Golden Myanmar

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Myanmar, also known as Burma, is a country which only very recently opened its doors to foreign business, and tourism. Today, Myanmar is growing at a tremendous pace, and is soon to catch up with its neighbours, i.e. Thailand, Laos and China to the east, India and Bangladesh to the west, At the time of writing, (February 2011), it was impossible to find either SIM card or ATM machine in the country. All payments had to be made in recent USD notes, and my cellphone's roaming bar stayed inexistent throughout the trip. If you plan your trip any time soon, you will find most comodities found in south east asia, and even traffic jams in Yangoon!

To me, the predominant color of Myanmar is Gold. From the unique sunrise and sunsets on Bagan and Mandalay, to the numerous monk's robes and women delicate ornaments, you will find the gold colour throughout the pictures!

From Singapore, Tigerair operates numerous flights to Yangoon, and from Yangoon, we chose to fly to Mandalay to save time (10-14h coach ride). From Mandalay, we enjoyed a ferry ride on the Ayeyarwady river all the way to Bagan. After visiting the majestic Bagan Temples, we took a bus and public pick-up truck to Kalaw, where we trekked during 2 days towards the Inle Lake. We then flew back from the Inle Lake (Heho) to Yangoon.

Mandalay is worth a visit for a couple of reasons such as the huge Royal Palace which is impressive but not as nice as the incredible Shwenandaw Monastery, made entirely out of teak wood.

Slighlty to the north of the teak temple, climb up the Mandalay Hill to see the many halls, temples and statues, as well as enjoy great vistas on the city.

As touristy as this may sound, a boat trip at sunset on the small lake in Amarapura allows you to enjoy great and relaxing views on the world's longest Teak Bridge, the 1.2km long U Bien Bridge.

The next day, we made our way to the shore of the Ayeyarwady river to catch our ferry to Bagan. The trip is quite long (8-9 hours) but is very relaxed and an enjoyable way to see the peaceful countryside. It also brings a unique experience entering Bagan with Temples progressively popping on the shores!

Bagan is a unique sight. The best time to enjoy the temples are the dry months of January to April. The site hosts hundreds of temples and pagodas in ruins, bet visited by bicycle.

From Bagan, its quite a journey to reach the small village of Kalaw, but the trip will allow you to meet the friendliest people, and cross beautiful landscapes!

The trek from Kalaw to Inle is quite easy to organise from Kalaw, where there are quite a lot of guides organizing the treks. The trek itself is quite easy, and it follows old train trails through the beautiful countryside. Once in Kalaw, ask for Mr Moteh. Moteh is a fantastic guide of Nepali Origins (Nepalis where brought to Myanmar by the British Colonial Forces to Fight against the Japanese. Reflecting upon this while staying in a monastery in the middle of nowhere brings out the incredible and durable impact of wars). The trek crosses many villages with welcoming locals, and the arrival on the shores of Inle Lake is magical!

Inle Lake is a fantastic location to chill after the trek. The peaceful lake is beautiful, and the ancestral & graceful movement of the local fishermen sliding on the smooth water is surreal! There are little villages floating on the waters of the lake, and neatly traced paths lead the small boats through the floating "farms" like roads in a city!