Myanmar may still seem off-the-beaten-path when compared with its Southeast Asian neighbors, but you wouldn’t know it during a visit to Inle Lake. Inle Lake is—along with Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda and Bagan’s temple-strewn plane—a major draw for international travelers to Myanmar. Hemmed by lush green hillsides and picturesque villages, the placid waters of the lake are home to floating gardens, Buddhist stupas, and communities built on stilts.

Inle Lake is a place that is at once enchanting and serene, magical and breathtaking. Yet, it is also a place that elicits a wide range of impressions from visitors.  While reading online blog posts and forums, I found that people often complained about the lake’s inauthenticity. They complained about the crowds, the touts and the pushy vendors.

Still, I wanted to visit the lake for myself. Was Inle Lake the fascinating floating village that it appeared to be in photos, or was it merely a tourist trap?

Three Days in Inle Lake Myanmar

My friend and I had three days to settle into the rhythms of life along Inle Lake. Our three days in the area gave us time to explore the unique landscape of the area at our leisure. With three full days, we explored Inle Lake and its surroundings by boat, on foot, and by bicycle.

Day 1: Inle Lake Boat Tour

In light of the many blog posts lamenting the quality of boat tours around Inle Lake, I was happy to see that our hostel offered its own full-day excursion. For a slightly pricier offering of $20 including lunch, our Inle Lake itinerary promised to “cut the BS” out of its Inle Lake boat tour.

And, for the most part, it delivered.

Our Inle Lake boat tour began merely minutes after Val and I arrived in Nyaung Shwe. Still tired from our overnight bus journey, we climbed sheepishly into a boat and wrapped ourselves in blankets, while our guide led us from the village canals to the open water.

As the sun rose above the waters of the misty lake, we watched villagers tend to their gardens. We watched children float by on their way to school. We watched as mothers washed dishes and clothes at the water’s edge.

The 116 square kilometer lake is home to a large population of Intha fishermen. The Intha people are the primary inhabitants of Inle Lake. Much like the residents of Ganvie village in Benin, they have constructed a thriving above-water community. They live in stilted houses, cultivate crops in their floating gardens, row to their schools in hollow wooden boats and practice a unique leg-rowing tradition that dates back to the 12th century.

As we traversed the lake by boat, we passed silhouettes of leg-rowing fisherman that were paddling in this distinctive standing position with one foot wrapped around the paddle.

Despite the fact that Inle Lake is one of the top places to visit in Myanmar, we saw very few other tourists during our tour. We at lunch with a local family, learned to row in typical dugout canoes, meandered through floating gardens and watched people go about their daily lives on the lake–selling goods at the market, washing clothes, going to and from school.

As part of the tour, our guide brought us to a variety of handicraft stores, where we witnessed women weave scarves out of lotus flowers and children roll out leaves to make cheroot cigars. But as promised, nobody pushed us to buy anything.

It wasn’t until the very end of our ten hour tour, that I got a taste of Inle Lake’s “inauthenticity.” For despite our tour proclaiming that it had “cut the BS” out of visiting Inle Lake, our guides couldn’t quite resist including the fake fishermen into our Inle Lake itinerary.

The Inle lake fake fishermen are a group of men looking to score a few kyat by posing flamingo-style on their boats in a reenactment of traditional rowing methods.

The fishermen were fake, there was no doubt about that. Even the fish they held up to show us, had been dead for a while.

Yet, while everybody seemed to criticize the presence of the “inauthentic” fishermen, I noticed that they reached for their cameras regardless. And while I cringed at the idea of snapping photos of such a staged enactment, I found myself reaching for my camera and taking a photo, too.

Sometimes photo opportunities–even if staged– are too good to resist.

Day 2: Burmese Cooking Class and Winery Visit

After a successful boat tour around Inle Lake, we spent the following day at Nyaung Shwe’s Bamboo Delight Cooking School. With our local guide, we wandered the maze of market stalls in search of ingredients and spent the afternoon learning how to make tasty curries and salads. The Burmese cooking class was a whole day affair and culminated in one of the best feasts I’d had during my travels in Asia. The setting was intimate and homey and the food was delicious and plentiful.

In the evening, Val and I relaxed at the Red Mountian Winery with new friends we had met at our hostel.

