Are you wondering: What are the best places to visit in Laos?
Are you thinking of organizing a trip to one of the most beautiful and still (not yet known) countries of Southeast Asia and do not know where to go and what to explore?
Here’s what you need to know!
Myanmar (Burma) what to see: Where to start?
Mass tourism is relatively new in the Asian country, it is finally possible to reach Myanmar (or Burma) by land from Thailand, Loas and India. New points of passage are opening up gradually.
There are three international airports: in Yangon (Yangon International Airport – RGN), in Mandalay (Mandalay International Airport – MDL) and in the less touristic and usually not visited capital Naypyidaw (Naypyidaw International Airport – NYT).
Domestic airports are located in Bagan (NYU), Heho/Inle Lake (HEH), Kengtung (KET), Lashio (LSH), Sittwe (AKY) and Tachileik (THL).
If you have little time you can fly on Mandalay and get out of Yangon to save time, taking one or two domestic flights: like from Bagan to Heho (for visits to Inle Lake and Kalaw) and from Heho to Yangon.
If you have more time I suggest you get to Yangon and then travel by land with the super slow and jumping trains or the “fastest” buses, the best way to get to know the country!
Another nice way to travel is the boat that connects Mandalay to Bagan, if you have a few more hours available choose the slow boat that stops at the villages along the river Irrawaddy, the path stretches for a few hours but it becomes an experience that you will always remember!
Myanmar is usually known for what are called the “Big Four”: Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake. The 4 locations that will let you know and enter the wonderful and unique Asian country.
Myanmar (Burma) what to see: The main tourist destinations
- Yangon –
Many think that Yangon (or even known by his old colonial name Rangoon) is the capital of Myanmar, but it is not! The metropolis has passed its role as the main city of the country to Naypyidaw, specifically built in 2006. It remains however the most populated and important city in terms of commerce and culture.
The infrastructure is not the best, but now that the country has opened up to tourism and foreign trade, things are improving.
Yangon has several well-preserved colonial-style buildings that are mainly concentrated around the Sule Pagoda, a religious building built on a sort of large roundabout from which the central part of the city develops. Nearby is the peaceful Maha Bandula park with its independence monument.
The most important building in the city (and in the whole country) is its Shwedagon Pagoda (or Shwedagon Paya), sacred to all Buddhists in Myanmar. The religious structure, about 100 meters high, is said to contain the relics of 4 Buddhas in its central golden stupa. Building particularly interesting for its beauty and the incredible amount of gold and jewels that are part of its structure. Every day hundreds of people come here to pray and pay homage to the Buddha.
Take a tour after hours of sightseeing around the relaxing lake in Kandawgyi Park (great at sunset) or take the train in what is called the Yangon Circular Railway: the railway has a 45km circuit and 39 stops that will take you around Yangon and its suburban areas. To do it all it takes a little ‘time, so you could opt to make it only a stretch, go down where you think it can be interesting, explore the area and then re-mount a carriage that will take you back to the starting point.
Interesting is the Bogyoke Market: in this colonial style building you can find a bit of everything: from antiques to jewelry, food, drinks and many other Burmese products. Closed on Monday!!
If you fancy a cocktail in a luxurious and elegant atmosphere, enter the Strand Hotel, you will feel like being transported in 19th century in this fantastic colonial building.
Museums, temples, art galleries and markets scattered all over the huge Burmese city will let you enter the spirit of the Southeast Asian country!
As usual, the best way to enjoy a new place is always to get lost in the streets of the place where you are and watch what happens …!
- Bagan –
Bagan as well as being one of the most beautiful and breathtaking places in the country is also one of the most beautiful and unique places I have ever explored here in Asia.
In this valley are scattered hundreds of temples, stupas and pagodas (they say they were built over the centuries more than 10 thousand temples only here …) of every size and every date, here you will have the feeling of being catapulted into another reality. Do not miss the sunrise that you can see from the terrace of one of the various sacred buildings in the area. Arrive a little earlier if you want to choose a good location because usually there are a lot of people gathered from the early hours of the morning to see the sun rise. There is the possibility to explore the area in a balloon, a rather expensive option!
It’s nice to go around the archaeological area of Bagan by bike or with one of the electric motorbikes that are rented everywhere. Remember that often the temples are on beaten ground, so … dust !!
Some of Bagan’s most important and beautiful temples:
Ananda Pagoda: Finished in 1105, perfectly preserved, giant, elegant and beautiful!
Shwesandaw Pagodaor Pyathada (Pyathatgyi) Pagoda: In Nyaung-U, a golden, giant stupa, surrounded by temples and altars. Ended in 1102.
Gawdaw Palin temple: located along the banks of the Irrawaddy River, finished in 1227, with its 55 meters it’s the second highest temple in the Valley of the Temples of Bagan.
