Myanmar travel 2011
Communicating with tourists about Myanmar, I heard only the best reviews. Therefore, when I had the opportunity to visit Southeast Asia, Myanmar was also included in the trip. The Myanmar route was as follows: Yangon, Bago, Golden Stone, Inle Lake, Mandalay, Mingun, Amarapura, Bagan, Pathein, Chaunda Beach, Ngwe Saung Beach - Yangon
Yangon, the impression of a city that came a century ago, old buildings, cars and people in national clothes. The main attraction of Yangon - the Shwedagon Pagoda, is really impressive, even people who are not very interested in spiritual and religious monuments do not remain indifferent. In addition to Shwedagon, there are many other pagodas in Yangon, and even several Catholic churches.
After Yangon, we went to Bago. We took a taxi, paid $ 50 for the car, but the car was without air conditioning and very ancient, and the driver lived all the time betel and spit out the leftovers out the window. But he was good-natured, smiling, and all the way he tried to talk about the surroundings, although he did not speak English. In Bago, we were advised a hotel for foreigners, accommodation at the level of an average hostel, it was scary to think about what a hotel provides for locals.
The next day we decided to split up, two people left to inspect Bago, and two more rented a motorcycle and went to the Golden Stone. It was 90 km to go one way, according to preliminary calculations, they had to manage in a day. Golden Rock is not far from the main tourist routes of Myanmar, but the place is interesting. In general, after arriving in the city of Kyaikto, you need to transfer to a large truck, the body of which is equipped with many seats, and this car will take 45 minutes. way, there were no foreigners, so there was enough attention and smiles from the locals. After the truck, there is an hour of walking uphill, along the way you will find many cafes and souvenir shops. It is noteworthy that women are not allowed directly to the golden stone, since, according to Buddhist belief, a woman is not a pure being. The place is unusual and interesting, especially for people who have no problem walking or driving in not quite comfortable conditions.
Then the road to Bago and the bus to Inle Lake. Buses in Myanmar are a separate issue, it is only worth noting that they are consistently late for 2-3 hours, and this does not surprise any of the locals and does not cause negative emotions, in terms of comfort level, the best of them are mediocre Ikarus.
Inle Lake has the best impressions, you get to a separate planet, large settlements on the water, people are pleasant and smiling in national clothes, buffaloes swim in the canals, vegetables are grown right on the water, cigar factories, monasteries, pagodas are also here. We stayed on the lake for two incomplete days, and there was not enough time, it is better to stay here for longer, three days at least.
After Inle, a bus to Mandalay was waiting for us, again a night crossing, and we were in the former capital of Burma. To be honest, Mandalay made the most unpleasant impression of all the places in Myanmar. The sights were not particularly struck, people are not friendly and arrogant, everywhere they try to rip off foreigners three times dearly or even breed them. The same can be said about Amarapura and Mingun, which are located very close to Mandalay, an hour away. Only to Amarapura by car, and to Mingun by boat.
Bagan - a thousand temples and a thousand years of history. The place is super, especially in comparison with Mandalay. The number of temples is simply amazing, there are really thousands of them. Also, unlike Angkor Wat, they are kept in excellent condition and many of them are still in use today. Here you can watch hundreds of Myanmar pilgrims who come to Bagan from all over the country. In Bagan, as in Inle, two days are not enough, it is better to take three or more. Photo of Bagan here http://e-x. com. ua/myanmar/photo/2
Further, the beach, to be honest, when we arrived in Chaundu, we were disappointed - there are a lot of Myans on a small beach and everywhere there is black sand, which is more like black earth than sand, it seems the sea is dirty and muddy. Hotels are all expensive, and some refuse to accommodate foreigners, citing the lack of a special permit issued by the government of Myanmar to the elite. The people are rude and not friendly. We stayed in Chaund for a day, and the next day we moved along the seashore to Ngwe Saung. The road was very interesting, at first we crossed by boat, then we were picked up by a motto taxi and taken to the next crossing, while we were waiting for it, we swam in the sea with real sand. Then another boat and again a motorcycle passed through a fishing village, among palm trees and cozy huts, then a boat and then trekking for 3 hours through the hills. And finally, we are at Ngwe Saung Beach, where the picture from the bounty advertisement becomes a reality. After spending three days on the beaches, we returned to Yangon satisfied and flew to Bangkok.
