Blogs from Burma, Asia - page 14

We decided to include Kalaw in our route to go on trekking. We took the night bus in Hsipaw, the trip of 12 hours was not exactly I expected, uncomfortable and no recliner seat on the bus. Arriving in Kalaw wasn't exactly an adventure, we were dropped in the middle of nowhere at night in the dark dragged our luggage looking our hotel that we booked in advance, without realized if we're in danger or not, thank god Kalaw is known as a safe town. There were four of us getting off the bus, two guys went on different ways. And the bus continued to his final destination in Inle Lake. We're having difficulty finding the hotel as it's so dark, no light on street. Luckily we meet a man with a motorbike, the whole city ... read more

We have a little problem of getting here, I thought a train running between Mandalay and Pyin U Lwin, but we only got bad news one person said the train is not going to Pyin U Lwin and while other people said there is a train but they didn’t know the time of departure, so its worrying us because we already booked a hotel for one night. Typical thing in Myanmar, never relying on the schedule of public transport. I read about a shared taxi, so I ask our hotel reception about it, and yes they have share taxi for 6500 kyat per person. I asked them to arrange one for us. And while the clerk calling the taxi company I heard him talking about the pick up time, there are taxis every hour, so I ... read more

After a two night stay in Ngwe Saung, we took the bus back to Yangon to get a night bus to Bagan. I book the bus in advance with JJ EXPRESS, according to what I heard this is the best and comfortable bus in Myanmar, but the price is not very cheap comparing to any buses in Southeast Asia - 19 USD for a one way ticket. To make a reservation I contacted them through Facebook in messenger, they hold our tickets till we get there. A few days before our trip they sent me a message of our seat number (no advance payment is required) we collect the ticket at the bus station in Yangon and pay over there. The bus departed in Yangon at 21:00 pm. We arrived in Bagan at 6:00 am the ... read more

We started this trip from Brussels flying with Emirates and have a couple of days stopover in Dubai. Our flight landed in Yangon at 11:40 am, entering Myanmar we need a visa, but we have this in advance. Applying online is a fast process and cost 50$ (paid with credit card). When we arrived in Yangon passport control goes very fast, is like in 10 minutes we were out there. After pick up the luggage l search for ATM machine but this located outside the arrival terminal. I've done some research before coming to Myanmar about banks - KBZ bank charge 5000 kyat for cash withdrawals while CB bank charge 6500 kyat. Thus, I certainly know which bank to avoid. I withdraw cash from KBZ ATM machine, the limit amount is 300.000 kyat equivalent to 200 ... read more

The summer is usually a great time to plan a long uninterrupted holiday to either an exotic beach to get your beautiful tan on or to a cool hill station to unwind. Well, having already done a couple of the aforementioned preferred destinations, I wanted to go on a backpacking trip with no prior plans in place and with only a week to spare for it (Oh and did I say a tight budget!?). After a quick research and possible options, the choice was zeroed in on Myanmar. url=https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbj4tCjwvEQ/WPcFMypBzmI/AAAAAAAAAck/KI2xOmmnOeYCsA-QpB_dM7Gj7bOXvbdsACLcB/s1600/Bagan-Myanmar.jpgimg=https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbj4tCjwvEQ/WPcFMypBzmI/AAAAAAAAAck/KI2xOmmnOeYCsA-QpB_dM7Gj7bOXvbdsACLcB/s400/Bagan-Myanmar.jpg Myanmar or Burma if you prefer is Southeast Asia’s fastest growing backpacking destination since the government decided to relax a lot of the restrictions o... read more