Reset search
MyanmarMyanmar
SatelliteEdit route

Myanmar

January 2019 - April 2024
An open-ended adventure by Shahnavaz Read more
Currently traveling
  • 19footprints
  • 1countries
  • 1,923days
  • 113photos
  • 0videos
  • 1.9kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 2

    Country Number 13 - It Feels Like Home

    January 19, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Unfortunately we had to book a dorm room as Yangon is pretty pricey for accomodation. The guy above me decided to get up and pee every half an hour, so sleep wasn't on the cards for me last night.

    In the morning we had Burmese paratha with green lentils for breakfast and sat chatting to other guests in the hostel. It was nice to be back in a social atmosphere. We jumped in the shower and wow we had proper towels, free shampoo and shower gel and hot water and proper toilets. Heaven heaven heaven!!

    Very refreshed and raring to go we left the aircon into the steamy streets. Wowzer, it was hot! Its was hot in India but this is super humid and muggy again. Back to the life of sweating continuously again haha As soon as we stepped on the streets we both breathed in really hard and smiled. We looked at each other and both felt like we were back home in South East Asia. There were street sellers everywhere selling fruit, veg you name it. I grabbed a watermelon as soon as I could. Then we did our usual of sitting on tiny stools, pointing at people's food and asking for 2. The food is so fresh, light and tasty again. Yey!!! We were the only tourist enjoying the local life and sitting in the market watching the locals go about the day. Locals were so happy and smiley here it was so nice. They'd all wave and giggle at us as we passed.

    Along the way we got a new screen cover for my phone, got a custard volovant from a bakery and then went to visit Sule Pagoda, which was really beautiful inside.

    We wandered to the independence monument and then to Kandawgi Park. There was a flower market on at the park and it was so beautiful to see all the orchids and array of Myanmar flowers arranged around the market. We carried on walking to a viewpoint and finally got there just in time for sunset to watch the lights of the Shwegadon Pagoda glow in all its golden glory over the lake. We then walked to the Pagoda, had a delicious Bein Mont (a delicious sweet pancake made from rice flour) and saw the pagoda from the outside and wow it was impressive but we decided not to go in this time. To be honest we must admit we are a bit Pagoda'd out...

    For dinner we went to Aung Mingalar Shan Noodles and it was just a perfect end to the day. The food was fantastic, the waitress was super sweet and funny and we had our first Myanmar Beer. Well you can't beat that.

    I'm not sure what it is about South East Asia countries but we feel so at home in any of the countries. The food is always so umami, the people are always so happy to see you and help, we love going to the little ladies with their one dish pots and pointing and gesturing two, we love a good old haggle, even the humidity although absolutely killer and makes us sweat throughout the day doesn't make us hate it. It just makes us so happy and homely. We just can't put our finger on it. It's amazing to be back and I feel so honoured to be spending my last month in such an exciting country.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 3

    The Not So Circular Train and Night Bus

    January 20, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We booked our first night bus for Bagan for tonight so today was about getting rest and planning around getting to the bus station which is pretty far from town.

    We had quite a lazy morning having breakfast, chatting to the other guests in the youth hostel and sharing ideas. It got to about 11am and we still hadn't showered or packed to check out, so we quickly did. By this time it was now time for lunch so we joined a German guy for Shan Noodles (it's like an Asian bolognese, seriously delicious).

    After lunch we picked up our bags and headed off to the circle line. Now we were prewarned, it's not actually a circle anymore but it was more beneficial this was anyway as it took us half way to our bus station for our night bus.

    For the first half an hour the journey was quite fun and the train wasn't too crowded but after it got very crowded, hot and stuffy. It was just one sweaty mess. The locals were very sweet though and there were some adorable tiny babies. One watched Will in amazement while he was eating an orange and then took a segment. He was adorable! Would I recommend the journey to others? It's an interesting way of watching locals go about their day but if you have been to any other SEA Country then no you don't need to do this. It was about 2 hours long and that wasn't even the whole way.

    We arrived at Insein Station pretty early so we stopped for an overpriced stir fry veg but the owner was really pleasant and chatted to us for a while and instead of getting a taxi recommended that we get a bus all the way to the station. Perfect! Even though pretty early we jumped on the bus and that was much more comfortable.

    We arrived at the station with plenty of time so sat and read our books waiting for our bus. When it came it looked super luxurious and fancy... But looks can be deceiving...    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    2
    Day 4

    Bagan in a day!

