Overview
** Myanmar (Burma) TOURS **
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On our visit to Myanmar, we visited Rangoon Tea House.
Rangoon Tea House is a staple restaurant in Yangon frequented by locals and foreigners alike. It is a modern recreation of an old, colonial-era restaurant. The cuisine is inspired by that of local tea shops, whose traditions stretch back to when Burma was a part of British India. They pride themselves on being a celebration of the cities cultural history and culinary diversity.
They have seats near their windows which can give you a nice view of the busy Yangon streets. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to find a window seat, but got seated upstairs at a table close to some local books; which we enjoyed looking through even though we couldn’t read any of them. Their menu, however, was very user-friendly with English descriptions of their food as well as their teas.
If you have the privilege to dine at Rangoon Tea House you MUST try the Taiwanese Bao. We had the aubergine (eggplant) Bao which was extremely delicious. So good that we order a second one. Additionally, the jackfruit and Cashew Biryani, and aubergine curry were mouthwatering.
We also enjoyed a nice cup of local Myanmar Tea – Laphet Yay, which gives you a choice of sixteen flavors, all depended on your own flavor palette. For their teas, they offer you a picture menu showing exactly how much tea, milk, and condensed milk they use in each, so you can know exactly how strong or sweet your chosen tea will be.
Dining at Rangoon Tea House was truly a great way to end a busy day of walking the streets of Yangon.
Myanmar or formerly know as Burma is located in Southeast Asia. It is like no place you’ve ever seen. Upon our visit we were extremely surprised at the way they drive. The driver’s side is on the right (like UK) but they drive on the left (like in USA). The people were extremely friendly and helpful— especially our guides. Our flight was about 4 hours from Shanghai, China. We used Spring Airlines, a budget Chinese airline as they had the best flight time with no layovers.
We began our tour in Yangon which included an incredible day trip to the different sights such as the eclectic food market, National Museum and the old ports. We concluded our tour at the most revered Buddhist temple in Myanmar— the immaculate Shwedagon Pagoda.
Next we had an early morning to flight to the old capital Bagan. Bagan is know for it’s thousands of temples and stupas. Our journey began at the elevated temple Tayokye Pyay temple where we had a panoramic view of the magnificent plains of Bagan. Visiting the colorful Nyaung Oo market enriched our souls as we met some the incredible merchants. Our day was filled with temple visits and a visit to the traditional lacquer workshop.
The highlight of our trip was visiting Inle Lake. It’s an entire water village. You need to take a taxi boat to get anywhere. We had the honor of seeing the annual gold leaf Buddha parade. The village has a rich history of leg-rowing fisherman, and houses on bamboo stilts.
Make sure to bring sunscreen when in Inle Lake. You take a motorboat to your hotel and it can be very hot. Also the hot air balloons in Bagan are from October to April.
Thinking about traveling to Myanmar? Well here are some tips from my travels to Yangon, Bagan, and Mandalay.
Transportation: Definitely download the “Grab” app (their version of Uber). It’s not available in Bagan tho.
Yangon Sights: There are plenty of temples to see but the main one is the Shwedagon Pagoda. I didn’t make it out, due to sickness but my last night I went to 19th Street to eat.
Bagan Sights: Bagan is known for their many temples. Some well known ones are Ananda Temple, Dhammayangi, Dhammayazaka, and the ,…… If you plan on taking the hot air balloon ride (which I highly recommend), just be prepared to pay between $300-$400. I’ve only wanted to ride in a hot air balloon in Cappadocia and Bagan, but Bagan was double the price it was in Turkey. You can rent an motorized bike for $5 a day to get around to see the sights or higher a tuk tuk for about $20 for the day. I rented the tuk tuk because I have no sense of direction.
Mandalay Sights: Take a half day trip to Mingun to visit the Hsinbyume Pagoda. A Grab ride will cost you about $75 but the boat ride is only $3. It’ll take an hour by boat, but it’s very scenic.It leaves around 9 am (get there early to buy your ticket) and leaves promptly at 12:30. Once you arrive, the entrance fee will be another $3 and you’ll only have about 2 hours to explore the 3 Sights. The main sight is the Hsinbyume Pagoda (white Pagoda). Go there first since you probably will spend the most time there, but be prepared to be haggled. There will be kids offering to take your pictures. I ended up giving in once my tripod did not want to cooperate. I ended up paying the young guy 10,000 mmk ($6.50). The pictures turned out ok.
See the “Largest Book in the World” which is located at the Kuthodaw Pagoda. There is no actual book, but there are 729 marble slabs of Buddhist scriptures housed in individual stone caves.
One attraction I missed but would recommend is going to U Bein Bridge for sunrise. The Burmese were some of the nicest people I have ever met!
Myanmar stole my entire heart. I spent two weeks here and it is seriously an good time thatis suppppper cheap. I started out in Yangon, and went to the Shwedagon Pagoda. I went around 4:30 amd stayed till about 7pm, cause I wanted to see how the place changes color as the sun sets. You will be amazed. All major sites are free so you won’t have to worry, but dress appropriately; remember this is a Buddhist country. I had found a stray puppy while there and had him transferred to Yangon Animal Shelter. If you are looking to volunteer in a SEA animal shelter, this is a great place. They helped get my little guy adopted.
Aside from this, I also went to Inle Lake. Ok this place was hands down my favorite! You can rent a canoe for about $8 and they take to the river villages for like 5 hours. You get to see how they make iron, the long neck women, how they use lotus to weave, etc. You can even have lunch on the river. It’s amazing. I then, went to Bagan. No trip is complete with out going there. You rent an ebike for between $4-$12 and you can go riding for hours to see the various old temples/sunrise with the hot air balloons/sunset. Download mapsme to have a full map of the the best temples to climb. Finally, I headed to Ngapali beach. These beaches are so unpopulated and unspoiled. It was so nice and relaxing being there.
I live in Chiang Mai Thailand and I go to Myanmar often for visa runs or quick excursions and it’s a very inexpensive place to hangout. If you’ve ever been to south east Asia then you already have a general idea of what to expect in terms of weather and sites to see. I highly recommend Myanmar as a 2 or 3 day stop for most people because the food is good, there are temples that are full of history and the people are just as kind as you’d expect from the Asian culture.