Moomba

My friend and I had such a great trip in Vietnam and Cambodia last year we wanted to see if we could do another with the same tour company again.
We started to plan the trip in April and eventually decided upon a trip to Myanmar.

Courtesy of my Gold Guest List status with BA we were able to secure flights to HKG and back from SIN in First on BA using my avios. We were also able to grab a couple of seats on Dragon Air in J from HKG to RGN to start the trip. Getting back from RGN to SIN was a bit of a problem though. We eventually succumbed to purchasing a one way ticket on JetStar Asia. Yes you heard it correctly Moomba flies a lo co in this report.

The tour we chose involved many forms or transport and some not so regular tourist activities including lunch with the Nuns at a nunnery, and a jaunty train trip on Myanmar railways in Upper Class and a couple of visits with local village people.

Along the way we saw the usual famous sights of Myanmar including Shwedagon pagoda and the wonderful temples and pagodas dotted around the Bagan plains.

Come along for the ride if you will and join me on a trip through Burma.



Part 1 - Getting there BA F LHR-HKG
Part 2 - Day One Sightseeing in Yangon
Part 3 - Day Two Yangon to Bagan and a thousand temples
Part 4 - Day Three Bagan Sightseeing
Part 5 - Day Four Bagan to Mandalay & Sights
Part 6 - Day Five Mandalay & Sagaing Hills
Part 7 - Day Six Mandalay to Kalaw
Part 8 - Day Seven Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp
Part 9 - Day Eight Kalaw to Inle Lake
Part 10 - Day Nine - Inle Lake Sights
Part 11 - Day Ten - Hill Tribe Trek
Part 12 - Day Eleven Inle Lake back to Yangon
Part 13 - A LoCo to Singapore
Part 14 - Going Home BA F SIN-LHR


This report is now complete. I hope you enjoyed your brief tour of Burma with Moomba.

If you liked this report you may like to browse through my other reports:



My First RTW on OneWorld in F 2006
Passion or Addiction OneWorld RTW in F 2008
Definitely Addicted OneWorld RTW in F 2009
Moomba's Addiction Continues RTW One World in J 2010
A trip across the pond on a 318
Another addiction fuelled RTW in F on One World
Easter in Asia CX F & JL F
A quick trip to Oz AY, BA & QF J
A trip to Vancouver & Scottsdale AZ on BA First
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...-oneworld.html

And for those that enjoy non-flight specific reports:
Land of the Cherry Blossom Japan by Rail April 2007 (a most underrated travel destination)
Alaska Land & Sea June 2008 (stunning part of the world)
China in Summer 2011
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/20815725-post1.html

Moomba

I busted a gut to get to work early today so that I could put in a ‘full’ day before heading out to the airport at around 14:00. My task for the day was to identify test data for our integration tests using some complex and time consuming sql queries. About an hour before I was due to leave my Citrix virtual session imploded and I lost the whole days effort. Needless to say I was quite chuffed and decided to cut my losses and head out to the airport and start my holiday and forget about work for two weeks.

I arrived at Heathrow around 15:00 and waited a few minutes for my friend who had sent me a text to say he was about to hop on a pod from the long-term car park.

After my friend arrived we made our way to the F check in desks located in Zone J (yes that still amuses me) at LHR T5.

The agent checked our bags to HKG and gave us our boarding passes and confirmed we knew where the Concorde room is. ‘Do I know where the Concorde Room is’, said in the same fashion as La Streisand as Fanny Brice (Do I know how to roller skate).

Right, a trip report is what I am writing not some random crap that pops into my head. I assure you, you don’t want to go there.

Anyway after we had our BPs in hand we headed down to South security where we were quickly and painlessly processed before approaching the man at the ‘white’ door that leads to BA’s exclusive Concorde Room. Only to be frequented by those travelling in First on BA or the dozens FTers who have a Concorde Room card because they fly far too much.

Inside we decided to head straight to the restaurant to have a late lunch. I worked through lunch so was pretty peckish by this time.

I noted that the menu had changed since the last time I was in there and I was able to try some new dishes. I elected to have the Steak and Chips and the Passionfruit tart for dessert. I washed down the steak with a glass of Shiraz and tried some of the delicious sticky wine with the dessert.


Steak & Chips Concorde Room


Sticky Wine Concorde Room


Passionfruit Tart Concorde Room

The meal was acceptable for a lounge but the staff did not offer any bread with the meal even after delivering a dish of butter.

