10 most famous tourist destinations in Myanmar

Myanmar (or Burma) is the sacred land of Buddhist with gold temples, monks and ancient monasteries and a lot of beautiful natural landscapes.

 

Myanmar is not only the pilgrimage land of the Buddha’s disciples but also hides a lot of exciting things for people who like adventure, discovery. Here, Huong Viet Travel introduce 10 unique tourist destination in Myanmar. Don’t forget to visit this beautiful country!

1. Swedagon Golden Temple (Yangon)

This is a golden symbol of Myanmar, the temple is 2500 years old, its legend was born before the Buddha died. Swedagon tower is 98m high and many smaller towers are around where save many sacred treasures of Buddhism. Although there are a lot of wars and calamity, Swedagon is still one of the largest temples in the world.

2. Golden Rock (Mon State)

It’s more than 200km far from Yangon, Golden Rock’s at an altitude of 1,100 m, with little pagodas Kyaiktyo create a relic unique. Golden Rock is famous by the protruding and gold surfaces. If you want to go on the Kyaiktiyo temple, you sure have to pass Golden Rock. However, only men can approach Golden Rock, women could only remote viewing .

3. Shwezigon Golden Temple (Bagan)

Located in Bagan (capital of the ancient Pagan kingdom where focused thousands of big and small temples). Shwezigon Golden temple that is the second largest In Myanmar, was built in the 12th century

4. Shwesandaw Temple (Bagan)

In Bagan, you should come to Shwesandaw every sunset to watch the sunset. Standing from here, you can see the legend Bagan lands with thousands of large and small temples, towers. It’s really very impressive

5. Ananda Temple (Bagan)

Also located in Bagan, Ananda is built in the 11-12 centuries. This is a testament about the golden age of the Bagan kingdom with the reign of the great king Tilinman. Ananda has unique architecture, unlike the two famous Golden temple above, and also unlike temples or towers in the Bagan area.

6. Mahamuni Temple (Mandalay)

Mandalay is Burma’s capital, where have a lot of temples and the monk. Mahamuni Temple that is a gold symbol of Mandalay, was built in the 18th century. There are a 4m high statue, weighing is 6.5 tonnes and was plated gold layer 15cm thick – so annual the Buddhist devotees still come here to dedicate and continue platinize the statues.

7. Inhwa Village (Mandalay)

Inwa is a beautiful little village beside Ayeyarwady River. This ancient village is famous tourist destination with multiple heritages as Bagaya Kyaung monastery was built by 267 teak pillars or Nanmyin leaning tower that is 27m high …

8. Mingun village (Mandalay)

Mingun there are many monuments and landscapes but the most prominent is the Mingun bell and sometimes people object Chinthe are considered treasures. Chinthe (mascot half lion half dragon) is a pair of giant statues standing guard by the river bank. But stupa Mingun gives the opposite feeling overwhelmed, orange brick block striking blue sky lofty.

9. Ubein Bridge (Mandalay)

Ubein Bridge that is in Amarapura ancient village, is the longest teak bridge in the world (1.2 km). Wooden bridge was almost 200 years old. The way that Amarapura Villagers comeback home, was the pilgrims path of the monks who wore long robes … From U Bein Bridge, sunset was brilliant and impressive that any visitor will remember if they have ever seen

10. Inle Lake (Shan)

Inle Lake is about 11km wide, stretches 22 km from north to south. When you have adventure tour or sightseeing tour to the lake, you will experience many emotions: going through the floating house, the boat, the fisherman who wear traditional dress Longiy, sailing as artists ….

Myanmar Tours 2013: 11 things that you haven’t known

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Anatomy of a Burmese Teashop – Myanmar

As England is to pubs, Myanmar (Burma) is to tea shops. You’ll find them everywhere, sometimes lined up one after another, with their little plastic stools and small tables spilling out onto the sidewalks and into the streets.

Soe Than, prepping puri for breakfast at Shwe Ya Minn.

Let me introduce you to one of my favorites, Shwe Ya Minn tea shop. Located on the market block of the small “hill station” town of Kalaw (Shan State), it might be tough to spot without a readily visible English sign. Instead, you’ll have to look for the crowds.

Shwe Ya Minn tea shop. Kalaw, Shan State, Myanmar (Burma)

Although open all day, often from 6am until 10pm, the busiest times are early in the morning for breakfast, and in the evenings when they move an LCD TV from inside and onto a wall outside. In the early morning and later in the evening, there can be more than a dozen tables around, and in between, it’ll shrink to half of that.