Myoe Daung Monastery and Tharabar Gate, a beautiful 19th century temple made of teak wood.
Dhammayangyi temple, the temple with the largest structure, beautiful, unmissable, dated 1170.
Thatbyinnyu temple: finished in 1144 is the highest monument in the valley: 60mt.! A temple that can be observed from almost anywhere in the Valley of the Temples of Bagan.
Temples are generally accessible and can even be climbed, but sometimes the government decides to change the rules and to put some limits on some sites. Probably from the month of October 2017 some of these sacred buildings will no longer be accessible.
- Mandalay –
Kipling and Orwell wrote about this city that was the capital of the North of Myanmar until 1885. Mandalay is home to about one and a half million inhabitants, quite busy and rich in commerce, it is the second city of Myanmar. It has some interesting temples:
One above all the Mahamuni Temple, considered the second most important of Myanmar, with its statue of the Buddha 4 meters high in gold and decorated with precious jewels.
The Shwenandaw Monastery is also a place to see, all built in teak and with wonderful decorations.
The Kuthodaw Paya, a temple at the foot of Mandalay Hill, houses the largest book in the world on stone tablets in 729 stupas.
Mandalay Hill, from the temple at the top you can admire beautiful sunsets and the royal palace, which is a replica as the original was destroyed during the Second World War, it’s worth a visit.
Travelers and tourists come here mostly to base and explore the ancient capitals that have been founded around here: Sagaing, Inwa, Amarapura.
Do not miss a visit to Mingun.
These are sites that you can usually visit on a one-day visit:
Mingun can be reached by a fifty minute boat ride on the Irrawaddy River, where you can find the immense Mingun pagoda of 50 meters dated eighteenth century, unfortunately never finished and damaged by an earthquake of the first half of the 800, which would have been the largest ever built. Not far away is the Hsinbyume pagoda, very white and very photogenic representing the mythical Mount Meru and its seven mountain ranges.
Sagaing is a picturesque hill on the western bank of the Irrawaddy River, dotted with Buddhist sacred buildings. The countless white and golden stupas create a spectacular contrast with the green vegetation of the hill. Another unmissable, incredible and certainly unforgettable place that only Myanmar can give away!
Inwa (or Awa) is usually visited on board of a horse cart on dusty dirt roads, it was the capital of Burma for several times. Located on an artificial island, heavily destroyed by the earthquake of 1838. The moat, part of the protective walls, remains one of the gates and part of the royal palace. To see: the Me Nu Ok Kyaung monastery and the teak wood Bagaya monastery.
Keep Amarapura for the final part of the day so as not to miss an exceptional sunset when you are visiting the U-Bein Bridge: a fantastic teak bridge, considered the longest in the world built with this resistant wood: 1200 mt . Consume your camera as soon as the sun starts to go down !!!
- Inle Lake –
Inle Lake is another of Myanmar’s pearls. Although it is a rather beaten place by tourism, it remains an unmissable destination for a visit to the South East Asian country.
Nestled in the Shan Mountains, Inle Lake is home to many ethnic groups such as the Danu, Pa-O, Kayah, Taung Yo, and Danaw, who come to sell their wares in local markets.
There are several villages scattered here and there on its banks and beautiful gardens and floating gardens that can be visited by boat.
Besides the very interesting floating villages, it is a factory that produces fabrics made of yarn made from the lotus flower.
Of course there are religious buildings: stupas, monasteries, pagodas and temples! The Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda is very beautiful.
A cigar factory could also be among your destinations.
Characteristic of the place are the fishermen who are balanced on one leg and with the other row with the help of one hand, allowing the other hand to be free to support the trap for the fish.
The village of Indein, famous for its numerous, ancient and rich pagodas, is of great interest around Inle Lake.
Nyaungshwe is the place where night-time accommodation and restaurants are usually found for some good local meal and from where one leaves to explore the beautiful surrounding area.
Myanmar (Burma) what to see … conclusions.
These are just the main attractions of Myanmar, as I said what are called “Big Four”. But the country is full of many other wonders to be discovered from North to South, especially islands virtually unexplored in the Andaman Sea. The enchanting places are really numerous and as tourists arrive they are also improving the transports to these destinations, increasing accommodations such as hotels and guest houses.
Which on the one hand can be positive but from another it worries me a bit as Myanmar has remained until today a rather pure country, with extraordinary people. The contact with mass tourism will probably bring the usual flatness and the greed related to globalization … let’s see what happens!
A trip to Myanmar is a wonderful adventure in a unique country, rich in history, culture and natural beauties … but what will remain imprinted will probably be the kindness of a people still not devastated by our Western way of life.
