Arriving in Myanmar meant that we had officially reached the final leg of our monster journey across Asia. A country less travelled than its neighbouring country of Thailand, but that has gained a reputation as being beautiful.
I want to address the controversial topic of travelling to Myanmar with the ongoing suffering of the Rohingya Muslims. With the persecution towards the ethnic minority of the Rohingya Muslims in Northern Rakhine state, many people have boycotted visiting Myanmar. It is true that each hotel pays a tax towards the government which means, technically, you are providing the government with funds to carry on the injustice. HOWEVER, the rest of the population that works in tourism also relies on people visiting for their own livelihoods. We have seen and heard first hand about the hardships people are facing at the moment since the drop in visitors. For an already poor country, every penny spent here is appreciated, it really is! In my opinion it is unfair to say that the Burmese army/government is a reflection of the Burmese people. The people here are overwhelmingly friendly and kind (towards us at least). What is happening to the Rohingya people is awful and if you are unaware of the atrocities I urge you to do some research. Though for us, we are glad we have still come to Myanmar to support the good people of this country and realise that this is just another example of a government taking actions that the people of that country don’t want. That’s all I will say on the subject, each to their own and I understand the opposite argument as well.
Mandalay
We started our Myanmar adventures in the northern city of Mandalay (northern in respect to the areas open to tourists). Instantly we were shocked at how much this city reminded us of our time in India. From the litter strewn across the streets, the smells as you walk down the road and the men wearing longyis (skirt for men); all around us were signs of Indian influence. Since we’ve missed India a fair amount over the past months this was a comforting feeling.
We spent 2 full days in the city, both of which we hired a driver to take us to all the sights. Myanmar is a strong Buddhist country with temples and spires seemingly on every street! We saw a number of these over the two days. Whilst each temple is unique, they definitely wear you down and by the end of the second day we felt very NAFT (not another f*cking temple). In fact, the best thing about the temples is the people watching you get to do! We saw so many smiles beaming at us my cheeks physically hurt at the end of it all. The friendliness of the people is contagious, it really makes you feel all warm and bubbly inside.
We took so many photos during our few days in Mandalay, it would be impossible to share them all. But here are a select few of my favourites!
Cuisine
Mandalay was also where we realised the Burmese have a fantastic cuisine! Apart from our very average hotel breakfast, all the food we ate blew us away. There is a mix of Asian and Indian influence but a focus on rich flavours rather than hot chilli.
Too Too Restaurant is a local, Myanmar food, curry house type place. We were the only white people in there when we visited which is always a good sign for true local food! You simply pick your main course from the selection at the counter (no labels just pick with your eyes and nose!) and they bring it out, followed by a dozen condiments and side dishes. We had mutton curry and mutton meatballs (goat, most likely, not lamb) and they were delightful!
Another brilliant invention by the Burmese are tea shops. Not your ordinary cafe, these are snack-and-go style eateries. You rock up, order your appetiser size meals or snacks, some amazing chai (Indian tea) and when your ready to leave a waitress will add up what’s on your table. We had an assortment of samosas, puri with potato curry, sweet roti, some sweet rice cake and some other bits and bobs, plus tea. Everything we had came to 9000 kyats (£4.5). So not only are tea shops super cool and delicious, they’re also super cheap! We ate at Shwe Pyi Moe .
Bagan
Next up on our tour of Myanmar is Bagan; famous for its thousands of temples. We had mixed reviews on our time in Bagan, not to the fault of Bagan but the circumstances we found ourself in. Bagan itself is amazing.
For starters, we were there in the hottest, driest month of the year. Every day exceeded 40 degrees Celsius and was so dry it sucked the water right out of your skin. This meant it was only really viable to explore the area during the early hours (up until 10/11 am) and just before sunset (5pm onwards). The rest of the time you’re trapped in your hotel sponging off of the AC.
You can lecture me all day long about respecting the temples, conservation and potential dangers from earthquakes. Mostly I will agree with you! But I’m still devastated we couldn’t get to the top of the large pagoda. It’s just one of those things.