The wine may have left a lot to be desired, but the views were A+.

Day 3: Exploring Inle Lake by Bicycle

After Val left Inle Lake to begin her journey home, I spent my remaining day on the lake exploring Inle Lake by bicycle

Following a hand drawn map provided by my hostel’s front desk, I got lost down winding roads, ate my way through bustling markets and caught glimpses of local life on the lakeshore. I saw farmers using water buffalo to plow their fields, women with wide-brimmed hats planting rice and children chasing dogs down dusty streets.

I found nothing staged or inauthentic about my surroundings during my bike ride around Inle Lake. People were merely walking to school, tending to their crops and going about their afternoon chores.

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The idyllic Inle Lake is quickly gaining popularity–much to the chagrin of travelers seeking to “get away from it all.”

But, the area really is beautiful. And, for the most part, my three day Inle Lake itinerary consisted of meandering through stilt villages and watching local life unfold. Looking back at my experience, I’m glad I booked a tour through Song of Travel Hostel. I’m glad that I was able to witness the lake’s misty waters and its floating communities. And I’m glad I took the time to explore the lake by boat, by bike and on foot.

But, most of all, I’m glad the reviews I’d read online didn’t make me shy away from spending three wonderful days in one of Myanmar’s most idyllic and fascinating places.

The post A Perfect Three Day Inle Lake Itinerary appeared first on Erika's Travels .

Bagan’s pagoda-studded landscape is a history-lover’s wonderland and a highlight of travel to Southeast Asia.

The archeological site a testament to the powerful kingdom that once presided over ancient Myanmar. Bagan’s 26 square miles seem to extend as far as the eye can see. Its towering stupas—numbering in the thousands and scattered about the Bagan plane—rise out of the dense jungle, as if piercing the sky.

Bagan isn’t exactly a household name, but it is one that should be on your radar if you’re a lover of ancient history. The archaeological is immense and awe-inspiring. It is comparable to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat and Indonesia’s Borobudur.

If you take the time to explore Bagan’s hidden treasures and revel in its sunsets, you’ll find few places in the world that can compare.

VISITING THE BAGAN TEMPLES

As we gazed upon the sea of stone spires rising above the treetops, my travel companion and I joked that we were pagoda’d out. We remarked that Myanmar would make us nonchalant about Buddhist temples in a way that Rome can make one merely shrug at the sight of a cathedral. The pagodas are simply everywhere in Bagan.

I found it difficult to believe that the structures we saw were only a fraction of those that once existed.

From the 9th to 13th centuries, the ancient city of Bagan was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom. During this time,  over 10,000 temples and pagodas littered the Bagan plane.

But earthquakes, wars and human settlement have taken their toll on some of the structures over the years.

And today, only a quarter of those—roughly 2,000—remain.

Still, Bagan’s sprawling landscape of 2,000+ pagodas leaves room for plenty of exploration.

BEST TEMPLES TO VISIT IN BAGAN

For the sake of this blog post, I wish I could remember the name of the pagoda that we visited during our first sunrise tour. Or the names of the smaller temples that we visited in the subsequent days. I know that this post would have been far more useful if it did a better job detailing the best temples to visit in Bagan.

But in my defense, providing names of places to visit in Bagan is as futile as mapping out an organized itinerary for the area.

For the real joy of traveling around Bagan comes in discovering its hidden corners and solitary viewpoints.

In fact, to my surprise, my favorite temples were the ones that weren’t even marked on the map. Temples so seemingly small and insignificant that they didn’t even have names.

But I know that’s not why you’re reading this post. I know you probably want concrete advice on travel to Bagan.

So in order to make this post more useful, I’ve listed some of Bagan’s top pagodas and temples below. General online consensus points to the following as being particularly noteworthy.

• SHWESANDAW PAGODA

The tallest pagoda in Bagan, Shwesandaw is a five-tiered structure with a large cylindrical stupa. Due to its height, the imposing Buddhist relic is visible from just about everywhere in Bagan.

• DHAMMAYANGYI TEMPLE

The largest temple in Bagan, Dhammayangyi is also one of its most interesting to visit. From a distance, its multi-tiered triangular shape resembles that of the early step pyramids in Egypt.

The best-preserved of Bagan’s temples, it features detailed mortar work in its upper levels and houses statues of the Bhudda.

