Myanmar was as soon as virtually not possible to go to—that is once I went the primary time. The yr was 2010, the nation was a world pariah and being there felt like a visit again in time.
Then, it opened up, and everybody was going. Bagan, with its temples and scorching air balloons, appeared to develop into virtually as potential as Ayutthaya and Angkor Wat. Then, because of ethnic cleaning and the imprisonment of the girl as soon as considered the one hope for the nation’s democracy, the nation develop into a pariah once more—and immediately, going there was controversial (if not as troublesome because it was).
Mandalay
Your Journey Information to Myanmar
I visited each of Myanmar’s major cities on my first journey to the nation—which, as I defined through the intro to this piece, came about in late 2010. Again then, leaded vehicles had been as frequent the roads as ones that took unleaded gasoline; you needed to go to an web cafe to entry (a really censored model of) the web and there was a profound sense of disconnection between native folks and the surface world. I may write a paper about it (and, as you’ll have seen in case you clicked the hyperlink above, I type of did!).
Yangon was the place I arrived, and the place my journey started. If I’m trustworthy, I wasn’t an enormous fan of the town as an entire, though it was troublesome to disclaim the fantastic thing about its large Shwedagon Pagoda. Mandalay, alternatively, was extra overtly charming, even with out excursions to observe sundown from Mandalay Hill or behind U-Bein Bridge. Oh, I additionally almost died from meals poisoning, although I’m undecided whether or not meals in Yangon or Mandalay had been guilty.
Evaluating Mandalay and Yangon
Vibe
Yangon is loud, noisy and soiled—there’s simply no manner round it. Whereas there are locations (effectively, one specifically) that you would be able to escape this, in usually I contemplate it a metropolis to be endured, to not be loved. Mandalay, against this, has a walkable and charming city heart, by no means thoughts all of the tour choices.
Sights
In terms of Mandalay vs Yangon, there may be barely extra nuance with this piece. On one hand, Yangon’s Shwedagon Pagoda is arguably one of many architectural gems not solely of Myanmar, however of Southeast Asia extra broadly. In Mandalay, it’s extra in regards to the range of sights, with my private favourite being Mahamuni Paya temple and the Mandalay Hill sundown spot.
Pure panorama
Yangon is flatter than Mandalay, which is smart as a result of it’s so near the coast. Mandalay, alternatively, options attractive, rolling hills throughout it—which, even in case you don’t head as much as Mandalay Hill to observe sundown as I counsel above, makes for beautiful views in all instructions.
Transportation
Unsurprisingly, neither Yangon nor Mandalay has a well-developed public transportation community. You’re principally on the mercy of pick-up truck taxis, motorbikes and tuk-tuks in case you don’t simply stroll all over the place, which is fortunately potential (although not all the time satisfying, particularly within the case of Yangon) in each metropolis facilities.
Day Journeys & Excursions
Mandalay is surrounded by a trio of lovely villages—Sagaing, Inwa and Amarapura, with the latter being dwelling to the enduring U-Bein Bridge. With Yangon, in the meantime, the one life like “day journey” you possibly can take is to Shwedagon Pagoda—which, once more, is within the metropolis—you possibly can’t actually name it a “day journey.”
Yangon
Different Myanmar Locations
Have longer in Myanmar than the 3-5 days it should take to discover Mandalay, Yangon and the varied sights inside day-trip distance of them? Contemplate visiting these different high spots:
- Bagan: House to actually hundreds of temples, this can be a picturesque place the place it’s worthwhile to stand up on the first light for a scorching air balloon experience.
- Inle Lake: If you’d like a pure break, in the meantime, sit back right here for a number of days—clearly, there are many boat rides you possibly can take.
- Mergui Archipelago: These islands are, for my part, the easiest in Southeast Asia, though they’re unsurprisingly very troublesome to achieve.
- Naypyidaw: Do you know that Yangon will not be the capital of Myanmar? Neither did I, till comparatively lately. Naypyidaw is…an attention-grabbing metropolis, to say the least.
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Robert Schrader is a journey author and photographer who’s been roaming the world independently since 2005, writing for publications similar to “CNNGo” and “Shanghaiist” alongside the way in which. His weblog, Depart Your Day by day Hell, supplies a mixture of journey recommendation, vacation spot guides and private essays masking the extra esoteric facets of life as a traveler.