    January 21, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    OK I probably say this for a lot of things but I think that was the worst night bus experience I'd ever had. Even for the really bad ones I've generally been able to nap even for 20 minutes but last night I got a grand total of zero sleep and I mean zero. We paid extra for the luxury reclining VIP seats and sure the seats were big but every ergonomic feature in the chair, from the head rest to the feet rest, were in completely in the wrong place for me. I was in agony. I couldn't reach the foot rest, I couldn't cross my legs, I couldn't sit up, I couldn't slouch, I tried even putting my legs vertically against the window. It just couldn't work, so I ended up just talking to all my friends in England via WhatsApp to keep me company. At 4am the bus pulled up, an hour early, and the hoards of taxi drivers came to the door. Obviously they were charging double the price and as our hotel was only an hour way and we had nothing else to do we had a quick free coffee at the bus stop and then headed off walking. Within 1 min a taxi driver offered to drop us off at the price of K6,000. We happily jumped in and the hotel staff were already up. We had another coffee, dropped off our bags and hired an ebike for the day and went off to watch sunrise! Well we might as well.

    Bagan's temples aren't as accessible as they once were and they now have a few dedicated sunset and sunrise mounds. However, being the rebels we are we wanted the old authentic experience so we found an old ruined temple, climbed to the top and waited for sunset with a few other tourists who found the spot. Wow wow wow!!! I can see why people come here. When the black night curtain revealed the red crescent sky over the iconic thousands of temples it was just a dream and then just when you thought it couldn't get better hot air balloons rose into the air and joined the beautiful picture. Peaceful heaven.

    After sitting for a couple of hours, making and eating our avocado sandwiches we set off in hunt of more temples. As I've said before we have seen a lot of temples but I'm not sure if it was the coffee or what but we were super on it we must have seen over 50 and gone into 20 and for once we were actually willing and happy to pay the K25, 000 but not a single person asked us to. At first we thought it very odd but there had been a 3 day festival and we think all the staff were on holiday too! Well it was a great day for us. It was so fun going in and around the temples. Although at about 3pm my steam began to run out so we sat and drank and ate the best coconut I've had in a long time!!

    Going back to us driving an electric scooter. The idea we love but the execution is not great, it is undersized and back heavy resulting in a very unsteady and unbalanced vehicle. Generally we were OK but Bagan is very sandy and when going anywhere off the beaten path it was less than ideal. We had a couple of nearmisses including when Will took the corner too tight and ended up driving up a sandy Bank to which I had to quickly jump off and hold the bike otherwise we both would have been thrown off. Luckily we were going slow and all was well.

    Outside one of the temples we met a really sweet lady who was proudly selling her husbands sand paintings. So far on this trip we've barely bought any souvenirs for ourselves or others but these were so beautiful I couldn't resist. We then went to the temple she said her husbands workshop was at and met him in person and he signed our paintings for us. He was unbelievably humble and sweet, so we took a picture together.

    On the way to even more temples we went through a market and picked up a Myanmar version of a Dosa which was delicious and via some more temples headed to our sunset point. Again we were able to find a very quiet spot on top of temple and it was so so so beautiful.

    For dinner we headed back to the market and ate tasty pork noodles.

    When we finally got home it was 8:30pm. The staff at the hotel were so shocked we had been out all day and quickly showed us our room, gave us hot water and said we must go to bed now and after a gorgeously hot shower to get rid of all the sandy muck I did.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 5

    A More Relaxed Day in Bagan

    January 22, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    As yesterday was rather hectic today is going to be a lot slower.

    We woke up pretty early as breakfast was served above our room and it got quite noisy from 5am onwards. After a slow breakfast, we got ready and then began planning our next steps. It was time to move onto the next city tomorrow so we booked our bus and accomodation and was finally done around 2pm and was in need of lunch again! We tried finding a local market but it didn't sell cooked food as it was too late in the day so we went to a recommended restaurant. I had aubergine and shrimp curry and it was yummy!

    The rest of the afternoon was spent scootering around more temples and a local village. For sunset we found another hidden temple which we climbed to the top of and the view was just stunning.

    For dinner we went back to the night market for Myanmar dosa and noodles.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 6

    Oh the road to Mandalay...

    January 23, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    "Oh the road to Mandalay Where the flyin'-fishes play An' the dawn comes up like thunder outer China 'crost the Bay!" - by Rudyard Kipling

    I must admit after the last bus I was not looking forward to this journey but it was completely different. The bus was a mini bus and had zero room for moving and honestly that was way more comfortable for me! By 1:30pm we were in Mandalay and even got dropped off at our hotel.

