"The cultural highlights of Burma" a Burma Travel Page by lenoreva

Wow, going to Burma was an exciting trip for us. Here is a picture of a sign in the town of Kalaw in Shan state. Everywhere we went, we met friendly, helpful people who were eager to talk to us. We also met many Burmese tourists who thought we were a novelty (pale skin, light hair) and wanted to get their pictures taken with us! How funny! For detailed and practical travel tips based on our November 2001 experience, please see my tips below.

I also offer my opinion on the Burma boycott controversy in my <font color=green> To go or not to go... Travelogue. </font>

Although Burma is still off the beaten path, there is a typical tourist route: Yangon - Bagan - Mandalay - Inle Lake (Heho airport) - Yangon. Most traffic travels in this direction because that is how the inland flights are set up, and should you go the other direction, you waste a lot of time. (For example, a flight from Mandalay to Bagan would first stop at Heho (Inle lake) and then Yangon before arriving in Bagan).

We had 23 days at our disposal. Because we didn't bring enough money with us (see my warning tips), we decided to do a mix of inland flights and overnight bus trips. Our iteniery was:

Yangon
Bus to Bagan
Taxi (day trip) to Mt Popa
Flight to Heho
Taxi to Kalaw
Bus to Inle Lake
Taxi to Heho
Flight to Ngapali Beach
Bus to Yangon (not recommended - see transportation tip)
Taxi (day trip) to Bago

We had a relaxed scheldule, with several days in each place. We could have packed more in (Mandalay and ancient cities, etc), but didn't want to be on such a hectic scheldule.