Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar
Okay this post look familiar? Its basically an update to this Myanmar Itinerary post! Learning from my mistakes to help you!
So I left Myanmar around two weeks ago. I didn’t exactly go far as I’m currently sat only around 15km from the border. However the last two weeks have given me plenty of time to think through my trip to Myanmar and how I would change it if I visited again. Below I have outlined an itinerary that gives you a brilliant overview of Myanmar in 28 days. It mixes the touristy places like Bagan with more off the beaten track options like Hsipaw and Hpa-an. It scales the county from north to south and east to west giving you a flavour of everything the country has to offer. From the cool air of the Shan plateau to the subtropical south east, hardly any stones are left unturned. I have also added links to the relevant blog posts from each place too to hopefully make it easy for you to make your own decisions.
I must warn that this itinerary is not for everyone as there is quite a bit of travel involved but the majority of the journeys are less 8hrs which by South East asia standards is pretty good going.
Day 1 – Arrive in Myanmar on the Evening flight to Yangon
Day 2 – Yangon (Explore Streets/Bogyoke Market)
Day 3 – Yangon (Shwedagon Paya sunset)
Day 4 – Yangon (Overnight bus to Mandalay)
Day 5 – Mandalay (Motorbike tour of main sites/Amarapura sunset)
Day 6 – Mandalay (Morning trip to Mingun to visit Pagoda)
Day 7 – Pyin Oo Lwin (Pick-up bus from Mandalay)
Day 8 – Pyin Oo Lwin
Day 9 – Hispaw (Train from Pyin Oo Lwin, to see viaduct)
Day 10 – Hispaw (Trek to local villages)
Day 11 – Mandalay (Explore Streets)
Day 12 – Bagan (Via Bus from Mandalay)
Day 13 – Bagan (Explore by horse cart)
Day 14 – Bagan (Explore more remote temples on bicycle)
Day 15 – Inle (Bus to Inle 6am)
Day 16 – Inle (Explore lake and surrounding area by boat)
Day 17 – Inle (Explore Nyaungshwe/Hire bike to ride out into countryside)
Day 18 – Inle (Yangon overnight bus)
Day 19 – Mt Kyaiktiyo (train to Golden rock, stay night at top)
Day 20 – Moulmein (bus from Mt Kyaiktiyo)
Day 21 – Moulmein (Explore Ogre Island)
Day 22 – Moulmein (Explore Ogre Island)
Day 23 – Moulmein (Explore Moulemein)
Day 24 – Hpa-an (Explore surrounding countryside)
Day 25 – Hpa-an (Explore market area/streets of Hpa-an)
Day 26 – Hpa-an (bus to Yangon)
Day 27 – Bago (Temples)
Day 28 – Yangon (Relax)
Day 29 – Leave Myanmar on morning flight to Bangkok
Street Vendor, Yangon, Myanamr
There are other options you can add to this itinerary as well. The one I would have been most interested in was Mrauk U in the north west of Myanmar, however it is a five day round trip which can only be reached by flight to sittwe and then a boat to Mrauk U. The cost and time implications meant I chose not to go this time round but speaking to travellers who visited, they said it was definately worth it. Electricity and internet is still very much a luxury in Myanmar so don’t make definate plans to contact home/work/clients etc and any internet you do find is likely to be slower than dial-up (I spent more time cursing than surfing I think!)
Hopefully this post will be of some use to people planning on visiting Myanmar and if you do end up visiting please let me know how it goes it! I love reading everyones stories too!
Note: I would advise everyone planning to travel to Myanmar to read up it’s turbulent past and to also stay up to date with current affairs as the situation can deteriorate quickly. The best sources for non-censored news are the Democratic Voice of Burma and The Irrawaddy.