The shop is owned by Hla Shwe and his family and they have been in business for 3 years. Thirty-nine year old Hla Shwe manages the shop, while his father, Melit, handles the money from behind a makeshift counter. A staff of kids on summer vacation run around taking care of the rest.

Standard money management for a business in Myanmar (Burma)

Stickers from the NLD party in Myanmar (Burma). Something that you likely wouldn’t see even a few years ago.

For breakfast, you’ll often see them frying an assortment of sweet pastries like naan with sugar, puri, samosa, and char kway. You’ll have to get there early though, as they stop frying by 8am, and after that you’ll be out of luck besides the left over samosa and cha quay they keep in a case.

When you sit down, you can help yourself to tea (free). If you don’t find a thermos of tea on the table, you can be sure that one will be brought to you shortly. People often pour a small amount into the cups provided, swish it around to wash, then toss the liquid onto the street. You may also want to wipe it down with a piece of tissue as well, which you’ll find in a plastic container, rolled up like toilet paper.

Not far behind that, there will be samosa and char kway delivered to your table. The samosas are typically made with vegetable or potato inside and cost 100k (~$0.10). Char kway, also only 100k, are U-shaped fried dough that are often dipped into the tea served with condensed milk (laphet-yeh). Whether you choose to eat them of not, they’ll be brought to our table. You just pay for what you eat when you leave.

Char kway and samosa, cheap eats for breakfast in Myanmar (Burma)

Puri is my breakfast of choice at Shwe Ya Minn. Three puri bread with a side of potato curry and a side of spicy tomato purry will set you back 300 kyat (~$0.35).

Tissue rolls for cleanup, and you might need them after eating a greasy pastry or two.

My favorite breakfast is puri. It’s a light, fried bread that puffs up to look like a soft UFO. It comes served with both a side of potato curry and a side of tomato puree mixed with chilly to enjoy with. It’s one of those things that when it’s good, it’s great… and at Shwe Ya Minn, it’s great. A plate including three puri will cost you a cool 300 kyat (~$0.35), making it a fantastic deal.

After 8am when things quiet down, fried noodles, basic rice dishes, and soups can be had for 500kyat to 1000kyat (~$0.50-$1.00).

Of course, being a tea shop there will be plenty of tea options for you. The most popular is “laphet-yeh” (200kyat, ~$0.20) which is the tea mixed with condensed milk. Perhaps it’s the sweetness that does it, as I know more than a few travelers that can’t get enough of this and can’t wait to try to make it at home themselves. Coffee and also “coffee-mix” (brand name packets of milk powder & sugar) are also available to be had. If you’re like me and not into coffee or tea, no problem. Bottled water and soft drinks are on hand to quench the thirst and keep dehydration at bay.

Laphet-yeh step one with “tea master” Mg Naing: condensed milk

Down to a science. Tea master Mg Naing churns out glasses of laphet-yeh with fluidity and style.

Interestingly enough, single cigarettes are 50kyat each (~$0.05), and communal lighters are attached to poles by rubber bands around the shop. Not my scene, but popular with the locals.

Cigarettes by the single. Shwe Ya Minn tea shop in Kalaw (Shan State)

Lighter on a leash.

To attract attention, you’ll often hear a “kissing sound.” After all of these months spent in the country, I still haven’t been brave enough to add it to my repertoire, but in my experience, the Burmese love it when travelers try it out. If you’re feeling bold, go for it!

When you’re finished, you can break out some Burmese and impress the locals. Doing my best to write these out phonetically, so try them out (and often) until you get them down.

How much total? – Beh lao jah leh

Food is good! – Sa low koun deh

Enjoy your tea shop experience, wherever in Burma (Myanmar) it may be!

Keeping you fed at Shwe Ya Minn: (R to L) Soe Than, Kyaw Myint Than, Mu Lay Win.

Kyaw Myint Than making puri shortly after sunrise in Kalaw, Myanmar (Burma)

Soe Than cleans up after the morning rush. Kalaw, Myanmar (Burma)

If you enjoyed this, you can read more on Myanmar / Burma, travel tips for Myanmar/Burma.

Source: Internet
 
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Myanmar Tours 2013: 11 things that you haven’t known

With the new policy about tourists, Myanmar is becoming hot destination this year – Myanmar Tours 2013 

1. Myanmar festival in April

It is called Thingyan, or water festival that takes place in April every year.

Thingyan water festival takes place four days and in this time, all the shops, restaurants, stores were closed. People throw water on each other to clean the unfortunate and sins of the old year.

2. Internet is not prohibited, but very slowly

Since 2000, the Internet has allowed to use in Myanmar, but with price is a very high and transmission speeds is slow. Phone tariffs is higher than other Asian countries.