• THATBYINNYU TEMPLE

One of the grandest temples in Bagan, the five story temple of Thatbyinnyu is a popular stop on Bagan itineraries. The temple was badly damaged by earthquakes in 1978 and 2016. It is currently undergoing renovations that are expected to last until 2028 or beyond.

• ANANDA TEMPLE

The Ananda Temple is among the most impressive in Bagan. Known as the “Westminster Abbey of Burma,” its architecture boasts a fusion of Indian and Mon styles.

Four Buddha statues reside within the temple, each one facing the cardinal directions of East, North, West and South.

• SULAMANI TEMPLE

Sulamani Temple suffered severe damage during the 1975 earthquake and was mostly rebuilt in 1994. The large temple houses interior frescoes that are worth seeing.

BAGAN PAGODA AND TEMPLE RESTORATION

In the 1990s, Myanmar’s military dictatorship sought to renovate the Bagan pagodas and temples in order to bring tourism to the region. The restoration efforts, however, drew criticism from art historians. Preservationists argued that the restorations paid little attention to the original architectural styles and materials of the area.

These restorations are largely why Bagan did not become a UNESCO World Heritage Site until 2019, despite its cultural, historical and architectural significance.

BAGAN SUNRISE

Witnessing a Bagan sunrise is at the top of many travelers’ bucket lists.

I watched the sunrise at Bagan during my first day in the area. It was every bit as magical as I thought it would be.

On my bike, I followed our guide through desolate streets, around sharp bends and across deep sand tracks into the heart of the Bagan Archeological Zone. The stars were still twinkling overhead and the sky was still dark when we left our hostel but, as we rode toward our destination, the inky sky began to transform.

And slowly, as the sky gave way to light shades of purple and pink, the grandeur of Bagan began to materialize before my eyes.

Our small group reached the first temple just prior to sunrise. As the sun peaked over the horizon, we witnessed the release of hot air balloons into the violet sky.

It was magical and mesmerizing. And well worth waking up in darkness to witness.

BAGAN SUNSET

Sunrises in Bagan are magical, but the sunsets are pretty special too. If you don’t feel like getting up at the crack of dawn to witness the sun emerge, they offer a compelling alternative.

As the sun sinks below the horizon, silhouettes of Bagan’s 2,000+ of temples stand out against the orangey-pink skies. Viewing the sunset is one of the top things to do in Bagan.

Most tourists will flock to Shwesandaw or Dhammayangyi for sunrise or sunset, but I suggest heading to one of  the smaller temples in the archaeological zone instead.

In addition to enjoying your surroundings crowd-free, you’ll be able to admire the larger temples from a distance as they form a silhouette against the sky.

HOW MANY DAYS SHOULD YOU SPEND IN BAGAN?

Bagan is one of the top places to visit in Myanmar. It is the main stop along the country’s golden triangle—a triad of popular tourist destinations that include Inle Lake and the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon.

Since Bagan is such a large archaeological site, it takes multiple days to fully explore. My travel companion and I spent three full days in the area. We found it to be a suitable amount of time, though I could have easily enjoyed an extra day had we had a flexible schedule.

With three days, we were able to explore both the area’s touristy sites (Shwesandaw, Sulamani, Dhammayangyi) and its secret, off-the-beaten path gems. We woke up every morning before sunrise and stayed awake past sunset.

In three days, we saw more pagodas than we ever knew existed.

But I still feel as though four days would have been ideal.

GETTING TO BAGAN

My friend and I traveled to Bagan by bus, following a day in Yangon.

There are two types of bus companies that service the route between Yangon and Bagan: the VIP buses, and the regular buses.

The VIP buses cost a bit more on average, but the small increase in price is absolutely justified.

We opted out of taking the more comfortable and slightly pricier VIP bus (a decision we later regretted) and arrived in Bagan at 5am—exhausted and sleep-deprived and ready for bed.

Though overnight buses are a convenient mode of transportation between Yangon and Bagan, they are by no means the only option. An overnight train also services the route, as do local airlines.

Flying is the easiest way of traveling between Bagan and Yangon. Flights cost roughly USD$100-150 and take just over an hour.