    I was exhausted still from the previous journey and had to take the afternoon to catch up on sleep and I'm so glad I did. I woke up really refreshed!

    It was now early evening and we hadn't eaten since breakfast and we decided to make the most of having a long evening and have a date night. We had dinner at a street stall selling steak and fresh fish, it was soooo tasty. Then we went to a nearby rooftop bar that happened to have happy hour for the next two hours. Woohoo £1.50 cocktails and beer, well I won't say no! At first the place was completely empty but then we met Molly and Chrissi from Essex and it was a really lovely evening. I'm going to miss meeting other travellers and just exchanging amazing stories of people's journeys. It's so interesting. We got a bit carried away with the happy hour and then ended up ordering dinner at the bar too. Guess what was on the menu?! A PIE!!! I knew it might not be the best but I had to try it. I must admit it was definitely more of a pasty than a pie but it was tasty 😊

    Another fantastic memory in Myanmar. This country is just full of highlights.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 7

    1 day ill, 1 day scootering, 1 day ill

    January 24, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    I'm not sure if our immune system is just trashed from India or what but I ended up spending Thursday in bed in agony with my stomach. It was a day of eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat and sleep. In the late afternoon we went to Man Myo Taw and i attempted to eat a Pork Bao and Will ate a Bao and Kyae Oh (pork noodle soup). Then I had to go straight back to the room and had another nap. For dinner we found a hip new roadside pop up restaurant and I ate a bit of bolognese while Will had smoked pork ribs. They were yummy but I couldn't eat much.

    The next day I was a little better and I was sick of being in the room so we went on an explore. To be honest I probably did a bit too much but hey it was a great day at the time. We hired the bike and headed straight to Mandalay Hill. I must admit we didn't do the 45 mins walk to the top and instead rode the bike up as I don't think I could have handled the heat. Then we went to see Sandamuni Temple, Shwenandaw Temple and Kuthodaw Pagoda and although quite templed out each one was very interesting and different and very photographic!

    On the way to Inwa, an ancient city, we stopped at a local restaurant that enticed us in by their freshly cooked dough bread sticks. I had tea leaf rice salad and Will had Shan noodles. The bread sticks were sooo tasty we bought 3!

    It was then quite a long ride to Inwa but it was really cute. It was like a mini Bagan and although completely out of the way definitely worth the trip.

    Our final stop for the day was the beautiful and famous U Bein Bridge. We had bought ourselves a present in Bagan of a sand painting of the U Bein Bridge and so my hopes were quite high of seeing it in person! And I wasn't disappointed. We got there quite early so was able to walk from one end to the other and half way we chatted to a very friendly Monk. Then we sat and waited for the spectacular picturesque sunset. Sure there were a lot of tourists but it was really lovely.

    It was then a long journey back to the bike rental and as the train station was only next to it we planned to walk to the station after to pick up our tickets for tomorrow to Hsipaw. When we arrived at the rental place he offered to take us to our hotel! Gutted... That would have saved us the 30 min walk back... Ah well we needed to go to the station anyway so off we went. Upsettingly it was a lot further than we thought and the ticket desk was closed. The train to Hsipaw only goes once a day and is at 4am. The ticket office opens at 3am and we have heard it can be very busy. Defeated and very upset that we now have to get up at 2am we wandered back. Will went to get some noodles for himself for dinner while I went in search of some snacks for the looong journey ahead of us. All set and packed we jumped into bed dreading the journey ahead. You're probably thinking, well if you dread it that much why are you bothering. The train ride is supposed to be incredibly scenic, we want ton experience some longer Burmese train journeys and goes over what was the largest viaduct in the world at the time of its construction in 1901. Well that was the plan...

    I'm not going beat around the bush here so please turn if away if you're squeamish. At about 11pm Will had a crazy fear and couldn't get comfortable. We were both up from 12 and decided the train would be a terrible idea and so I booked another night in the hotel. At about 2pm he projectile vomited everywhere (well into the toilet but it was violent!). At about 7pm I was then being sick everywhere. It was not a good sight. We didn't bother going for breakfast and just spent till about 2pm in bed napping and feeling sorry for ourselves. By this point we were feeling slightly more human and decided it was time to move from Mandalay and so we booked a bus for the next day to Hsipaw instead of the train as it leaves at 2pm instead of 4am and only takes 6 hours instead of a minimum 12!

