Myanmar 2019 : A 5D4N Itinerary of Yangon and Bagan


This year CNY,  I went on a trip to the land of Golden Pagodas, Myanamar.

Where did I go?

Yangon and Bagan in Myanmar (GMT: +0630), it's 1.5h behind SG Time.

How was the weather?

The weather in Bagan reached to about 18C in the morning and about 30C in the afternoon. It was a mixed of hot and cold weather.  The weather in Yangon was hot all throughout, roughly 30C to about 35C.

How did I  manage to go around?

I engaged a local tour agency, One Stop Travel & Private Day Tour where they handled all tours including hotel transfer and hotel bookings (if you wish). You can find some tips here. 

How did our day went?

Day 1  : Yangon City tour
I boarded Singapore Airlines, SQ988 (Airbus 330-300), 2h 55 minutes flight to Yangon. In a nutshell, I (together with my companions) went to the following places: aung san museum, royal lake (photo stop), shwedagon pagoda, ngar htar gyi(sitting Buddha), chauk hatgyi (reclining Buddha)

Day 2  : Off to Bagan
I boarded ATR-72 aircraft (82 seater plane) to Bagan. The flight was just over an hour.
The itinerary included a run through of  the following temples and places (It was like doing temple run):

  1. sapada pagoda
  2. nyaung u market
  3. shwezigon pagoda
  4. kyansitthar cave 
  5. htilo-minlo
  6. lacquerware workshop (I was there in and out for like 30minutes. There's no pressure to buy the items. I think the guide knew that I wasn't that much interested on the wares). 
  7. thatbyinyu temple
  8.  ananda temple
  9. tharabha gate (photo stop) 
  10. kandawpalin temple 
  11. dhammayangi temple
  12. sunset at okhtein kone

Mostly the tour will allot 1hr + on big temples and a few minutes on smaller temples for photo stops.

Day 3  : More temple running 

The day was evenly paced. The tour included more temples and had a tour of Old Bagan via horsecart ride (it was dusty but it was still worth it to go around to see the temples, it was a challenge to ride the front of the horse cart though). The highlight was the river cruise along Irrawaddy river.

  1. old palace pillar (photo stop)
  2.  ah-shay phwarsaw village, 
  3. 30 minutes horsecart sightsee at Old Bagan 
  4. gubyaukgyi temple 
  5. nanphayar temple
  6. manuhar temple 
  7. lawkanandar pagoda
  8. river cruise at irwaddy river

Day 4  : Mt Popa and Beyond
Boarded an ATR-72 aircraft and it was a free seating type. So what's the best thing to do on free seating, take the one with the more leg room!
Day itinerary took me to mt popa (taungkalat monastery and Mt. popa mountain resort)

Day 5  :  Shopping and Temples
For this day, the tour went from st mary's cathedral, chinese temple, Bogyoke Aung San Market,  kyauk daw kyi, Supercenter, and transferred to the airport. 
Apparently when you booked SQ you are more or less can be downgraded to take Silk Air, Boeing 737-800 (738). The service was ok, but the food literally sucks. The food was so dry that I didn't even manage to finish the food served (Normally, I would be able to). The fruit served were canned longan and peaches. Aside from that there was no entertainment as you have to download their IOS App (so for Android users it sucks). Luckily, it was just a short flight. 


Things that I've learned :

  • temples are hallow, so you can go in. pagodas aren't. 
  • most temples have murals but they've been covered with limestone powder
  • there are different poses of Buddha : teaching, relaxing/meditating, travelling, protection,and others
  • the Buddhas are of Indian origin
  • Buddhas inside the temple are of: Myanmar, Indian, mixed 
  • Indian Buddha statues : have lines on the neck, got navel,breasts, knees, have slanted eyes. got shoulder length earrings, like jackfruit hair
  • Myanmar Buddha statues: no navel, no knees, no knot
  • Myanmar people also believe in Nat

Tips: 

  • They allow to change SGD. If you're not sure if you can get a crisp USD dollars, you can opt for SGD. (But their rate would be SGD to USD to kyat). 
  • Bring USD in case there are resorts/hotel that only accept USD.
  • Myanmar Money Changers and Tour Agency are now relaxed with the acceptance of USD, although they still prefer crisp USD (but since it's quite difficult to get crisp USD). 
  • Always ask to go to the local supermarket (Ocean Super center is the one stop shop for everything. food, chips, and others) to get your snacks. 
  • Most of the restaurant, do not serve up a service charge, and put some 10% service charge on the bill. They don't have the black bill folder to put the tip, so just leave it on the table. 
  • Ask for English menu (and if you have a local guide with you, ask them about what's the recommended food).  
  • Wear footwear that you can easily removed. As you're visiting a lot of temples , you need to be able to take off your shoes at moment's notice. 
  • Bring masks (esp in Bagan) where the roads aren't developed. 
  • Bring wet wipes and bottled water. ( Luckily for us, they were provided by the tour guide). 
  • Plan your itinerary with the tour agency, so you know what you're going in for. For us, we didn't plan ahead, but they still took us to the pagoda and temples that were quite unusual ones. They went above and beyond their call of duty. If you want to skip the lacquer wares or the palm juice factory or the sand art painting, you can just give them a call and arrange for something else. It was a part of learning the culture as Bagan was known for its palm sugar and lacquer ware. They won't oblige you to buy anything. At the end of the day, as much as we want to buy lacquer ware, we decided against it because we don't even know how to care for it, much more what to put inside the lacquer ware. 
  • Plug uses Type G ( 3 pin ), type  C, D and F. 
  • Know the weather and plug  type to bring. 
  • Do go to toilets in the restaurant. These are quite decent (except for some). Temples have toilet but since you're already walking barefoot ... 
  • Ask the guide to drop you off to a nearby restaurant before going back to the hotel (esp if the hotel doesn't have any nearby restaurants). This was specially true for Bagan. As for Yangon, the walk was very long  - 3 blocks away from the hotel. Not sure if ruby mart got any food upstairs (but I know there's a bakery - should have opted for bakery and few snacks). 
  • Bring more resealable bags or food clips. At least you can eat what you bought (and still retaining its freshness). 
  • Follow to where the guide would place his/her shoes. There are times when you need to pay for "safekeeping" we would put it at 1,000 kyat for 3 person. 
  • Request to eat more at places where they serve Myanmar dish. Also, ask the tour guide if he/she can recommend some dishes to eat. 
Souvenirs:

Local Chips and Local noodles 
and more chips..

The chips with the yellow and red tags were really nice!

Packed tea salad 



 Local lotion

Bookmarks (3,000 kyat) and Magnets (1,500 kyat) at Bogyoke Aung San Market (somehow sellers there are very adamant on the price set, I can't haggle much because I wasn't even buying a lot)

Home-grown Milk tea and products like the tamarind flakes (1,500 kyat for 1 pack) and peanut brittle.



 Budget
Flight Tickets: S$233.6 (via Singapore Airlines/Silk Air)
Accommodation & Tour: $547 (S$711.1) 
Pocket Money: S$150
Total : S$1,094.7 per person

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