Mingun – a stone temple split by lightening, lies beside the tranquil Ayerarwady River

Great Reasons to Visit Myanmar

Despite the various difficulties and downsides of traveling through Myanmar, the country does have many great things to see and experience. Myanmar boasts two unique-to-the-world, must-see attractions, several slightly less-known attractions, and many traditional lifestyles and customs that you won’t see anywhere else in the world.

If you can put up with the various difficulties, I reckon Myanmar is certainly worth a visit, once at least. Here’s what you’ll get:

Great Attractions

Schwedagon Pagoda

Schwedagon Pagoda

Located in the capital city, Yangon, the country’s most important, holy and famous temple is truly awe inspiring.

Four long covered stairways lead steeply up to Schwedagon Paya’s main temple platform area. As soon as you step inside any of these entryways, an inexplicable magical sensation strikes you. This curious and alluring ambiance stays with you as long as you’re within the holy temple grounds. I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since.

At the top, around the large, open-aired temple platform you’ll be awed by the massive main stupa, entirely gilded in real gold sheets. You’ll be amazed at the incredibly intricate decorative wood trimmings, sculpted gold decore and serene atmosphere as worshipers slowly and silently circle the platform surrounding the main stupa.

Schwedagon is most definitely worth a half-day or even whole-day visit to bask in its distinctive aura and marvel at its beautiful architecture.

Bagan

Bagan

Located in western central Myanmar, Bagan is a region featuring over 4000 ancient temples scattered around miles and miles of scrubby plains. Bagan is one of three ‘ancient temple wonders’ in Asia. The other two are Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Borobudur Temple in Java, Indonesia.

Amazingly, each temple in Bagan has a slightly different architecture from the others. Pedaling around from temple to temple, you’ll continually find new architectural features amidst the scattered temple ruins. Alternately, you can be shuttled around by horse n cart, a unique and less strenuous way to visit Bagan’s many temples.

Bagan also has (or at least used to in 2000) an amazing old-world feeling about it, an area lost in time. Very few motorized vehicles ply the empty roads or disturb the silence of nature. People get around by walking, bicycling or riding horse n cart ‘taxis’. A world devoid of motorized traffic is a unique experience in itself.

U Bein’s Bridge – Mandalay – Myanmar

Lesser Known Attractions:

Myanmar boasts many interesting, unique attractions and special temples spread out around the country. Here are my favorites.

U-Bein’s Bridge

The world’s longest teak wood bridge spans a large, shallow lake just seven km south of Mandalay city. It’s strictly a pedestrian bridge, no motorized vehicles allowed. Enjoy stunning views from the bridge wrapped in the silence & serenity of nature.

Kyakyo

Myanmar’s amazingly perched ‘Golden Rock’ is a giant boulder covered entirely in gold leaf. It balances precariously right on the brink of a sheer cliff. Located several hours south of Yangon.

Gokteik Bridge & Gorge

Gokteik Gorge Bridge

Gokteik Gorge suddenly plunges from the high Shan Plateau a few hours west of Mandalay. The British built a steel railroad bridge across the span in the mid 1800s. At the time it was the world’s highest bridge.

Take an amazing journey on the old British passenger train across the gorge on a day or half day trip between towns on the Shan Plateau and/or Mandalay. This train is still used as transportatin by locals, so you’ll be immersed in the real Myanmar.

Mingun

This massive rectangular stone temple, split by a lightening bolt a few centuries ago, rests beside the languid Ayerarwady River, less than one hour north of Mandalay.

house boat sails along the wide Ayerarwady River – Myanmar

Stunning Scenery

Most of Myanmar has a distinctly different climate from other SE Asian countries. Specifically, it’s much more arid. It’s hotter in May and June than neighboring countries and colder in winter months. That, in turn, means trees and other vegetation are distinctly different as well.

Myanmar has vast scrubby plains, hilly plateaus, large lakes, long flowing rivers, beaches and mountains. They’re all quite stunning.

But do keep in mind that accessing Myanmar’s varied & beautiful scenery will most probably involve long, tiring travel on rough roads, train lines or rivers.

cow herders near HsiPaw town on the Shan Plateau

Traditional Culture and Lifestyle

The modern world of electronics, mobile phones, LCD TVs, internet and motorcycles has recently invaded Myanmar, making it’s towns & cities very much like any other SE Asian country and greatly diluting its once ‘out of this world’ ambiance.

Despite that, much traditional Burmese lifestyle and customs still continue, even in Myanmar’s major cities. In more remote, off the track locations you can still find people living as if in the 1800s.

Nowadays, you’ll be hard-pressed to find most of these traditions in any other countries. So if you’re looking for old traditional customs or pre-modern lifestyles, Myanmar is a great place to visit.

You’ll see oxen pulling carts, and for that matter, even men pulling carts by hand. You’ll see many locals sporting the unique and curious Burmese face ‘make up’, and most men still wearing longyis (sarongs / skirts to western eyes) rather than pants. People shower in public, at city street intersections or in rivers. Many other surprsing scenes await your discovery.

In rural areas of Myanmar, people still live in small thatched houses, fetch drinking water from rivers or wells by hand, and use manual labor for farming and most other daily needs. The list goes on.

Le Pe – tea leaf salad

Great traditional foods

Myanmar is actually a huge melting pot of people from many different cultures. There are Burmese, Thai, Chinese, Indian and Nepali as well as various tribal people such as the Shan and Kachin.

As a result, many diverse cuisines are served up around the country. Indian restaurants are common in Yangon. Burmese, Chinese cuisines and various noodle soups are served all over the country. Shan food is readily available in Mandalay and northern areas.

Check out my recommendations: Five Great Traditional Foods to Try in Myanmar. (coming next week)

Indian Burmese I met on a train who were so excited to meet a tourist

Genuine surprise and excitement at seeing tourists

At most places in Myanmar, aside from Yangon, locals are still slightly surprised and excited at seeing tourists. They stare in wonder. They shout ‘hello’ or ‘bye bye’ shyly as you pass by.

They’re overwhelmingly delighted if you utter so much as one Burmese word such as ‘mingalaba’ – hello. If you can speak more Burmese than that, they’ll giggle in delight and excitedly announce to all around that you actually asked the price or said thank you.

They also love to have their photos taken, often requesting it if they see you with a camera. They’re not looking for money in return. They’re just excited to be the center of attention and to see their image on the camera screen.

local Burmese girl

Great Service

Aside from Yangon, among most  tourist services, such as guest houses and hotels, airports and travel agencies, most staff are excited and eager to please visitors to their country. They come out to greet you, welcome you heartily, help carry bags, use very welcoming gestures, and do it all with somewhat shiny eyes. (Anywhere outside Yangon, that is.)

This kind of genuinely happy reception and fresh service is hard to come by in SE Asia these days, where most locals in the long-standing SE Asian tourist industry are often fed up with westerners, or at a minimal, nonplussed by tourists’ presence.

Summary: 

No matter where you go or what you do in Myanmar, you’re sure to find new experiences, out-of-this-world scenes and enjoyable interactions with locals. It is most definitely an interesting country to visit.

For more information on Myanmar, check out my other posts:

 Travel to Myanmar Update 2013

Guide to Arriving in Mandalay, Update 2013

Myanmar Now & Then: 2001 and 2013

Downsides of Visiting Myanmar

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