After the meal we went out to the terrace where it was a little quieter to wait out the time until our flight. I ordered one of the BA specialty cocktails to sit and sip.


Cocktail Concorde Room

Another FTer happened on by and we had a chat to him for a while. We knew that our gate would be in the C terminal building as that is the only T5 area that can handle A380 aircraft. Around 45 minutes prior to our flight we made our way down to the lower level to walk over to the C gates rather than take the transit.

It took around 10 minutes to get there and once at the C gates we arrived at our gate to see a sea of people and no sign of any boarding. I took the opportunity to take a couple of shots of the A380 at two different gates.


BA A380 at Gate

Eventually at 18:15 they announced boarding of priority passengers which means virtually the whole plane attempts to funnel down the single entry into the boarding area. BA really need to work out how to do proper priority boarding and queue management on the ground. The ridiculous way the gates are set up at T5 doesn’t help much as there is little room for people to queue properly as the shops get in the way.

Eventually we made it down the ramp and then on down the dedicated ramp for First passengers only.


First Passengers Only

Flight BA 0025 LHR-HKG Seat 1K (First)
Aircraft: A380-800
Departure time: 18:35

Once on board I was welcomed but not escorted to my seat. A crew member quickly dropped by and asked if I would like a drink. Yes despite my lack of fondness for the Grande Siecle I did ask for a glass of bubbly.


Bubbles before takeoff

I took a few shots of the seat and more can be seen in my last A380 report from LAX-LHR here.


BA F Seat A380 – Legroom


BA F Seat A380 -Storage


BA F Seat A380

The captain came on the horn 5 minutes after push back time and announced a flight time of 11 hours. PJs, amenity kit with Refinery products and socks were handed out by the crew. The captain again came on the horn and informed us that the delay was caused by security checks being done on the plane.

We eventually pushed back at 19:15 and taxied out for a take off time of 19:45.
After take off a hot rag was passed out and I was given a menu. I stated I wanted to wait an hour and a half before eating which wasn’t a problem.
The CSM/D or whatever BA call the senior crew member these days dropped by to say hello.

A pre-dinner drink arrived and yes it was a scotch and dry.


Post take off scotch and nuts

My friend and I got chatting to another passenger and before we knew it the crew were coming back to make up the table for dinner.






My friend and I were dining together and we had both ordered the tasting menu. To start we had amuse bouche of caramelised fig.


Amuse Bouche

Next up was the Salmon and Caviar starter that was quite unctuous.


Salmon & Caviar

This was followed by the soup in a cup that like my LAX-LHR flight was very powerfully flavoured.


Soup Course

The fish course in the form of turbot was up next and was not over cooked or dry.


Turbot Course

The main course beef shin was very nice indeed and melted in the mouth.


Beef Shin


Beef Shin

Finally the dessert of chocolate mousse cake with cherries was pretty nice.


Chocolate Dessert

We had opted to take the pairing menu with wines suggested on the menu which I always enjoy doing.
After the meal it was time for coffee and some delicious chocolates before hitting the sack.


Coffee and Chocolates

The seat 1K was in was very private but the crew were constantly accessing the closet next to the seat all through the flight as that was where there personal belongings are stored. I was disturbed from my sleep several times because of this.

I did get some sleep though and only woke up around an hour out of Hong Kong.
I changed back into my civvies and ordered some breakfast from the crew. I started with a cappuccino and some fruit.




Coffee & Fruit

I followed this up with a breakfast wrap that was a little dry for my liking. There was another hot rag passed out before we landed in Hong Kong.


Breakfast Wrap

We touched down at 13:47 and taxied up to our gate that was midway down the spine at HKG. After walking up to immigrations we quickly made our way through the registered traveller automated gates and on out to the carousel. The bags started to arrive about 5 minutes later and ours were amongst the first out. We then headed down to the AEX and were on board a train bound for Kowloon at 14:20.

We slept late and missed our breakfast at the W before wandering the Elements mall. They had some sort of Wallace and Gromit exhibition with many different Gromit variations on display. I particularly liked the one where he had a woollen jumper on that had sheep on it.


Gromit in a jumper

We caught the MRT over to the Island and wandered around before catching the iconic tram up to near the IFC. As we walked past the mall we could see hundreds of people queuing at the Apple store as today was the launch day of the iPhone 6.


Queues in Apple Store

We were also able to watch the fabulous light show on the side of the ICC building in Kowloon.