    We decided to go for lunch at the grilled fish place but it was closed so we ended up at Ned Kelly's and had a veggie burger and veggie panni. As it was a nice change from our hotel room we decided to stay and even felt well enough for a quick came of pool. Haha one day I might actually learn how to play this game 😂 I'm shockingly terrible, but it was good fun and raised our spirits again. At about 7pm we headed back with supplies of crisp and croissants for dinner. Gosh we live a fun life!! Fingers crossed we are better tomorrow for the journey.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 10

    Hsipaw

    January 27, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    It's time to move on! Sure we aren't feeling 100%,more like 60% but it's time to get out of Mandalay. And to add to the stomach pains I've also got huge swelled burning rashes on the back of my thigh... I have no idea what they are...

    Luckily we were able to have quite a slow morning of having breakfast, reading our books and showering as check out wasn't till 12pm. We then sat in the lobby for another half an hour before getting a taxi to the bus station and we were soon on our way. Luckily the bus was much better than previous ones but by the 5th hour my swollen legs were in agony. We soon arrived in Hsipaw at about 9pm and checked straight in. We hadn't eaten lunch but were still feeling ill so just went straight to bed. Food can be tomorrow's problem.

    The next morning I woke up, went downstairs to the loo and wow what a temperature difference. It was freezing and foggy! Uh oh what have we done. We went for breakfast and were greeted to a huge buffet. Feast time!!! And that I did 😊 omelette, potatoes, vegetables, pancake, custard and a muffin. I was hungry what can I say!

    Feeling a bit better we showered, did our washing (I honestly can't wait to not have to do bucket washing anymore). By the time we were ready the glorious sun was out!

    Ready and with no proper plan we headed out in search of some trails to go for a leisurely walk. We first walked to Little Bagan which had a few ruined temples which was quite cute and then we headed out into the rice fields and farm land. It was so peaceful! We walked and we walked having lots of rests for water along the way and eventually came to a hot spring. The spring was full of men bathing so we decided to wait until it clears and had our jam sandwiches (which we made at the breakfast buffet). It took quite a while but eventually the men cleared out and women and children went in. I ended up playing with two little girls and it was great fun! They were so adorable.

    Our next destination was to walk to a waterfall which would make the walk a circular route. Quite a few locals said there wasn't really a waterfall as it wasn't wet season but we went for it anyway. We had a quick look on Google maps and saw from the satellite View that there were a couple of direct paths which would save us an good hour of walking, assuming they exist. As it was already 3pm we quickly got going. The route took us through rice fields and gorgeous wild flowers growing across the fields. It was so peaceful and beautiful. When we arrived at the waterfall I was so glad we went, it was really picturesque. The waterfall was like strands of long hair spread across a mountainside.

    We then walked back as quick as we could as it was getting very late. We walked through more farmland, even an aubergine farm but once we got up a hill we saw a devastating sight of huge piles of rubbish being burned. It was horrific. Just as sunset was beginning we got to the top and it could have been a veutiful view had it not been for the choking burning scene of plastic. We arrived back just before nightfall and arrived in front of Mr Shakes which is renowned for its shakes in the area. Well we were starving and thirsty so it was perfect. We both had a green vegetable curry with rice and a pineapple, passionfruit, coconut and rum shake. The curry was super spicy and the shake was sooo strong with rum. Wups, probably not great for our stomachs. We sat and chatted with two other travellers and are getting so sad to be going home. Well I am looking forward to going home but wish it was just for a month to recuperate! Will was starving still so we ordered fried dumplings and a coconut, oreo and banana shake. I think that tipped us over the edge. Let's just say I didn't have a great stomach in the night... But I must say it was a great day out.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 12

    1 day ill so shall we sign up to a hike?

    January 29, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Of course!!

    So Tuesday we spent in bed until about 4pm when we left for dinner. We just went back to Mr Shakes and I had Chinese Egg and tofu noodles. Just what I needed, plain food.

    Then we signed up for a 2 day 1 night trek. Some would say we are barking mad and maybe we are but are fed up of feeling ill and want to be in nature and around other people to get us out of feeling sorry for ourselves.