WHERE TO STAY IN BAGAN

Bagan consists of three main areas: Old Bagan, New Bagan, and Nyaung U

Old Bagan lies closest to the archaeological site’s temples and pagodas. It tends to be the most expensive option due to its proximity. It also has the best shopping and restaurant options. The luxurious Hotel @ Tharabar Gate is located in Old Bagan.

New Bagan was an area built to accommodate tourism in the area. It is where the majority of cheaper backpacker guesthouses can be found. It is farther from most of the popular Bagan temples, though the golden LakwaNandar Pagoda lies nearby.

During our three days in Bagan, my friend and I chose to stay at the lovely Ostello Bello. The popular Bagan backpacker hangout proved to be a terrific choice. I’m not sure if the original Ostello Bello is still around, but its sister property, the Ostello Bello Bagan Pool in New Bagan seems to be around and has great reviews.

Nyaung U is home to the Bagan airport and bus station. A host of hotels ranging from budget to luxury can be found in the area. The Bagan Cottage Boutique Hotel and Sky View Hotel are in Nyang U.

GETTING AROUND BAGAN

You can get around Bagan by e-bike or by hiring a driver for the day.

Since foreigners are banned from renting motorbikes in much of Myanmar and since taking a conventional bicycle can be challenging due to deep sand, e-bikes have stepped in as the most efficient way of getting around Bagan.

E-bike rentals are prolific in the area and cost roughly $7 per day.

While some people choose to visit Bagan’s temples by horse cart or taxi, I found e-bikes to be a hassle-free and efficient way of getting around.

BAGAN ENTRANCE FEES

Officially, the fee to enter the Bagan archeological area is 25 000 Kyats (roughly $12USD). Tickets can be purchased at the airport or at kiosks before entering the archeological zone.

BEST TIME TO VISIT BAGAN

The best time to visit Bagan is during Myanmar’s dry season, from October through March. Due to inclement weather and high winds in the off-season, the months of November to March are the only times you’ll be able to take a hot air balloon over the ruins.

We visited in February and found the weather to be great for exploration and sightseeing.

NOTE ON SAFETY IN MYANMAR

Myanmar is home to some of the kindest people I’ve ever met in my travels. I can’t think of many places I’ve visited where the hospitality can compare.

That being said, I visited the country during a period of relative peace and stability.

Today, the political landscape in Myanmar is quite different than it was a few years back. Since the military coup d’etat in February 2021, the country’s security situation has deteriorated significantly.

Though the military junta is currently issuing tourist visas, the US State Department still has the country under a Level 4: Don Not Travel advisory.

If you choose to travel to Bagan Myanmar anyway, please use caution.

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Bagan’s beauty lies in its hidden corners and small off-the-beaten-path pagodas.

As I watched the sun rise and set behind the silhouettes of nameless structures, I realized that not having the names of particular places to see hardly mattered. Visiting Bagan isn’t about checking temples off your list. It isn’t about any particular viewpoint or pagoda or Buddhist statue.

Instead, travel to Bagan is about getting lost in the maze of one of humanity’s great achievements. It is about soaking in the ensemble cast of pagodas that, together, look more awe-inspiring than just about any single structure I have ever seen.

For when seen together, the 2,000+ stone spires that speckle the Bagan plane form one of the most evocative human-engineered landscapes on Earth.

The post Visiting the Bagan Pagodas in Myanmar appeared first on Erika's Travels .

Myanmar is a land of shimmering stupas and crumbling pagodas. The country is home to ancient ruins, vibrant cities, friendly people, and beautiful nature.

Yet, despite housing some of the great attractions in Southeast Asia, the country has only recently opened its doors to international travelers. For years, Myanmar’s repressive military junta cut the country off from the rest of the world. And as a result, the Land of Golden Pagodas became a sort of black hole on the map of seasoned travelers.

But times have changed and the Burmese people—while still suffering human rights abuses at the hands of the government—are looking toward the future with newfound optimism. Today, thanks to the country’s relaxed policies and smattering of noteworthy attractions, visitors are beginning to trickle in.

For most international travelers, Yangon is the gateway to Myanmar. The cosmopolitan city is Myanmar’s commercial and artistic hub. It is vibrant, bustling, and still largely free of the tourist hoards that have descended on Southeast Asia in recent decades.

