Myanmar

Travel Tips To Myanmar, is located in the western portion of mainland Southeast Asia. This is a least visited country like Laos, hundred of thousand Myanmar came here to work but maybe less than 0.5% Malaysian travel there. We usually go to more advance countries like China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Europe, didn’t even think of going Myanmar, last on the list, perhaps. Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a in Southeast Asia nation with more than 100 ethnic groups, bordering India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand, Myanmar population at 54 millions(2019) with area of 676,533 sq.km and their currency Burmese Kyats. Rm 1 equivalent to almost 400 Kyats.  Its capital city is Naypyidaw, and its largest city is Yangon If you come here please bring Cash cause they don’t accept card. I even went up to a 5 star hotel also they don’t have a card machine.

Myanmar is just about 4 hours flight from KL

I went there in 2012 with my wife, it’s a country full of Pagoda’s, more than 1479 of them. The most famous and biggest being Shwedagon Pagoda also known as the Great Dagon Pagoda or the Golden Pagoda,  is a gilded stupa located in Yangon. It is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in the Thuwanabumi, Southpart of Myanmar, as it is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa. Built on the 51-metre (167 ft) high Singuttara Hill, the 112 m (367 ft) tall pagoda stands 170 m (560 ft) above sea level, Shwedagon Pagoda was constructed more than 2,600 years ago, which would make it the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world. The story goes that two merchant brothers Tapussa and Bhallika met  the Gautama Buddha during his lifetime and received eight strands of the Buddha’s hairs. The brothers presented the eight strands of hair to King Okkalapa of Dagon who enshrined the strands along with some relics of the three preceding Buddhas of the Gautama Buddha in a stupa on the Singuttara Hill in present-day Myanmar.

Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon Pagoda entrance fee: $6.5 Shwedagon Pagoda opening hours: 4am – 10pm

Shwedagon Pagoda the biggest and most fame in Yangon by night, there are thousand of pagoda everywhere

The temperatures in Yangon are quite high year-round (average is 33 degrees C). However, the rainy season and the dry season are two seasons that may affect your travel plans . If you want to avoid heavy rains, then you should definitely skip the months June, July and August. The advantage of visiting Yangon during the rainy season is that there are almost no tourists around. Beside Shwedagon Pagoda, the second famous is Sule Pagoda is 44 m high and it is topped with an ornamental element shaped as an umbrella. The pagoda is surrounded by a circular building with shops where services of astrology and palmistry are offered.

Sule Pagoda entrance fee: $3 Sule Pagoda opening hours: 6am – 10pm

A reclining buddha beside the Shwedagon pagoda

Kandawgyi Lake

This is the Karaweik Palace boat restaurant at Kandawgyi Lake in Yangon, taken during sunset

Kandawgyi Lake is one of the biggest lakes in Yangon. This artificial lake was built by the British as a supply of fresh water for Yangon. Here you can admire the Karaweik Hall which looks like a huge golden boat from the distance. The hall is actually a concrete building with two enormous golden birds and an ornate roof.

The Karaweik Hall or Karaweik Palace is one of Yangon’s many landmarks. From far the Karaweik Hall looks like a huge golden barge floating on Kandawgyi Lake, glittering in the sun. After dark the Karaweik barge is lit up in spotlights, the golden stupa reflecting in the water of Lake Kandawgyi. Visitors can enjoy an extensive buffet, a selection of Chinese, Burmese and Western food while watching a variety of traditional Burmese entertainment inside here

You would find many of these buddha everywhere you go plus many pagoda

Visiting a local market is a great way to explore more of Myanmar’s culture. Here you will find a wide variety of local products, souvenirs, clothes and food. With more than 2000 shops, Bogyoke Aung San Market has everything you can wish for!

You can also buy some tailor-made clothes, this market is perfect! Just head at the second floor and you’ll find a wide selection of tailors and garments. If you’re feeling hungry, just choose from the many stalls at the ground floor and discover new tastes while eating with locals

Feeding many seagull at Yangon port with the seeds I bought
Pretending to be local wearing their sarong at Chinatown. behind is the stall that sell offerings to buddha along with flowers

Their Chinatown sell all kinds of vegies, food, offer to god items and I notice quite a number of goldsmith shop. Somethings funny is all their goldsmith shop have not even one security guard with guns or stick. There is like no robbery here, when I ask my local friend, he says that if someone robs the shop keeper shout, other pedestrian would run and catch the thieve, beaten to death (sort off). Their is no cage or barrier and those gold neckless just hang on the overhead pipe as if it is not an expensive item.

The immigration policy of Myanmar currently states that there are no foreign nationals who can enter Burma without a visa. … This eVisa allow holders to visit Myanmar for purposes of either tourism or business. The period of permitted period of stay is 28 days for tourism, or 70 days for business. Planning to go there check here 12go.asia

As of 1st February 2021, Myanmar’s military staged a coup d’etat after the National League for Democracy (NLD) party won the election for the second time. Senior members of the party, including Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, were detained in the capital, Naypyidaw. Tanks are on the streets, and lines of communication across the country are down. Civilians are being murdered every day. 
This is not the time to travel to Myanmar when the country is in a state of emergency with civil unrest and armed conflict.