Yangon, Bagan & Inle Lake - Myanmar

31 March – 4 April 2016

Mingalarbar dari Myanmar! The only ASEAN country that requires visa for Malaysians.

Yangon surprises me. I thought it would be something like (or even worse than) Vientiane, Laos or Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Them being isolated and all. Jalan luas dan elok. Bangunan besar pun banyak. Mall mewah pun ada. Banyak parks. Tak banyak motor (motor kapcai diharamkan). Yang banyak ialah 2nd hand imported cars from Japan being made taxis yg driving on the wrong side of the road! (Jalan raya ikut style US).

Bangunan masih banyak yg rasa macam KL in the 60s-80s. Didn’t see any setinggans. Tapi… Tapi traffic jam ya gila teruk. Tapi sebab almost takde motor dan jalan luas, so tak rasa crowded dan pemandu2 sopan sabar. They had their first KFC already. So, they are opening up. (but we saw 2 Tony Roma’s!)

Kena hati2 takleh sebarangan cakap BM sebab ramai yg bekas pekerja Paparich dan Old Town. Tapi senanglah nak bertanya dan minta tolong. Ramai juga yg fluent in English, habis keluar slang American and Queen’s English. Pekedai2 tak memaksa. Layan dengan baik wpun kita tak beli. Tak rasa suffocated. Bebudak taknak terima tips/sedekah. Monk pun friendly.

I expected Myanmar to be challenging and was a bit apprehensive. I went so that I could complete my 10 ASEAN countries (1 more to go!). Now I have finally made it and discovered most of my preconceptions were wrong, and would like to declare that I like Myanmar! (at least the 3 places I went to)

Where men wear sarong and bergigi merah dek sireh, women tepek bedak tanaka (ala bedak sejuk tapi warna kuning) keluar rumah
Backpackers tak berapa tegar
The best part is we get to explore Bagan using e-bike! An electric scooter but with pedal (that we don't use at all) and without hot exhaust (which I'm afraid of). Best gila merempit up to 50km/h. Easier to handle on the sandy paths compared to bike.
Going to the top to see the 360 deg view of Bagan.
Lunch at Starbucks. Not! Star Beam Restaurant. Sedap. Sweet sour fish, Rakhine fish curry that tasted like asam pedas, and margharita pizza. Yg hijau tu green tea leafs salad yg tak kena kat tekak.
Seeing hot air balloons flying over Bagan is one of the iconic images of Myanmar. The best time to go is between Dec-Feb. You get to see the google pix on top.
We left Bagan and after another 9 hours journey on the superb JJ Bus but horrible road condition (rasa macam duduk atas kerusi urut Ogawa terlebih gegar), we arrived in a small town of Nyaungshwe. Stopover untuk explore Inle Lake esok. No more e-bike. Exploring the town on bicycle, lengkap dengan tepekan bedak Thanaka kat muka :-* We stayed at this lovely boutique hotel, The Manor Inle Hotel.
Pemandangan biasa di Inle Lake. Bukan pemancing ikan tempang kaki satu. Uniknya cara mereka, satu kaki peluk peddle mengayuh sampan, satu kaki dalam bot imbangkan badan dan dua tangan pegang jala.
At 7am we went out to the jetty and hire a boat to explore the serenely picturesque Inle Lake, famous for the unique way of life of the local Intha people, with their functioning communities based entirely on the water.
We also stop by the house of Pedaung tribe, the long neck people. Those are brass neck coil. Heavy!
Faces of Myanmar