3. Beautiful beaches

Myanmar has 2,000 km coastline and one of them is the most beautiful beaches in Asia. These beach stretch the Bengal bay. The most famous beach is Ngapali, 45 minutes flight from Yangon.

4. Carrying cash and keep them clean

There are very few ATMs in Myanmar so, you need to carry a lot of cash. You also need to keep it very clean: no stains, no creases …because the currency will lost value

Credit cards can only be used in the 5 star hotel or luxury restaurant and Next year, The credit card will be accepted and used widely in Myanmar.

5. Call the beer by kiss sound

In Myanmar, when the people want to attract attention with the waiter, they usually create sounds that like the kiss (2 – 3 times). That’s the reason you will hear the sound of kiss everywhere on the streets in Myanmar

6. Expensive Hotels

Hotel room rates in Myanmar are higher than Asian countries. Since Myanmar has opened, a lot of tourists have come to this country, but many hotels were still being built and not yet meet all customers

7. Men wearing skirts

Traditional Costumes of Myanmar is longyi, a skirt is wrapped around people by both men and women.

A lot of men wear underwear inside while in rural Myanmar, they are naked inside. They say that It is the way to deal with the temperature always at 40 degrees C.

8. Just eat with right hand

Eating with your left hand in Myanmar is indecorous act. In Myanmar, the left hand is only used for personal hygiene. So, when handling food or give money to someone, you have to use by the right hand.

The Myanmar people use fingers to squeeze rice into small cubes and mixe with other foods. The Buddhists do not eat beef, while Muslims do not eat pork.

9. Poor quality trains

Services in Myanmar (travel by train) is rather poorly. Myanmar train go very slowly and late. At night, the temperature is cold on the ship while the day is very hot.

10. Newsagents in Yangon

Limited information for a long time, The press is almost the only way that Myanmar people can learn about the world. That is reason, there are a lot of newsagents every streets in Myanmar.

11. People chew betel

Eating betel is the daily pleasures of the people in Myanmar. The stalls sell betel nut everywhere. People constantly chew betel to reddish-brown staining teeth.

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The Street food: Special dishes in myanmar

Go around the downtown Yangon, visitors can enjoy the street food, special dishes in Myanmar such as tea and flat bread, samosa salad, yogurt …

Myanmar cuisine that few people know and be influenced cultural of neighboring countries such as India, Thailand, and China, but this country’s cuisine still has its own characteristics.

Myanmar dishes are often very sour, and be usually accompanied with side dishes, such as curry meat with herbs, sauces and many other spices.

Tea and flatbread

Milk tea is usually sold on the low tables around the sidewalks in Yangon, morning and evening is the most appropriate time to enjoy this tea. Similar to “chai” in India, Myanmar milk tea is black, mixed with sweetened condensed milk, be eaten with Indian flatbread that be sprinkled with sugar or fried bread sticks.

Samosa salad

Samosa salad or “thoke” is the main dish in the culinary culture in Myanmar. Almost everything is diced and mixed to create “thoke”. Ingredients and taste’s samosa salad are different by each sellers, but still basically chopped samosa (triangles bread is fried with potatoes, turmeric, beans), green beans, cabbage, shallots and tomatoes. Add a few leaves of fresh mint or cilantro, and a few drops of lemon juice to add charming dish. Samosa salad is sold at the streets in Yangon, so visitors can easily enjoy this dish anywhere.

Food of the Shan people

Shan is an ethnic group living in northeastern Myanmar, and their cuisine is adored by people in Myanmar. Shan is characterized by the yellow lentil flour that is the basic components, make food more unique

The stalls that selling Shan dishes, always stand out with large chunks of Shan tofu (made ​​from yellow lentils or chickpeas), and yellow noodles. You can eat Shan tofu by 3 different ways: eating hot soup, eating cold with salad, hard tofu, cabbage, chili sauce, crushed peanuts and coriander or fried (eating with sauce)

Drinks

One cup of yogurt will help cool down the body very well in the hot afternoon. Here, It is usually homemade yogurt and put in the big aluminum bowl. You can enjoy yogurt with sugar and ice, or add with fruit such as strawberries or avocado. In addition, sugarcane juice is also popular soft drinks in Myanmar.

BBQ

The 19 road that is between Mahabandoola and Anawrahta Roads, is a lively collection of BBQ restaurants. when you chose your restaurant (all similar), grab a basket and start picking food from potatoes, zucchini, octopus, chicken …

Give it to chef who will cook and bring back for you. Some food was marinated with spices, but still has some spices on the table for you. Seller will charge by counting the number of oblique that be left on your plate.

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