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a trip to burma
by andrea johnny la bella

travels, especially those that lead you far away, are often much more than just a holiday. they are journeys of the soul. the emotions, sensations and feelings they trigger are very difficult to describe on your return. pictures and stories are not enough. burma is a perfect example of this. a country that is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world and yet - or perhaps because of that - fascinating, mystical and rich of inspiration and surprises. this is a brief travel log, a personal, partial and undoubtedly incomplete account of a trip to faraway burma. it does not purport to be a tourist guide but just some notes that those who are thinking of doing a similar trip might find useful.

how to get to burma (myanmar)
one hour distance from bangkok and you are in a totally different asia. definitely not so chaotic and sparkling.

in some respects this country is less 'touristy' and therefore still true to itself. yangon (we call it rangoon) is hardly one hour away from bangkok by plane.

it is necessary to have an entry visa, which can be requested from burma's representative offices in your country or at the burmese embassy in bangkok. yangon is certainly an ideal first stop of your journey to the discovery of burma. here you can start to acclimatize to its culture and people.

hotels in yangon
the choice is wide. expect to pay from us$15 a day for a small but clean hotel up to $150 a day for a five-star hotel.

as tourists here are low in numbers, hotels are hardly ever full and so, once you are in yangon, you can pick and choose your favorite hotel after having visited a few. the taxi fare from the airport to the center of yangon was $4 for a 25-minute drive. in order to avoid unpleasant surprises, always haggle over the fare before getting on.

the city is quite spread out and hotels are located within a very large radius. i suggest you look at a map before getting to yangon, so that you can tell the taxi driver exactly where you would like to be taken. and if you do not like that hotel, come back on the street and head towards another one that is more line with your tastes and budget.

what to do in yangon
the best way to visit the local markets is on foot. personally, i love observing a city i do not know, i enjoy following its inhabitants with my eyes as they walk past and visiting the places they normally go to on their everyday routine, either to shop or to chill out.

absolutely unmissable is the shwedagon paya, a series of temples and pagodas situated very close to the city center. taxis are certainly the fastest and cheapest way to move around the city. do not forget to negotiate the taxi fare, also because they don't have a taximeter! after no more than two days spent out and about in yangon you will have a very clear picture of the city and of life in burma.

to the discovery of burma
once you have visited the capital, it is time to move towards the interior of the country. a visit to bagan is highly recommended.

the city can be reached either by plane or by a pleasant cruise along the river ayeyarwady starting from mandalay. mandalay is 650 km (400 miles) north of yangon and the best way to get there is flying. the plane ticket costs $90 each way. trains are uncomfortable, to say the least… i have noticed that lots of tourists follow this route: yangon - mandaly by plane, mandalay - bagan by boat ($16) and bagan - yangon by plain (approximately $90 each way). bangan's airport is called nyuang u and is about 6 km (3.7 miles) from the archaeological zone.

the central part of the archaeological zone is a plain approximately 100 km2 (40 sq. m.) inside which there are over 2200 temples of all sizes (from temples to pagodas). this is a highly recommended visit, together with the bike trip on the paths linking all the temples.

another important stop on the way to bagan is mandalay. the royal palace and the mandalay hill, the only high point of the city with its pagoda, are worth a visit. the easiest way to move around mandalay is, once again, the taxi. taxis here are very small; they are the traditional japanese old style taxi-van in ramshackle conditions with two-stroke engines…

there are many other destinations in burma, it depends how much time you have. always allow extra time for transfers, which require a long time also because of the poor road conditions.

on one occasion, a bus trip from yangon to bago of approximately 80 km (49 miles) lasted almost three hours! the waste of time is mainly caused by the state of disrepair of the streets. considering also how uncomfortable the buses can be, we feel authorized to advise you against using them, unless absolutely necessary.

it is advisable to buy a good guide before your trip, so you can choose the itinerary and the places to visit. services for tourists and tourist information offices are not really up to scratch.

beach time
as you might know by now, burma (myanmar) is not a very popular destination among tourists. despite this, it offers good seaside resorts from a scenic point of view. the final stop of my journey was ngpali beach, situated on the bengal gulf to the north-east of yangon, and conveniently reachable from yangon via plane for a $65 ticket each way. the airport is called thandwe and is about 4 km (3.7 miles) from the beach.

the best period to visit ngpali beach is from october to march, when there is no monsoon. the beautiful beach is over 3 km (2 miles) long and offers a choice of five hotel resorts and a couple of guesthouses. the cost of a room varies from hotel to hotel, but the price ranges between $8 and $120 a night. as far as i am concerned, i chose a bungalow on the beachfront (with all the comforts) and i paid $45 per night. so you do not have to pay necessarily the highest price to receive a high standard service and accommodation. a fish dinner in a typical restaurant in ngpali can cost up to… $5!

what do you do in ngpali beach? nothing, in perfect beach holiday style. this is the ideal place to recover from the stress of moving from one place to the other during your holiday.

the traveler's opinion after eleven days spent around burma
it is very difficult to express an opinion. traveling overland requires a lot of time and good degree of adaptability but it allows you to capture the essence of a place like this, not yet completely contaminated by tourism. a holiday like this will be totally different from what you can expect if you have visited neighboring countries such as thailand.

this is not the most beautiful place in this area of the world yet it managed to stir emotions in me i thought i had irremediably lost when visiting other far eastern countries which, unlike burma, have been irreversibly contaminated by tourism.