CITY LIVING
TRAVEL TALK
Magnificent Myanmar Nyima Pratten
Monks at the Shwedagon Pagoda
Myanmar, formally known as Burma, the once isolated state, is slowly working to expand its tourism industry. Although this might be a hard task, after long being associated with oppression and a military junta, over the past few years, great strides have been taken towards building a brighter future for the country. We visited Myanmar to see if it really was a viable tourism destination. Temples in Bagan
Wine tasting at Red Mountain Estate Vineyard and Winery
T
he release of Burmese opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi in 2010, was heralded around the world as a positive step towards a postjunta phase, with the US and the EU lifting all non-military sanctions by 2012. However, before planning any trip, it is worth researching, for your own knowledge, about the simmering ethnic tensions in the country and deciding accordingly. With the country’s newfound openness, it seems that the floodgates have been opened for a glut of wealthy westerners looking for a spiritual experience, or at least one they can brag about across dinner tables for months to come. Myanmar differs to its Southeast Asian neighbours in that you won’t see young, sunburnt Europeans wandering around the streets lugging backpacks and in desperate need of showers. Myanmar is still a very elite flashpacking experience for the older and more mature travellers, who believe they can really get to grips with the intricacies of the country's vast history. Having said this, there seems to be an abundance of young expats here, buzzing around Yangon’s handful of new foreign restaurants and nightspots, which are popping up in the city to meet demand. This educated group seem to break down into two main categories, the foreigners who are working for NGOs or those who have identified Myanmar as the next Asian Tiger economy, and have come to throw their hat into the ring and make their name and fortune. Either way, the excitement in Yangon is electric and inspiring. We started our tour of Myanmar in Yangon. Although left neglected for many years since the British first used it as
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their colonial capital, recently Yangon has undergone much renovation, including the construction of many world-class hotels; the Shangri-La opened its doors a few months ago (www.shangri-la.com). When in Yangon, you cannot miss visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda. At 110 metres, gold plated and encrusted with 4531 diamonds, the sunlight reflects off its surfaces and creates the most spectacular sight on its hill slightly above the city. We suggest going for sunset, when it is cooler, to get the obligatory sunset shot. It is fantastic to go to this Buddhist, working temple and see how enshrined Buddhism is in the daily lives of the local community. Far too many times in Asia, you feel like the local Buddhist temple is a tourist trap, however, as you watch the Burmese
people chant and mingle with the monks, you realise how truly sacred and special this ancient temple of 2500 years is. During the day, we spent time at Scott’s Market. Built by the British, the market is housed inside the walls of an old colonial building. Myanmar produces much of the world’s jade, pearls, rubies and sapphires and they are all available at Scott’s Market. A trip to the market is not complete without stocking up on some souvenirs, whether they are of the precious gem variety or not. We next made our way, by air, to Bagan. Bagan is a lush green plain beside the Irrawaddy. There are over 2000 brick temples in this area that are the remnants of an ancient medieval kingdom, which grew from a ninth century village and became the birthplace of Burmese language, culture and ethnicity. The Democratic Voice of Burma is hoping to achieve World Heritage status for the site from UNESCO, however, it was previously declined due to the site boundary not being defined properly as well as having potentially damaging hotels in the heart of the complex. Rent a bicycle, e-bike or horse drawn cart to explore the area at your convenience. You are able to enter many of the renovated and unrenovated temples and pagodas freely, but be aware that there will be locals looking to sell their wares at every stop. Just before sunset, most tourists climb
Traditional Intha fabric weaving
Mr. Min's cooking class Traditional stilted houses on Inle Lake
to the top of the sunset temple to take in the views, however, if you want to escape from the crowds, it is also possible to get great views from many of the other larger and less populated temples, just be sure to take a torch. After a hot and sweaty day of riding down dirt tracks, you will want to jump into a nice cool pool. We stayed at low-budget Zfreeti Hotel, at $50 for a twin room per night, and were blown away by their service standards, cleanliness, amenities and the cute little outdoor pool (www.zfreeti.com). Our final destination was Inle Lake, in Shan State, populated by the Intha ethnic group and It is also possible to stay in a stilt hotel on the lake famous for its leg-rowing fishermen who manage to balance itself. Amazing Hotel is a low-budget, high-quality hotel on one leg at the very end of their longboats whilst casting brand in Myanmar, which has a hotel in Nyaung Shwe as their fishing nets. We flew into Heho before taking a onewell as Inle Lake (www.amazing-hotel.com). We spent hour taxi to the lake. The lake is a place of unimaginable the final days of our trip to Myanmar in a stilted room on beauty, with bright blue skies reflecting onto the calm water the lake, taking longboat tours to different villages on the and making it almost impossible, at times, to tell where one lake. Highlights of the standard tours that are available finished and the other began. There are so many fantastic were watching the local Intha ladies weave fabric from activities to take part in on and around the lake. We suggest the fibres of lotus stems, Jumping Cat Monastery and you plan to spend the majority of your time here. We spent Shwe In Dein Temple. a few nights in Nyaung Shwe, a town that lies on the north The smiling, welcoming and deeply spiritual people of the lake. Shan is known as the garden state and produces in Myanmar along with the beautifully stunning and most of the fruit and vegetables in the country. We found unspoilt scenery make the country, in our eyes, a mustthat the best way to get to grips with the famous five-day visit destination. Although, there is of course a long market, Intha food and the local way of life for people way to go for the country, tourism is the most viable living on and around the lake was a Intha cooking class option to improve the lives of the local people, ensuring with Mr. Min (myomintun2008@gmail.com). Eager, Mr. that some of the economic benefits stay within the local Min picked us up in the morning for an early rummage communities. around the market for essential ingredients before taking us to his family’s stilt house on the lake, by longboat. We were given an introduction Intha food at Mr. Min's family home to each dish and the local ingredients used; make sure you request the tealeaf salad. It is extremely interesting to note the Southeast Asian, India and Chinese cooking influences as the class continues. When we got back to dry land, we ventured to Red Mountain Estate Vineyards and Winery. This is one of the only two wineries in Myanmar, perched on a sloping hill. Go for a wine tasting and stay for the splendid view out over the lake.
Longboat on Inle Lake
GETTING THERE Currently, there are no direct flights between Shanghai and Yangon. There are, however, direct flights between Beijing and Yangon as well as Kunming and Yangon. It is also possible to get lowcost flights between Shanghai and Singapore and then Singapore to Yangon; although this might be cheaper, it is not a time-efficient route.
GETTING AROUND There are multiple airline carriers in Myanmar that fly between the main cities everyday, however, the tickets cost on average $100 per flight for a 45 minute to one-hour journey, which is quite steep compared to other Southeast Asian airliners. It is best to use a tour agent in Myanmar to book ahead of your departure (we used www.sunfartravels. com). There are also bus routes between the major cities that are a lot cheaper, but take a considerably longer amount of time. Some journeys can be quite dangerous due to poor road conditions.
CURRENCY US dollar is king in Myanmar, but make sure that you also exchange a little Myanmar Kyat for when you are making small purchases or in remote villages. Also ensure that you have clean, crisp dollar bills, as even slightly damaged notes will not be accepted in the country.
VISA Contact your local embassy. Visas on arrival are available for some nationalities.
Fisherman on Inle Lake
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