ONE DAY YANGON ITINERARY

Like most other tourists to Myanmar, I began my whirlwind Myanmar tour in Yangon—the country’s largest city and international gateway.

Since my friend and I had plans to catch an overnight bus to Bagan on the evening following our arrival in Myanmar, we only spent one day in Yangon.

However, during our short 24 hour visit to the city, we enjoyed wandering about the old town’s narrow alleyways, sampling Burmese street food and reveling in the shadow of the great Shwedagon Paya.

We found Yangon to be pleasant and walkable city. Yangon’s wide avenues are lined with leafy trees and its numerous city parks provide respite from the chaotic traffic. In its narrow alleyways, Yangon boasts an impressive mix of colonial buildings with crumbling facades that are begging to be restored.

VISIT THE SHWEDAGON PAGODA

Val and I began our Yangon itinerary at one of Myanmar’s most prominent and beloved tourist attraction—the Shwedagon Pagoda.

The Shwedagon Paya is a pinnacle around which everything in Yangon revolves. A visit to the Shwedagon Paya is one of the architectural highlights of Myanmar and, undeniably, the top thing to do in Yangon. No matter how long you are planning to spend in Yangon, visiting the pagoda is an absolute must.

Legend has it that Shwedagon Pagoda dates back 2,500 years and contains relics of past Buddhas. It is covered in hundreds of gold plates and encrusted with thousands of diamonds.

The Shwedagon Paya basks in a dazzling golden glow and can be seen towering over nearly every view of the city. Upon seeing the temple, Rudyard Kipling once wrote that a “golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon – a beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun.”

It is easy to see why. For the Shwedagon Paya is undoubtedly the highlight of the Yangon and one of Asia‘s greatest religious treasures.

Entrance to the Shwedagon Paya costs $8. Though steep for Burmese standards, visiting the pagoda is certainly worth the admission cost.

In fact, if I could go back, I would have paid the entrance fee twice: once to see the pagoda’s during the day, and once to witness its illuminated golden spires at night.

RELAX IN YANGON’S PARKS

After touring the Shwedegon Paya for much of the morning, Val and I spent the remainder of our day walking through Yangon’s pleasant lakeside parks. Within easy walking distance of the dazzling pagoda, lie People’s Park and the Kangawgyi Gardens.

We found the gardens to be a wonderful place to bring a picnic lunch and simply watch the world go by.

SAMPLE STREET FOOD IN CHINATOWN

Val and I ended our day in Myanmar with a visit to the night markets in Yangon’s Chinatown.

Chinatown lies west of the Sule Pagoda, in downtown Yangon. It is a fantastic place to sip a Myanmar beer, sample  fermented tea leaf salad, and soak in the city’s festive air.

Our visit to Myanmar coincided with Chinese New Year celebrations in Yangon. From outside the centrally located Shwe Yo Vintage Hostel, we found ourselves in the heart of the celebrations. Chinese lanterns hung above our heads, while dragon dancers and drummers filled the streets.

TRAVELING IN MYANMAR

In 2015, Myanmar voted in its first democratically elected government in more than half a century. Sanctions have lifted, censorship laws have been relaxed and people are partaking in open discussions about once-taboo topics.

The past few years have ushered in a new era for tourists, too. Myanmar’s once-impenetrable borders are opening up, tourist infrastructure is increasing, and places like Bagan and Inle Lake are becoming staples of Southeast Asia’s Banana Pancake Trail.

Yet, unlike Thailand, where foreigners are a dime a dozen, tourists in Myanmar are still somewhat of a novelty. And everywhere we went during our day in Yangon, Val and I were greeted enthusiastically by curious locals.

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Myanmar’s political and economic woes are nowhere near over. The country’s civilian-led government, which took office in March 2016, has failed to carry out significant reforms and the military still possesses an inordinate amount of power. Along the country’s western border, the Rohingya Muslims faces ethnic cleansing at the hands of the military. Nationwide, torture and rape of political prisoners is still widespread.

But the Burmese people are resilient and kind and the country is slowly moving forward into a new era of stability and openness.

With the increased ease of travel to the country, I have no doubt that tourists will continue flocking to the Land of Golden Pagodas. And if the trend continues, Myanmar will soon be another Thailand–achingly beautiful, yet largely overrun.

All I can say, is visit soon.

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