ICC Building Lights


We took the star ferry over to Kowloon and walked back to our hotel. We grabbed our bags and headed down to the station to check-in and the caught the AEX back to HKG airport.

Security was swift and thanks to our registered traveller status we bypassed the lengthy queues at emigration. First stop was the CX Wing F lounge and the Haven restaurant to grab some dinner.
I grabbed some salad items and ordered the sea bass from the al a Carte menu.


Salad in Haven

The fish was tasty and not too big a portion and went well with the Sauvignon Blanc I ordered.


Fish in Haven

Our flight was showing as going from the 800 gates, which I thought meant, the infield terminal. But no it was worse than this it was a proper bus gate. Now according to FlightMemory I have been through HKG 108 times and this was first time I had ever been bussed to a plane there. I had once been bussed from a plane after a typhoon caused havoc at the airport.

We piled on the bus and made our way out to midfield. Once there we climbed the stairs and settled into our seats.

Flight KA 0250 HKG-RGN Seat 12A (Business)
Aircraft: A320
Departure time: 21:45

The crew dropped by with a pre-departure drink and I opted for the Dragon Sunrise cocktail that was a lovely blend of gin with Guava and Lemon juices.


Dragon Sunrise drink

A cold towel was passed out that really hit the spot after the tropical heat of the day and the bus ride to the plane.
The captain announced a flight time of 2 hours and 45 minutes. We pushed back at 21:47 and taxied out for a take off of 22:05.

After the belts were off the crew handed out menus and commenced the meal service without any pre-dinner drinks.






The prosciutto starter was nice and went well with my chenin blanc wine.


Starter KA Dinner

I opted for the chicken curry dish that was well flavoured and tender.


Chicken Main KA Dinner

After the meal a dessert of ice cream was offered.


Ice Cream KA Dinner

We touched down at 23:10 and taxied up to a gate. Being at the front and a late night flight meant that there were no queues at immigration and I was quickly processed and went to the belt to await the bags. These took a good 10 minutes before they arrived. Our bags and hand baggage had to be put through an x-ray machine before we were able to leave airside. The people manning these machines were very cheery and chatty. A theme that was to become the hallmark of my stay in Myanmar.

Our tour was not due to officially start until the following evening with a welcome dinner but they did include transfers for us and an extra nights accommodation. Our driver met us and escorted us out to his van for the 30 minute or so drive to our hotel.

At check-in we were given a chit for a free fruit punch in the hotel bar that was open until 01:00 so we decided to have a drink there before hitting the sack for the night.

The next day we were on our own so we decided to just go for a wander and see where our feet took us.
So it was that they took us to the East gate of the Shwedagon Pagoda and then on to Kandawgyi lake.


East Gate Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon


Kandawgyi Lake

We walked around the boardwalk that lead us back towards our hotel past the entrance to the Shwedagon Pagoda that we would be visiting the following day.


Shwedagon Pagoda

We met our group in the foyer and found there would be 12 of us on this tour. We all walked across the road to a restaurant chosen by our Western guide for a welcome dinner of some Burmese food.

More Photos

Next up the first official day of touring on our Burma Revealed trip.

TOMFORD

Wonderful trip report, looking forward to more from Burma!!

makin'miles

What a great report so far - thank you! I look forward to reading the rest!

arlflyer

Great start to the report!


A bit of a personal, but I suppose relevant, aside:

I am really interested for this one. To see the evolution of Burma in the travel space - from basically off-limits to monthly magazine articles and some even saying it is "done" already - all over just a few short years has been quite interesting. I'll be curious as to what your experience is - as to how "real" it still is.

As a younger traveler I think my biggest fear is there being nothing left by the time I get to all of the places I'd like to see - will the whole world be paved over with trinket shops and trampled down by the package tour groups? With information so accessible and travel so ubiquitous, it seems that the time from newly discovered to completely overheated is about 6 months these days. I'm hoping there will be places left for my generation!

Moomba

Thanks agp423. I'll try to get the posts up as soon as I can. It does take a long time to get the photos sorted though.

Thanks makin'miles. The next instalment will be up soon.

Thanks arlflyer

I am not sure what is meant by 'done' already. One of the reasons we chose Myanmar was to get more of a real taste before tourism takes over. Tourism is fast becoming one of major industries in Myanmar.
The trip we did was unique in that we were able to get up close and personal with some village people and learn more about their life.

Moomba

Day one of the tour had us up and at em for an 08:30 meeting in the foyer. We met or local guide and then hopped on the bus for a trip to downtown Yangon. Outside the Independence Monument we stepped off the bus and did a short walking tour around the old town admiring the colonial architecture of some of the buildings.


