So... we only had 7 days in Myanmar. They were incredible. There were so many options of what to see but we decided to stick to the top three places: Yangon, Bagan and Inle Lake. I think we made 3 excellent choices.
We'd spoke to a few people before arriving, had some suggestions and thought we'd follow one of them up. We caught the sleeper train from Yangon to Bagan on the first night. A simple train that supposedly should take 14 hours took us a few more, 19 hours to be exact. It wasn't so simple either. It was horrific and incredible at the same time. The train was bumpy, rocky and every few seconds I thought the train was going to tip of the track. When lying down there were times when I wasn't in contact with the bed but floating above it. The challenge wasn't tryin got sleep or sit still, it was trying to pee and not miss the seat whilst squatting and being thrown left to right!! I counted the toilet visit as a success as I didn't pee on myself. This is an experience not to miss, as we saw the rural Myanmar that you couldn't see on the bus or on a tour. So we arrived to Bagan, a plain for temples, little to big. We had only a day here to see everything. We hired an E-bike, Michael on the back and off we went into the sun. Stop, explore, ride, stop, explore, ride... Another 9 hours through the night got us to Inle lake, a beautiful lake with floating villages, with long necked tribal people, silver, silk and cigar factories amongst them. Also, whislt in Inle Lake we were sat having lunch in a 'hole in the whole' local restaurant and we get talking to a Monk that is not only a football fan but a Liverpool supporter stating his love for Steven Gerrard and that's where I lost Michael to a man.
Myanmar is a unique place to visit, little amount of tourists, friendly English speaking Burmese people and great food. It is easy to visit and travel around, don't be fooled by the internet and guidebooks. But for sure you'll need a lot of money, it's Expensive!
Peace, Jay
