Originally Posted by
amaroo
Really enjoyed your TR - great stuff^
We've taken our kids (now aged 10 & 8) to Asia many times and have really enjoyed exploring every country particular Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam & Northern Thailand.
Myanmar is next on the list & your TR has wet our appetite
Thanks Amaroo. I'd love to take my 7 year old son to Cambodia since he'd enjoy exploring the temples. I was fortunate enough to visit Siem Reap in 2008 so am in a position to compare, thankfully!
If you could imagine Myanmar to be like Siem Reap without the tourism - and the updated infrastructure, you be right on. Although I do think that since Myanmar has lots of temples, you may have the "seen one temple, you've seen them all" attitude from children.
Having said that, the temples have corners and hiding spots that are (respectfully and quietly) begging to be explored.
Originally Posted by
Billiken
Very nice report.
Great photos. ^
Thanks Billiken.
The photos were taken with an old Nikon Coolpix with a broken lens cover. It didn't change the greyness of the place in September. I finally upgraded to a D5100 this year.
Originally Posted by
N830MH
Wow! What a fabulous TR!! Great photos, too!! Keep it up the good work. I'm glad you had a great time.
Thanks N830 MH. I'm looking forward to go back sometime.
Originally Posted by
more4less
Great trip report ^!
Brings very good memories of our trip to this country in 2007.
I would guess that not a lot had changed between 2007 and 2010 when we visited. However, I'd be interested to know what happens are happening now given the reforms and international attention the new
civilian government is attempting to formalize.
Originally Posted by
SanDiego1K
What a great report. We were in Myanmar last year, and it brought back fond memories. We, too, ate at Monsoon. Governors Residence was booked solid, and we had a very adequate albeit not as picturesque stay at Traders.
I highly recommend returning and visiting both Pagan and Inle Lake. There are thousands of temples in Pagan. It is mesmerizing to see them and to realize the devotion and money that it took to build so many.
Given the inability to use credit cards and the lack of ATM machines, and the insistence of the merchants on pristine US bills, it was quite a challenge to get sufficient currency for the trip. My husband went thru well over $10K at the bank to downselect what we took.
It is an easy flight from Bangkok, and we want to return sometime in the future.
We walked by Traders and didn't really use them except for ordering a taxi from the front. We had the same challenges at the Canadian Royal Bank when packing away our currency for this trip. The logistics of finding fresh currency is actually harder than one would expect. I think we went through their entire bank stock there looking for fresh bills.