This trip was quite hard to plan with numerous changes and it happened right after my volunteering camp. On top of that, I had been sick since mid May. Thankfully I have a wonderful travel companion who helped to book and research everything.
So we went Singapore-Yangon-Bagan-Yangon-Singapore. Bagan is the main tourist attraction in Myanmar. One of the richest archaeological sites in Asia, it is located on the east bank if Ayeyarwaddy River. The whole space is thickly studded with pagodas of all sizes and shapes. At one time there were 13,000 temples, pagodas and religious structures. Today, with only over 2,000 well-preserved pagodas and temples of the 11th - 13th century left. Surrounding all these are wonderful villages, where life goes on much as it did when the temples were at their peak, and here too, cottage crafts remain, including the making of the best lacquerware in Myanmar.
Total Damages
Yangon Hotel: S$42.38/room/night
Bagan Hotel: S$47.96/room/night
Air Tickets: S$180.92
Personal Expenses: S$275
Total: S$501.09-----------
I was still sick and Mum cooked porridge for my breakfast before I left for my trips. It was a simple affair but such unspoken love 💗!
We took the 0855 Jetstar flight to Yangon and surprisingly there were so many people flying there. It was a 3-hour flight and Myanmar is 1.5 hours behind SIN. One of the perks of backpacking (with no check-in baggage) is that you don't have to wait to collect your bags. Upon arrival, there are 3 counters near the baggage collection belts, that sell data SIM cards. We shared a 5-day plan @ 8,000 ks (S$8.90) which comes with 3GB data.
Our lunch was settled at Ya Kun Kaya Toast. You didn't read wrongly, yes it's our local favourite Ya Kun! Myanmar is still so undeveloped that there are very few food joints that have managed to enter their market. Not even Mcdonald's and Starbucks! Ya Kun opened its first outlet in Jun 2013 in Yangon and has since 5 outlets today (all in Yangon). This is definitely an achievement since KFC only entered in Jul 2015. *Proud of our Singaporean delicacy!*
We bought the tickets for the overnight bus to Bagan at one of the counters at the arrival hall (near the exit to Ya Kun). Having researched that JJ Express provides the best comfort and service (aka First Class seating), we bought the tickets at 20,000 ks (S$22.20) without hesitation. It is more expensive than other bus companies but we definitely deserve comfort for the 8 to 9 hour journey.
With some hours to spend before going to the bus terminal, we took a taxi to Inya Lake. Thinking that there would be things to keep us occupied for hours, we arranged with the taxi driver to pick us up only at 5.30pm. We lugged our backpacks and walked around Inya Lake for about an hour before walking out to the road to get another taxi to bring us to Shwedagon. But our first taxi driver spotted us! LOL. We headed towards Shwedagon but decided to go to the People's Park (just opposite) to walk instead. It's such a small park that we completed it within 15 mins. We then went to the nearby Myanmar Culture Valley, which has restaurants and souvenir shops. And guess what we saw? DAISO!!! It got us excited even though it was just a tiny shop!
Sights at Inya Lake. There is nothing much to do there, it's more of a place for sightseeing. Even the locals go there to chill, "hanky-panky" at the little sheltered booths, students sit around and engage in their small talks/fun.
There were a few interesting installations/infrastructures in People's Park. Upon entering the park, you would see some small aircrafts on the left (I didn't take pictures of those). Then there was this suspension bridge that allows visitors to get from one tree to the other.
This is the lobby of the Myanmar Culture Valley. It looks a little like our Kampung Glam in Singapore.
We felt like the driver was stalking us as he seemed to know where exactly we were without us telling him. The driver picked us up at 5.30pm. The traffic in Yangon was horrible. There were so many vehicles on the road at every part of the day. So can you imagine the peak hour traffic? We were stuck in the traffic and had very limited time for dinner. Checked in and collected our coach tickets, then we rushed off to the eatery next door. I think we only took 20 mins to order and finish our dinner. The Burmese food are just like a blend of our mixed vegetable rice and teochew porridge, where all the dishes are displayed at the stall and they serve each dish in a separate bowl/plate. It was our first Burmese meal, and surprisingly the dishes tasted really good!
Our first local dinner at only 3,000 ks (S$3.33). Safest looking dishes! LOL.
Such spacious seats with blankets provided. The seats can be reclined to a comfortable sleeping position too!
In-bus entertainment. I still enjoyed Tom & Jerry amidst the limited programs available. So old school! The last photo on the right was taken at Oasis. Doesn't it just look like a typical fruit stall you see in Malaysia? Heh.
[Pictures taken using Samsung Galaxy S5 and Oppo]
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