Yangon City Hall


Yangon High Court


We also stopped for a demonstration of a street stall owner who showed how the local favourite ‘pick me up’ betel was made. The betel nut is wrapped in a betel leaf along with some lime paste and other ingredients for flavour such as ginger.


Betel nut seller


Colonial Building


Leafy Street


Tropical weather takes a toll


We continued our walk around the streets before hopping the bus and heading to a local tea house where we sampled the local sweet tea and some fabulous samosas and duck pastries. We were the only non-local people in the place that was heaving with people sitting, drinking, eating and chatting.


Samosas and Tea

It was on then to the Chauk Htat Gyi Reclining Buddha shrine a rather large 59m reclining Buddha. It was a Monday and that meant many people would take their meal to the temple to eat and pray before fasting until first light on Tuesday.


Reclining Buddha


Feet of reclining Buddha


Reclining Buddha



Bell at Reclining Buddha

No fasting for us as our next stop was lunch at a local Burmese style restaurant. On the way we past An Sung Sun Kyi residence with the NLD banners out the front.


Aung San Suu Kyi gate

After lunch we headed back to the hotel for a couple of hours chill time.
At 15:30 we drove back downtown to visit the Little India and Chinatown areas and wander around the bustling markets.


Basket of veg


Basket of veg


Spice seller


Fish & Chicken seller

The locals wear a paste made from the bark of the Thanaka tree as a sunscreen. You will see this in many of my pictures during this report.


Making Thanaka bark sunscreen


Memories of Vietnam

We then headed out to the main tourist site in Yangon the Shwedagon Pagoda. Underneath the enormous stupa layered with over 6 tonnes of gold were some strands of hair from the last living Buddha.


Bell at entrance to Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda

The site was enormous and there were many temples and images of Buddha surrounding the main stupa. One had an image of Buddha around 80cm tall made out of one piece of jade.


Jade Buddha – Shwedagon Pagoda

There are several areas with the different animal symbols that represent the day of the week people were born. These animals are a point of worship for those people born on that day. I am a Tuesday born and that means my animal was a lion.


Tuesday corner – Shwedagon Pagoda


Tuesday corner – Shwedagon Pagoda

Also devout worshippers come in to sweep the pagoda on ‘their’ day. We saw a bunch of Tuesday born people sweeping the pagoda whilst we were there.


Sweepers – Shwedagon Pagoda


Floor section Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Clouds building – Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Panels depicting life of Buddha

We were able to see the transition from day to night and the whole place took on a different feel under lights. Also the skies transitioned from sunny with scattered cloud to black as soot.


Getting darker – Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda


Shwedagon Pagoda

This of course meant a tropical torrential rainstorm.


Shwedagon Pagoda - and then the rain came

After the rain died down a little hopped the bus back to the hotel. Along the way our guide gave us the joyous news that she had organised 4am wake up calls for us. We have a very early flight to Bagan tomorrow.


More Photos

themapelligroup

Moomba what a fantastic Trip Report!
I'll be heading to Burma for the first time in a month time, though I'll stay only in Yangon before continuing my trip. I'm very excited because the country has not become a massive tourist destination (at least I hope so) yet, I'll follow closely your report.

DanielW

Awesome TR, Moomba, I think I can almost smell all that tasty food.

Cool photo's of the markets too.

avneeshj

Fantastic stuff so far Moomba! Yangon looks a lot like some Indian cities. I can't wait to read the rest.

AhogZ

Wow! Jaw droping pictures, subscribing for more, as always, being great fan of Moomba's reports.

arlflyer

Just referring to that point at which the tour buses start to dominate the landscape and visitors have to spend more time looking out for scams than mingling with the locals.

Exactly. I was just saying that I hope it grows in a sensible way, not one that destroys most of authenticity, as we have seen in so many other parts of the world.

Moomba

Thanks themepelligroup. I think Myanmar has really started to pick up in the tourism stakes. Our guide in Bagan told us we were there just at the right time. In another few weeks the place would be inundated with tourists as the weather cools.

Thanks DanielW. Most people know my passion for food and it tends to influence the pictures I take on tour.

Thanks avneeshj. I haven't been to India (yet) but many of the towns in Myanmar reminded me of Thailand.

Thanks AhogZ. Next one will be up soon.

