I was on a two week tour of Myanmar with a small group in February and visited Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Kalaw and Inle Lake. Bagan was definitely the highlight of the trip; a balloon ride is recommended if you can manage though it will be getting close to the end of the season by next month. Unlike some posters in this thread I enjoyed Yangon, where I spent several days on my own before and after the tour, more than Mandalay.

Most flights between Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Heho appear to be in the morning. Afternoon flights tend to be delayed due to the number of rotations each aircraft has to operate.

With such a short visit I would try and cut down the number of internal flights and concentrate on Yangon and Bagan.

yes, now it's more like 3 days itinerary now you mention it :D

How about flying RGN-NYU roundtrip? Would probably give you ~14 hours more to explore Bagan or Yangon (I'm assuming your current plan is to take the overnight bus from both ways from Yangon to Bagan).

Thanks, that's my dilemma right now, whether to add in the one more internal flight and squeeze in Inle Lake, or to just stick with Bagan and Yangon. I still have to do some more research on the flights (timing and pricing) to decide what I want to do.

Where are you coming from and ending at? I'm hoping your answer is not North America.

Lol. I'm coming from the US. I handle jetlag just fine, so that's not an issue.

Alright, but 48 hours in travel time for 120 hours of vacation is crazy. You should make sure you can be in Yangon so you don't miss your flight back to the US. I would not take a morning flight to Yangon on the same day you're supposed to fly back to the States, but I might be more conservative in my planning than you.

Again, I've never flown in Myanmar domestically, I've always traveled by bus.

yeah, that's really barely any time at all. I really enjoyed Inle Lake, but given your time issues I don't think it makes any sense. You also have an hour drive to and from the airport plus time on a boat to get to/from the lake.

I'd say spend the first day seeing some sights in Yangon (there aren't that many, but as noted the traffic can be pretty horrendous), then spend 2 or 3 days in Bagan before returning to Yangon for the last day.

There are a couple of day trips you can do from Bagan if you get templed out as pretty much the temples and monuments are what there is to do in Bagan. But it is stupendous.

Taung Kalat (aka Mount Popa) was a fun day (quarter day?) trip; budget about 4-5 hours if you plan on going. Just look before you step (for monkey pee and feces, but the locals keep it pretty clean; FYI, if you didn't already know, you walk barefoot at every pagoda/temple).

I ended up circling around Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, and Yangon again in 3 days+. it was so hot in April, definitely bad timing. no air baloon in Bagan either :(

turns out the one I enjoy the most is Mandalay. Sunsets in both Mandalay hills and U Bein Bridge are beautiful.

Bagan is amazing, but Inle captured our hearts. Stay at the Inle Princess if you can. Oriental Ballooning (green balloons) also offer flights in Inle, *highly* recommended.

I have to say that, of the three, I enjoyed Yangon the most. The fading colonial quarter was extraordinary, and I enjoyed witnessing the burgeoning middle class and a city in huge and rapid transition.

Inle might have been beautiful but it bucketed with rain while we were there this April.

Bagan was a disappointment. The fields of pagodas are extraordinary but there's not much there once you've seen the overview and inside one or two. The pollution is shocking with the sun completely blocked out for the entirety of our stay, and a trip on the river was frankly dull when you could barely make out the river banks.

My experience of internal flights (we took three) is that they are generally slightly late, getting later as the take-off time gets later. Having said that, baggage claim etc. is fast and you get out of the airport quickly.

This thread reminds me of my visit. It was still Burma and my wife and I were the entire FIT allocation for the day (average of under 600 FIT/yr at that time). We were supposed to be there for 2 days, but we left in less than 24 hours because we were uncomfortable that they kept our passports. Still got to see the Inya Lake Hotel, the museum, the Strand Hotel, the Shwebagan Pagoda and a few other items, including the crustless sandwich on Air Burma.

Myanmar (Burma) Recommendations
 

I am just starting to research and plan a trip to Myanmar in March-ish of 2018. My plan is to redeem Delta Skymiles to cover the cost of the flight for my husband and I. Can't get a flight into Mandalay so will probably do a roundtrip to Bangkok and then do an Airasia etc trip in and our of Myanmar. We will have somewhere between 10-14 days in Burma before returning to the US. The idea currently is to fly into Mandalay and then fly out of Yangon. Some requirements are Green Hill Valley Elephant Sanctuary by Kalaw and Ngapali Beach. I have been speaking with Myanmar Shalom about a travel itinerary. I haven't decided if I will use them for a full itinerary or just to book transfers from city to city. I was just wondering if anybody have any suggestions of "DO NOT MISS" things in Bagan, Mandalay, Yangon etc. I don't believe I will have enough time for Inle Lake and am not too disappointed by this. So I guess my questions are:

1. Any Do Not Miss items?
2. If you didn't use a travel agency to help; how did you get around in these cities? Taxi's? Cars for Hire from your hotel? Avg Cost?
3. Food? Average daily food budget?
4. Anything you think would be helpful that i haven't typed above.