Secondly, the hot air balloons finished up their season in April. We hadn’t made up our mind whether as to go up in the balloon or not, but this made up our minds for us. Either way it would have made for an epic landscape seeing the balloons over the temples. Which brings me nicely onto the third disappointment. No more climbing on the temples. For anyone that was there end of 2018 when 5 temples remained open, that has changed. During our time in Bagan 0 temples were open for tourists to climb to the top, even the ones with stairs and handrails! Bagan is undoubtedly best appreciated from above, we never got to see that famous view with spires as far as the eye can see. We felt heartbroken when we realised we wouldn’t be able to witness the true glory of Bagan, something we had dreamt of long before leaving the UK.
Still, Bagan could easily match Angkor Wat with its epic temples. Even on their own, some of the temples are quite impressive, but together they definitely deserve the recognition they seem to be finally getting.
Apart from the temples, obviously. Our main highlight from Bagan was a restaurant called Wonderful Tasty. We ate there every, single, night. Brad’s Indian/Burmese mutton thali and my chicken coconut milk curry were two of the nicest things we’ve eaten all trip! I only wish I had asked for a recipe because I’m sure I’ll never be able to replicate such a rich flavour at home.
Inle Lake
Finalising our northern escapades is Inle Lake, a humongous lake that doubles up as a home for thousands of people and wetland birds. We spent two days on Inle Lake, though the second was spent just enjoying our wonderful hotel.
For just 15,000 kyat (£7.50) we hired a long tail boat driver to take us onto the lake for a 5 hour tour. We asked to begin at 7, rightly assuming that this would be the coolest and most peaceful part of the day. We passed plenty of wetland birds enjoying the morning rays including open-billed storks, pheasant-tailed jacana and glossy ibis.
We visited a few different workshops that sit on stilts on the lake; silverware, lotus weaving and cheroot making. These workshops are quite blatantly set up for tourists but seeing as we are here in low season, there weren’t many tourists around and we actually found the workshops quite interesting. Who knew lotus stems could be turned into fabric and woven into scarfs? It’s not the prettiest of fabrics, but interesting anyway.
A highlight for us though was the local’s market. There are 5 markets on the lake, each day the market is held at a different location. We spent an hour walking round the stalls, happy to see that this was a market mostly used by local people. Markets are the best place to people watch and learn more about the local people. All the men proudly showing off their tribal tattoos on their arms and chests and women delicately balancing baskets of all sorts on their scarf headpieces. We picked up a couple of cool, unique souvenirs at a Shan couple’s stall and jumped back into our long tail.
In the evening we were picked up by our trusty boat man to head back onto the lake for sunset. He took us to his friends rest shop smack bang in the middle of the lake as we waited for more colour to pop into the sky. His friend also happens to be one of the ‘basket fishermen’ that are famous at Inle Lake.
Whilst these fishermen no longer fish with these baskets, they will happily earn some extra money posing for photos. This is a brilliant way for them to earn money and step away from fishing the lake which we were told has lost many of its bigger fish. We were able to see the ‘modern’ fishing methods being used now. Actually these ‘modern’ fishermen still use longtails, leg wrapped around the oar to steer, only they have a modern net instead of a basket. So not too dissimilar!
Myanmar is a wonderful country, full of the friendliest people and delicious food! It’s so incredibly sad that they are suffering because of the actions of their government. Change is happening here quicker than anywhere else we have visited. I’m sure every month new laws are brought into effect, building are thrown up and Myanmar begins to lose the feeling of unchartered territory. The tourist trail here is already fairly worn but it’s still a far cry from Thailand and has all the wonderful authenticity that we have missed.
We look forward to our final 2 weeks spent in Yangon and Ngapali, hopefully filled with lots more chai and samosas!
Lar
I am so happy to read this and have enjoyed following your journey. I’ve added Myanmar to my list now as I experienced Thailand as you explained Myanmar and what a difference it is to see the real culture.
So glad to hear that. And Myanmar is a wonderful country so I’m glad that you have been inspired to go there!