Moomba

After a ridiculously early 4am wake up call we had to drop our bags outside the door by 4:15 and then met at 4:45 for the drive to the airport. The hotel had packed us breakfasts of boiled eggs, pastries, a cheese sandwich and a banana with a bottle of water.

At the airport it was very busy and we had to wait a while before being given boarding passes. Security was quick and painless however we were not allowed to take our water through. Laptops etc could stay in the bags though. On the other side we grabbed a coffee and ate our boxed breakfast whilst waiting to board.

Boarding was announced by a man holding a stick with our flight number on it. We made our way onto the bus for the short drive out to the ATR72-600 plane that was to take us to Bagan.

Air Mandalay (operated by Air KBZ)
Flight 6T 0401 RGN-NYU Seat 6DK (Economy)
Aircraft: ATR72-600
Departure time: 06:20

On board there were 3 crew and 2 pilots. The crew handed us a moist towel in a packet as we boarded. We were locked up and ready to go early and pushed back at 06:10 and we quickly made our way into the sky a couple of minutes later. The lead attendant announced a flight time of 1 hour and 15 minutes.


Cabin shot


Leg room

Once the belt signs were off the crew hauled a trolley up the aisle and produced a tray with a bratwurst type sausage bread roll and a sweet swiss roll and offered juice, tea or coffee. There was also a small cuplet of water on the tray.


Meal tray

The crew dropped by a second time to offer more tea / coffee etc. After the trays were removed and it was closer to landing time the crew came around with a basket of sweets.

The captain announced our imminent arrival and gave us a temperature on the ground of a pleasant 26 C. We touched down at 07:22 and taxied back up the runway to the terminal building where we were bussed the 250 metres to the terminal building.

Porters handled our luggage and we were able to go straight out and wait until they came out. We grabbed whatever we needed from the checked bags and hopped onto our bus and off for a morning’s temple and pagoda viewing.


First stop was the Shwezigon Pagoda that was like a smaller version of the large pagoda we visited the night before in Yangon. Our guide explained about the difference between Pagoda, Temple and Shrine and some more about the significance of the hand placement of the different Buddha we will see.


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda


Shwezigon Pagoda

We then motored on down to another temple called Sulamani that reminded me of the temples we saw around Siem Reap in Cambodia last year.


Sulamani Temple


Sulamani Temple


Sulamani Temple

On the way to our next stop the driver stopped to allow us to take some photos of a farmer going about his business.


Brahman Plough

Next stop was the Gabyaukgyi temple that still had some of the original painting from the 13th century inside the temple.


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple


Gabyaukgyi Temple

One last temple before lunch was the Pya Tha Da temple that we were allowed to climb to the top of to get a panoramic view of the Bagan area. This really puts everything into perspective as you see the hundreds of temples and pagodas dotted around the Bagan plain. It was really quite a spectacle.


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views


Pya Tha Temple & Bagan Views

We had a lovely, if not expensive lunch at the Green Elephant restaurant by the Ayeyarwaddy River.


Ayeyarwaddy River

We then motored over to New Bagan and checked in to our lovely hotel the Thazin Gardens. When we got to the room this was waiting for me.


Happy Birthday to me


Tahzin Garden Hotel Room


Tahzin Garden Hotel Room


Tahzin Garden Hotel Grounds

After a break we went out to see the Ananda Temple, which is the most important in the region.


Ananda Temple


Ananda Temple


Ananda Temple


Ananda Temple


Ananda Temple


Ananda Temple


Ananda Temple


Ananda Temple



These two photos of a Bhudda inside the temple were of the same statue but depending on where you stood the facial expression changes.


Ananda Temple – Smiling Buddha


Ananda Temple – Serious Buddha


Ananda Temple

After walking around and looking at the many statues depicting the life of Buddha we took off again to find a temple that we could climb to watch the sunset.


Sunset from the roof of a temple


Sunset from the roof of a temple


Sunset from the roof of a temple

Unfortunately the weather didn’t really play ball and heavy black clouds rolled in as it grew dark. We were able to get some more great views over the Bagan plain before heading back to our hotel for a birthday dinner complete with birthday cake.


Sunset from the roof of a temple


Sunset from the roof of a temple


Sunset from the roof of a temple


Sunset from the roof of a temple


Birthday Cake

Tomorrow a big day of bike riding, village visits, a school visit, a visit to a lacquer ware factory, a boat cruise and a dinner complete with puppet show.

More Photos

exilencfc

Fascinating stuff Moomba. And that does look like some tasty food