It has been a year since my friend and I did a month-long backpacking in six SEA countries. It took us a while to plan our route and dates of booking. So with only $800 in 33 days, we managed to backpack around SEA. Our first stop: Manila-Yangon with lay over at KL. By the way, we took AirAsia in most of our flights.
Upon arrival in Yangon, we took a cab going to our hostel, Agga Guest House, a dorm-type hostel, generally good for backpackers. We stayed there twice, when we arrived and when we came back from Bagan. That's also where we left our backpack for a lighter side trip in Bagan. By the way, it helps that you learn their greetings: "Mingulabar".
Where to go:
 |
| Shwedagon Temple The most popular tourist attraction is the Shwedagon Temple. You all see is gold. It is a big temple and there are monks who will talk to you while touring around. |
 |
| Cool monk around the temple! Aside from the temple, it is also good to visit their market where you can buy longyi, it's like our malong version. What's good about this country is that everyone wears traditional clothes whenever you are. I admire them for that! |
 |
| At the market, you can ask them to put Thanaka on your face. This is their version of sunblock and it has a cooling effect!
The following day, we took a bus going to Bago, another place outside of Yangon. But we missed our stop! That was funny! Because we did not want to spoil our day, we just enjoyed the scenery and had a joy ride along the way. That night, we prepared for the trip to Bagan.
Bagan, Myanmar
From our hostel, we took a cab going to the bus terminal for the Bagan trip. We took the night bus, and it left around 7pm. We arrived around 4am in the morning. Good thing we did not miss our stop. We took a horse carriage that cost around $7 from the bus stop to our hostel. By the way, you can already go directly to the temple for the sunrise, but since we have two days there, we opted to go the following morning. Please note too that you have to pay $25 as a fee to enter Bagan.
We stayed at Shwe Nadi Guest house, a good hostel and money-worth accommodation. We had a private room with bathroom for $18 for two nights with free breakfast! Super sulit, right?
To go around, we rented an e-bike (motorcycles are for locals only!).
Exploring by e-bike :)
 
Meeting Sule, a local guy who tipped us where to go for sunrise and sunset that is not too crowded!
Kayan beauties!
Monks!
What to buy:
1. Thanaka - local sunblock
2. Longyi - they have wonderful fabric patterns and it is not that expensive!
We only had five days in Myanmar so we only opted for Yangon and Bagan. But if you have longer days, there are other places to explore! For us, Myanmar is a bit pricey and we were worried because we spent $150 just in five days and we didn't even ate at restaurants! In the end, we were happy to set foot in this country! Burmese are very kind, warm and helpful people!
We are also 14-day visa-free so take advantage! Fly now!
Up next: Backpacking SEA - Part 2: Thailand |
No comments:
Post a Comment