Myanmar (Burma)

A Day in Mandalay: Mahamuni Paya, Mandalay Hill, U Bein Bridge (Amarapura) & Sagaing Hill

Posted on January 27, 2012

Sutaungpyei Pagoda at Mandalay Hill provides expansive views of the city, including the old palace and moat  Arriving at 3:30 AM on a bus from Bagan to Mandalay – it’s streets dark, quiet and obviously abandoned – can be pretty unnerving especially right after the guidebook reveals to you that this booming city in northern Myanmar owes its burgeoning economy to the “red, green and white trades” – that’s rubies, jade and heroine. On the other hand, the last-minute readRead More→

Temples of Bagan: Myanmar’s Stupa-fying Heritage

Posted on November 25, 2011

Panorama of Temples of Bagan, Myanmar (Burma) on CleVR.com It was 4:00 AM when we reached the township of Nyaung U, gateway to the Bagan Temples. As with the most part of our 11-hour bus ride from the capital of Yangon, it was pitch black here. The inn we visited would be charging us for a night’s stay if we checked in before sunrise, so we decided to watch the day break from a vantage point first, as one ofRead More→

Inle Lake: Myanmar’s Aquatic Shangri-la

Posted on October 5, 2011

Wooden footbridge at Maing Thauk Mrs. Soe, the motherly owner of Queen Inn, sent us off on a day tour – as with most Burmese we encountered in our journey – with the warmest congeniality matched with a familial smile at the wooden dock next to the guesthouse along the river canal that led away from the township of Nyaung Shwe. My friends and I were on a week-long backpacking trip, racing around Myanmar’s so-called “Big Four”: the tourist hotspotsRead More→

Burma Basics: Big Four in Seven Days – An Itinerary

Posted on July 13, 2011

Taking advantage of overnight trip aboard private buses, this packed itinerary will reward you with the best sights around Burma’s ‘Big Four’ – Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake – in only a week. Yangon and Mandalay can each be explored in a day, so we spent more time in Bagan and Inle Lake which is best enjoyed when you take your time. We didn’t want to spend a night in Yangon so we booked the bus for Bagan daysRead More→

Burma Basics: Visa Application, Money Matters & Getting There

Posted on July 12, 2011

Sule Paya glows behind the gloomy atmosphere in central Yangon (Rangoon) IS IT ETHICAL TO VISIT BURMA? Read up on Lonely Planet’s free chapter to help you decide. VISA MATTERS: Filipinos need a visa to visit Myanmar. Visit the embassy: 8th Floor, Gervasia Corporation Centre, 152 Amorsolo Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City. Tel. Nos.: +632 893-1944 or +632 812-3644. Requirements: application form (get hard copy from the embassy), 2 hardcopy passport photos (white background), 1 CD containing a soft copyRead More→