    The next morning we packed up, checked out, had breakfast and got a pickup to Mr Bike to begin our hike. Within 10 minutes we were all chatting and having a laugh on the pickup truck. There were 13 of us, 6 Brits, 3 Germans, 2 Dutch, 1 isreali, 1 Irish and 2 guides (Mr Forest and Mr Candy). No I'm not starting a joke 😂

    The walk started off quite leisurely and to be honest I was feeling pretty good. We walked through local Shan villages, stopped for tea and lunch, which was fantastic, but then the climb began. We started at 400m and went to 1400m above sea level through a hot sweaty jungle. Normally in England if doing such a climb it would be quite gradual but this was up the whole way. It was tough in the 28 degree heat. We were all drenched in sweat!! It was quite tough and although I was at the start to begin with I soon moved back beginning to feel quite unwell. But I pushed through and we got to our Tree House, where we were staying for the night, at about 4pm. It quickly got cold and luckily me and Will were fully prepared with layers, coat and our hats from Rishikesh, unlike others who were just starting out on their backpacking trip and were shocked it was cold in SEA.

    It was a really fun evening of drinking lots of tea to warm up, then having a feast for dinner and finishing off with Burmese Rice Wine around a fire.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    Day 14

    Tree House Sunrise? Yes Please!

    January 31, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    With very little sleep in the treehouse we crawled out of bed at 6am but it was so worth it. The sun peeping over the misty mountains was just beautiful. We all then drank plenty of coffee and tea, ate a feast for breakfast and were soon off to finish the rest of the hike. Today the hike was mostly down but very very steep down a slippy, dry soil jungle route. In fact so slippy that at one point Will was very carefully attempting to go down when he completely lost control of his feet, slipped along the path, looked like he'd stopped and gained control, clearly hadn't and summersaulted off the path and down the hill breaking a tree with his bum to save his fall!! I was behind and just watched the whole thing in slow motion. We were all really worried but I must admit I was so scared of doing the same thing that it took me a while to rescue him! Luckily he was OK on the end just a scratch on the bum and a hole in his underpants! Phew.

    After the crazy slippery downhill slope things got a lot better and we just walked along the river and it was really pretty.

    For lunch we stopped in a little village and were again presented with a feast of food but unfortunately my stomach was playing up a bit again so I kept it very light.

    The final section was rather long and tedious over fields in the burning sun with very little sun but the group were good fun so time soon passed and it was soon over!

    When we arrived in town we decided decided to stay out and go straight for dinner and a shake before checking in again.

    The evening was spent trying to plan the adventure from Hsipaw to Kalaw via the Gokteik Viaduct train ride to Pyin Oo Lwin which all the locals seemed to say was impossible to do in a day without going all the way to Mandalay. Luckily on the hike we met some tourists who simply said "Contact Andrew in Pyin Oo Lwin." To which we asked, how??! They said just Google it and it comes up. Well they were right!!! So we rang "Andrew from Pyin Oo Lwin" and he was able to sort out everything! It's going to be a looong day tomorrow.    Read more

  • TravelerMyanmar
    1
    Day 15

    Gokteik Viaduct

    February 1, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    As I said before we are really keen on taking the most famous train ride in Myanmar, the Gokteik Viaduct from Hsipaw to Pyin Oo Lwin and the day has come. I must admit I was pretty terrified of the ordeal after hearing it commonly derails and can take twice as long to get there. Unfortunately we have planned quite a tight schedule and booked a night bus to Kalaw which leaves an hour after the trains arrival time so fingers crossed all goes well!

    We arrived at the station with plenty of time to spare and we were soon on the train. As soon as the engine started the nightmare reality soon began. I have never been on a train that rocks so much!!! It was absolutely crazy (seriously Google YouTube videos), I'm not surprised it derails so often. Within about 10 mins you soon got used to the rocking and all the tourists on the train were having a blast attempting to stand and walk around this rickety train.

    There were various stops along the way giving us time to grab snacks and stretch our legs. It wasn't till around lunchtime when the highlight of the trip appeared and wow was it fun! The viaduct is 689m long and approximately 102m high. Everyone was hanging out the windows and doors to get photos and honestly if this was England it would be a health and safety nightmare but it was great fun!!

    After the viaduct the train passed through more farm land, villages and temples and it was a perfect time to read our books. The train was now very quiet with some reading and others sleeping until we finally arrived in Pyin Oo Lwin surprisingly on time!

    Andrew kindly picked us up from the train station and took us straight to the bus agency and it was all very smooth. For dinner we had the apiciest noodle soup I've ever had and we soon got on the night bus. After the last night bus I was very worried about not getting sleep but surprisingly I did and at 2:30am we were in Kalaw!    Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English