My Myanmar trip - part 1
Just came back from my Myanmar trip. It's an interesting experience and generally a pleasant one, except for my stolen money from my baggage. I especially enjoyed my stay over at Nyaugshwe, Inle Lake. 3 of us went for this trip, my cousin, CH, and his gf Jas.
Here's a review of my trip:
Day 1
We took Jetstar Asia and left Sp ard 830am. The time in Myanmar is slower by 1.5 hr. We reached there abt 10 plus 11am. Initially, we wanted to book the internal flight to Heho thru internet, however the airline company did not reply. So looks like we have to stay one night in Yangon before going to Heho. I was surprised the JSA offered meals in this flight, always thought these budget airlines will not include meals. Anyway, I had my breakfast in the airport, MacD, so was too full to eat.
The myanmar airport has basic ammentities. And I was surprised that the toilet actually has automated taps....hmmmm so high tech...but we waited quite some time for the luggage. Anyway, we managed to buy the tickets of air bagan from the airport. There's a booth by Myanmar tourism. They also had free tourist maps that are comprehensive. The ticket costs USD68 for one way to Heho. It's an hour ride. It's the fastest way compared to bus ride that will take 10hrs but much cheaper. We don't really have much choice for a 5d trip, although we did think of going by bus, coming back by plane. The staff, Jacki and Sarah also introduced a money changer to us. The rate is 1USD to 1150Kyats. Although this rate was lower than what we found in internet, should be about 1200 to 1300Kyats, we decided to accept it, and changed USD100...this should be enough to last us for the trip.
The domestic flight departs at 2.30pm, so we will check in 1.30pm. With only 2 hrs break, we decided to have our lunch outside the airport as directed by the staff. They recommended a restaurant outside the domestic airport. We had boiled noodles soup, and fried rice and some tea. At first, we were puzzled why the waiter brought 2 tea and 3 chinese tea(that we did not order). We wondered if there's a way to drink, to drink tea first then chinese tea or what? Until we observed that the locals also had 2 cups of tea, then we realised that this chinese tea was like their plain water, free of charge. Oh.... haha different culture.
The domestic airport had a HUGE weighing machine for the luggages. This was the first time I see such a thing. We also saw other tourists while waiting, mainly Ang Mohs. The Air bagan flt is a twin propeller aircraft, ATR24 or 27 if I did not remember wrongly. We had light meals on it(the fish were very salty, unless you took it together with the pasta. Still it was quite tasty. The desert was something like noya queh). It was quite a small plane and because of the weather, some turbulence was felt along the way. It took about 1hr or so to reach Heho. The weather in Heho was nice and cool. We followed the locals walk out of the airport to take taxi. We tried to bargain when the taxi driver leader wanted to charge us USD20 to Nyaugshwe, which was 30min ride, but because of the monopoly, there was no way to bargain and we really needed the taxi.
At first, we asked the driver to send us to Aquarius Inn, one of the guesthouses recommended by others, but that there was no vacancy. So we went to the next better choice, four sisters inn. The rooms are nice and clean too. This inn was managed by 4 sisters as the name suggested. However, the 3rd and 4th sisters were married to Holland and Germany, so only 2 sisters were around.
After leaving our baggage in our room, we went out to look around this small town. The myanmese are generally very nice and friendly. You will see lots of smiles and hear lots of hello on the streets. We came back to have our dinner at the Inn. There was no menu, interesting. But the meal was not bad, though it was a bit too salty for some dishes. There were lots of vegetables and one dish with pork, pineapples were served as fruits(quite sweet). Myanmar was not a carnivore's place definitely. We played with the little girl and talked to the Big sister. She would help us arrange for the boat ride and the trek. Though it would certainly cost more, we just let her earn the extras, since we quite like here.
Some photos here in this link:
http://dolphymanta.multiply.com/photos/album/28
Here's a review of my trip:
Day 1
We took Jetstar Asia and left Sp ard 830am. The time in Myanmar is slower by 1.5 hr. We reached there abt 10 plus 11am. Initially, we wanted to book the internal flight to Heho thru internet, however the airline company did not reply. So looks like we have to stay one night in Yangon before going to Heho. I was surprised the JSA offered meals in this flight, always thought these budget airlines will not include meals. Anyway, I had my breakfast in the airport, MacD, so was too full to eat.
The myanmar airport has basic ammentities. And I was surprised that the toilet actually has automated taps....hmmmm so high tech...but we waited quite some time for the luggage. Anyway, we managed to buy the tickets of air bagan from the airport. There's a booth by Myanmar tourism. They also had free tourist maps that are comprehensive. The ticket costs USD68 for one way to Heho. It's an hour ride. It's the fastest way compared to bus ride that will take 10hrs but much cheaper. We don't really have much choice for a 5d trip, although we did think of going by bus, coming back by plane. The staff, Jacki and Sarah also introduced a money changer to us. The rate is 1USD to 1150Kyats. Although this rate was lower than what we found in internet, should be about 1200 to 1300Kyats, we decided to accept it, and changed USD100...this should be enough to last us for the trip.
The domestic flight departs at 2.30pm, so we will check in 1.30pm. With only 2 hrs break, we decided to have our lunch outside the airport as directed by the staff. They recommended a restaurant outside the domestic airport. We had boiled noodles soup, and fried rice and some tea. At first, we were puzzled why the waiter brought 2 tea and 3 chinese tea(that we did not order). We wondered if there's a way to drink, to drink tea first then chinese tea or what? Until we observed that the locals also had 2 cups of tea, then we realised that this chinese tea was like their plain water, free of charge. Oh.... haha different culture.
The domestic airport had a HUGE weighing machine for the luggages. This was the first time I see such a thing. We also saw other tourists while waiting, mainly Ang Mohs. The Air bagan flt is a twin propeller aircraft, ATR24 or 27 if I did not remember wrongly. We had light meals on it(the fish were very salty, unless you took it together with the pasta. Still it was quite tasty. The desert was something like noya queh). It was quite a small plane and because of the weather, some turbulence was felt along the way. It took about 1hr or so to reach Heho. The weather in Heho was nice and cool. We followed the locals walk out of the airport to take taxi. We tried to bargain when the taxi driver leader wanted to charge us USD20 to Nyaugshwe, which was 30min ride, but because of the monopoly, there was no way to bargain and we really needed the taxi.
At first, we asked the driver to send us to Aquarius Inn, one of the guesthouses recommended by others, but that there was no vacancy. So we went to the next better choice, four sisters inn. The rooms are nice and clean too. This inn was managed by 4 sisters as the name suggested. However, the 3rd and 4th sisters were married to Holland and Germany, so only 2 sisters were around.
After leaving our baggage in our room, we went out to look around this small town. The myanmese are generally very nice and friendly. You will see lots of smiles and hear lots of hello on the streets. We came back to have our dinner at the Inn. There was no menu, interesting. But the meal was not bad, though it was a bit too salty for some dishes. There were lots of vegetables and one dish with pork, pineapples were served as fruits(quite sweet). Myanmar was not a carnivore's place definitely. We played with the little girl and talked to the Big sister. She would help us arrange for the boat ride and the trek. Though it would certainly cost more, we just let her earn the extras, since we quite like here.
Some photos here in this link:
http://dolphymanta.multiply.com/photos/album/28
posted by dolphy at 12:37 AM
3 Comments:
Hey what a great site keep up the work its excellent.
»
Very pretty design! Keep up the good work. Thanks.
»
Jetstar serves food on Yangon flights cos its Code sharing with MAI airways.
Anyway, I've always regard Jetstar as a better budget carrier as compared to others.
: )
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