Yangon for my flight back Kuala Lumpur. While Yangon is nothing more than a mystery, I managed to get a sneak peak of the famous lake. Those praises are not to be taken lightly.

Before I dig deeper into the trip, let me share with you the schedule of my 5 days/4 nights trip to Myanmar that involved crossing over 3 cities.

Day 1 (14th Dec 2012)

0800 - Arrived Yangon International Airport
         - Went to Aung Mingalar bus terminal to buy bus ticket to Bagan
0930 - Reached downtown Yangon and walked around, looking for hotel room
1030 - Went to Bogyoke Aung San's House
1130 - Went to Scott Market
1300 - Explore the city centre while looking for hotel*
1500 - Took bus to the terminal for my night bus; detoured slightly to Inya Lake
1600 - Took bus to the terminal after Inya Lake
1730 - Reached Aung Mingalar bus terminal
1830 - Bus departed to Bagan

* One of my mistakes was to book the hotel for my stay on the 17th Dec 2012. Ended up wasting USD 28.

Day 2 (15th Dec 2012)

0300 - Reached Bagan and took horse cart to find a hotel
0900 - Explored Bagan by horse cart
1200 - Lunch
1300 - Continued with the horse cart tour
1930 - Dinner
2100 - Back to hotel

Day 3 (16th Dec 2012)

0430 - Woke up for sunrise
0800 - Breakfast
0900 - Cycled to the jetty to see Irrawaddy River
1000 - Went to the wet market
1200 - Lunch
1300 - Cycled around Bagan
1630 - Went back to clean ourselves
1800 - Night bus to Inle Lake

Day 4 (17th Dec 2012)

0300 - Reached Taunggyi and took taxi to Inle Lake
0400 - Found a hotel willing to let us refresh ourselves and crash for a while
0500 - Went out to explore the place
0600 - Breakfast
0730 - Took a boat out to Inle Lake
1230 - Back from the boat trip
1330 - Lunch
1600 - Bus back to Yangon

Day 5 (18th Dec 2012)

0500 - Reached Aung Mingalar bus terminal
0600 - Went to the hotel to refresh myself
0700 - Took taxi to Yangon International Airport
0830 - Flight back to Kuala Lumpur

As you can see, most of the nights I spent on the bus itself. Those night trips were very long, ranging 8 to 14 hours on the road. Luckily for me, I have always been a sound sleeper and can easily sleep anytime, anywhere. Sleeping in the bus is something that I'm accustomed to.

More on my Myanmar trip soon.

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Myanmar - Overview

My last trip before the end of 2012 was to Myanmar. It was the only remaining country in Southeast Asia that I have yet to explore or about to explore and when I saw the BIG points redemption from AirAsia, I thought, why not? In a snap, I secured a return ticket to Yangon, Myanmar with just 20 BIG points.

Old colonial buildings are aplenty in Yangon

However, as the days went by and the date got closer, I have this fear inside me that started growing. It was not like this is my first time travelling alone. I did that for the first time for my Vietnam trip this July and also to Brunei just last month. It was the notorious reputation the country had built for itself, what with the lack of human rights and the strict militant government.

Typical street of Yangon

Upon landing, I found my fear to be rather baseless for my 5 day trip was filled with nothing but memories of kindred hearts and friendly faces of the Burmese. They were willing to go on extra length to help you out, making you feel as welcome as possible in their homeland.

Beautiful Burmese boy

I realized I truly enjoyed Myanmar a lot. While I did not spend much time in the country’s largest city, Yangon, as I had originally planned, I did pretty much what I set out in the first place and more. The main attraction to me for the trip was Bagan and true enough, everything in that town was exciting and enchanting to me. A must do while in Bagan? Sunrise and sunset. Breath taking!

What you can expect to see in Bagan

Imagine sunrise and sunset as background to this image!

As to how come I did not explore Yangon as much as I wanted to, it was rather a spontaneous thing that I did. I ended up following a fellow traveler to Inle Lake as I heard nothing but beautiful praises. To be frank, I have no idea where is the lake or what there is to do or see, but, since I was already there, I thought, what the hell? Well, I did not regret heading to Inle Lake, to say the least.

Inle Lake

Fishermen still make a living through the lake

All in all, it was another mind-opening trip for me. More of Myanmar will come, sometimes next year, I think. Stay tune.

*TO BE CONTINUED*

Sharing is caring. A word of advice and a piece of information.

Entering Myanmar requires either tourist visa or business visa, depending on the nature of your visit. In order to apply for the tourist visa, you have to provide a photocopy of your passport with at least six months of validity, two recent passport sized photos with white background, a fully filled form which can be obtained at the Embassy of the Union of Myanmar in your country or country nearest to you, and US$30. The tourist visa is valid for a period of 90 days and for a single entry of maximum 30 days only. There are no exemption for visa, even the ASEAN countries. For more information, you should contact the embassy in your country.

Friday's Newsflash - Air Asia Finally Launches Flights to Lombok!

As first reported here, Air Asia has finally launched its ticket sales to Lombok yesterday, 16 August 2012, at 12.00 am, with its launching fare as low as RM 88 one way from LCCT to the Indonesian island. This special promotion began from 16 August 2012 until 26 August 2012, for travel period from 12 October 2012 until 22 May 2013.

The tri-weekly direct flights to Lombok are highly in demand, especially with the cheap deal, for after a few good hours, almost all the promotional fares have been taken up. I tried searching for it myself but sadly, unable to secure return ticket to the island.

Air Asia flies to Lombok every Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.

Meanwhile, on a side note, the award-winning budget airline has add another daily flight to Yangon, Myanmar, and from 15 August 2012 until 26 August 2012, you can fly to Yangon from RM 119 onwards. The travel period for the promotion is from 8 October 2012 until 22 May 2013. For more information, go to their official website here.