Burma Jan 2007
 

I am planning a trip to Burma in Jan for three nights four days. We are planning on Yangon and Bagon. Any suggestions on where to stay or eat?

Well that depends on how much you want to spend. If you can spend lots then in Bagan I would stay at the Thiripyitsaya hotel. The pool area is fantastic. In Yangon I would stay at the Governor's residence. Definitely a great property. Excellent food in both.

What sort of places do you stay at when you travel? Highest of high end? Lowest of low? Something in between? Do you have a budget per night in mind?

What and where do you like to eat? Restaurant only? Local street food?

We like middle of the road (3-5 stars)but nice, AC is a must. We don't mind staying in local hotels that are clean and nice as for food we like to eat local and we are up for anything.

Is there anything special that you think is a must do? Did you like one place over the other?

I saw the highlights while in the country and they definitely were delightful. In Bagan, save some money to buy some lacquerware. For a cheaper hotel I stayed at the GrandPlaza Parkroyal in Yangon. I went to the residence for dinner.

Also stayed at the Grand Plaza Park Royal(former Sofitel).......just fine. I don't know how long you expect to stay in Bagan area but we needed 3 days and didn't "see" all that we wanted. I would also suggest "High Tea" at the "Strand" in Yangon, quite delightful, especially if you are all "stupa-ed" out.

Rangoon
 

Yes, the Grand Plaza Parkroyal is quite a decent place. If you want to be closer to the market, the Traders is more centrally located. The Sedona is close to the airport and is quite luxurious.

We are thinking a total of three days in both Yangoon and Bagan. We did Cambodia last year and we are thinking that we don't want as much temple time. I heard the hot air ballon ride was amazing

Bagan is not one temple it is thousands, and thus not comparable to the Angkor complex(which I spent 4 days at too.).........I didn't go on the hot air balloon ride, seemed way over priced, and my travel partner was concerned with safety,YMMV.
If anything I wouldn't spend longer than a day in Yangon as there is not that much to do. Myanmar is an interesting place enjoy......lots of temples, friendly people despite the repression, and a must see if have an interest in S.E.Asian culture and religion (as is Laos).

hi there,
i can highly recommend the savoy hotel in yangon if you are looking for something "colonial style". stayed there recently and found it very nice, good service, very nice GM, beautiful view to shwedagon pagoda.
in bagan, we stayed at the thazin garden hotel, also very nice, bungalow style, great pool close to a stupa... we were the only guests (!) in the whole hotel complex which was a bit odd. but that's burma off season.
in general, please visit the country, it is great, please avoid (!) state run properties as much as you can and spend money locally, buy and donate... in bagan, buy lacquerware, check for shops off the main street as they usually do not get the tourist groups.

Yes, but very expensive. Something in the region of USD250 per person. Compared to the cost of everything else in the country it's a bit rediculous

we had wonderful 3 weeks in Myanmar last Xmas.

In short, 2 days is fully enough for Yangoon (people will direct you to main sites and greatest temples/complexes). You can buy good rubies and saphires in local museum of precise stones (obviously do try to do it on teh streets).

3 days is just enough for Bagan (if you like temples and history). You dont need to go there at all if you want to spend your time by the pool (seaside locations are much better for it). The scenery, 100s of temples (I think Bagan covers historical capital of size about 10x20 km, as far as you can see), local people and food are great. We were there 4 days and enjoed every minute (that means we woke up to see every sunrise and stayed out till sunset - cart driver took us everywhere whole day).
Balloon flight is great (we will surely do it next time) if money is no object. I think it is still reasonably prices (similar to the UK level) but it is a real magic to fly over 100s of temples at the brink of sunrise. You should not really compare balloon trip cost to any local costs (we paid 10 US baks to the cart driver for whole day touring the temples, local sites etc).

If you will manage to get to Mandalay - go there and go outside town. The town itself is a damp but there are great historical and ethnical sites in the suburbs. Have a look at the guides for sites/locations - they are about 20-30 minutes form the town centre. You need about 2 days there.

You can fly between main cities. AirBagan and AirMandalay are ok whatever you think from their names, but do not use Myanmar Airways (this is NOT Myanmar International Airways flying to BKK and SIN). It is possible to book flights in advance. Delays do happen so don't plan back-to-back flights (especially when you will need to catch a flight from Maynmar on your last day there).
We also used trains (interesting on short-hop and tiring over-night), river boats, barges, treeshaws (they are still real transport there and not a tourist thing like in Singapore), horse carts, local buses etc etc.

In short, Myamar is a great place to see how much of modern Asia used to be 20-40 years ago (they have no credit cards, no cashmachines and still use American buses left after WWII!), very very kind and friendly people, historical sites, 10000s of large and small temples everywhere (now I realise that Thailand is nothing in this department versus Myanmar).

Sorry I cannot recommend about plush hotels. There are very few of them and we did not go to Myanmar to stay in Hiltons. Ooopps, there are no Hiltons or major hotel chains there at all! Just local establishments (some of them do look well looked after but I think it is very hit and miss when you dont know the place. But I can guarantee that hotel staff will go very long way to make you happy if something is not in order. People friendliness and service was one of my main discoveries in Maynmar.

Hope above summary is useful. Fill free to PM if any specific questions.