Myat Thura

Myanmar Today has published information on travelling to Inle Lake. Travelers to Inle Lake can take direct flight to Heho near Inle Lake, take a bus to Taunggyi and drop on the way in Nyaungshwe or hire a car directly from Yangon, Mandalay or Bagan. Visitors can travel to Inle from Mandalay or from Bagan also. Details can be read at How to Go to Inle - guide to travelers .

I have started writing articles about Inle Lake and Shan State on Myanmar Today . The series starts with an introduction to Inle region , followed by tips on going to Inle Lake and Nyaungshwe, finding a budget hotels and guest house in Inle and Nyaungshwe, mid range and high end hotels in Inle, restaurants, places to visit in and around Inle and other tips for foreign visitors. You can see all the articles on Inle at Inle Travel Guide on Myanmar Today.

Myanmar Today is currently publishing series of articles on travel guide to Maymyo. These articles include introduction to Maymyo (Pyinoolwin) as well as how to go to Maymyo, where to stay in Maymyo , where to eat, where to go , and tips for travellers. You can read all the articles about Maymyo (or) Pyinoolwin on Myanmar Today.

Currently, Myanmar Today website is running a series of articles about Travel guide to Mandalay . From back ground history of Mandalay to how to go, where to stay, what to see, where to eat to detailed guides about famous places in Mandalay such as Maha Myatnuni Pagoda , Mandalay Hill , Kuthodaw Pagoda , Kyauktawgyi Pagoda , and many other famous pagodas in Mandalay . This is the free and detailed tour guide about Mandalay , Myanmar's (Burma) second largest city and the most important city in upper Burma.

One of the places that you must pay a visit in Yangon (Rangoon) is the famous Shwedagon Pagoda. Believed to be the first padoda ever built on Earth, Shwedagon is the centre of worship and devotion for all the Buddhist in Myanmar (Burma). Myanmar (Burmese) Buddhists believe Shwedagon was built around 2,500 years ago, during the time of Lorda Buddha, although archiologists believe the pagoda was built during 6 and 10 century AD by Mons. Whether this claim is true or not nobody knows, Shwegadon remains centre of Burmese and Mon buddhism since ancient time. Many Burmese and Mon kings and queens renovated Shwedagon Pagoda several times in history, many of whom said to have donated gold equal to their body weights. Today, Shwedagon is estimated to be covered in 60 tons of gold plates! Shwedagon Pagoda at night Situated on the highest hill in Yangon, and rising above 326 feet above its base, the pagoda can be seen from up to 50 miles away. It is indeed the most famous and prominent lan...

There is now a new Myanmar information website for the foreigners who want to know more about Myanmar. Today in Myanmar is a new website on Myanmar culture, custom, travel information, travel advice, Myanmar life, Myanmar food, interesting places in Myanmar, information on hotels, guest houses, restaurants and many other useful information on Myanmar. I was also invited to write articles related to Myanmar on this website on Myanmar. You can visit Today in Myanmar and give me some comments on the articles I write.

If you ever traveled to Mandalay, the second capital of Myanmar, one place you must visit is U Bain bridge (U Pain Bridge). It is possibly one of the longest wooden bridges in the world, connecting the two banks of Taungthaman Lake, in Amarapura (City of Eternity), which used to be the capital of Kone-boun Dinesty. The bridge was built by U Bain (U Pain), who was the lord of the villages on the other side of Taungthaman Lake. Historical accounts said the main reason U Bain built the bridge was that he wanted quick access for his villagers to the Capital Amarapura so that he could stage a coup! Nobody knows if this is true, but he was later procecuted with the same charges and was sentenced to death. Although he died, his name lives on as the builder of the longest wooden bridge in Myanmar, and the name of the bridge officially becomes U Bain Bridge (U Pain Bridge). The bridge still serves as the most important communication link for the people of his villages. Situated just close to Ma...

To try delicious Myanmar cuisine, you don't necessarily need to come to Myanmar. There are a number of Myanmar restaurants worldwide. One of the Myanmar restaurants I would like to mention is Inle Myanmar Restaurant in Singapore. Situated in Peninsula Plaza, in the heart of downtown Singapore, Inle is a nice restaurants famous among the Myanmar people living and working in Singapore. The restaurant serves a variety of Myanmar cuisine at a reasonable price. Some of the dishes on offer include various kinds of Myanmar salads, mohinga, various Myanmar noodles, curry, as well as .... Read more about Inly Myanmar Restaurant in Singapore .

When you visit Myanmar, you might want to try some Myanmar dishes. For most foreign visitors, this can be easily done at a local Myanmar restaurant. There are a number of restaurants in Yangon and all over the country, which offer delicious Myanmar cuisine. The only problem for a foreign visitor would be to find a nice and decent Myanmar restaurant, and what dish to order. Most restaurants in Myanmar that sell Myanmar dishes are not intended for foreigners. Their main customers are local Myanmar people. Thus, they are usually unprepared for an occasional foreign customer who appears without prior warning. Most Myanmar restaurants don’t have menu. Even if they have one, one cannot expect to have a menu written in English. And even an English menu won’t have any meaning for a foreigner if it is not accompanied with a picture of dishes. However, there is one very simple way to overcome this potential problem. Unlike European or Chinese cuisine, most Myanmar dishes are ..... Read more ab...

The above is a music video by Kyo Kyar and Cindy , two Chin singers about Chin Land. The title is " The Home Land of Chin People " and composed by a Chin song writer Salai Thaw Na . The lyric is in Burmese, not in Chin. Please enjoy.

Photo: BooBooToo2 If you ever traveled to Yangon for the first time, you will be amazed by the public buses running the streets of Rangoon. Not only are they old and worn out, they are also overcrowded. And some of them date back to the pre-world world 2 era. Many wooden buses from the colonial period still run the streets of Rangoon. They are old, dirty, crowded and break down easily and frequently. The roof is also quite low so tall passengers have to bend their neck and back when standing. However, those are not the only buses that run the streets of Rangoon. The government has imported larger, newer (comparatively)second hand buses from Japan and Korea in recent years. They are far more larger than the older buses and more comfortable, but most of them are already quite worn out and break down as often. Photo: Alain Badoual One thing you might notice in Yangon public buses is that they are overcrowded most of the time. Passengers were packed into buses like herds of animals. But pe...

We just visited Damneon Saduak Floating Market in Ratchaburi, Thailand. It is a famous floating market built along a man made canal in Ratchaburi. Sellers row boats along a narrow canal and sell things. The market usually starts early around 7 AM but does not reaches its peak until around 9 AM when lots and lots of tourists flood the market and turn the market into Floating Tourists! If you really want to enjoy the market, I advise to got there before 7 AM in the morning and take a boat ride. A boat ride will take around 45 mins and cost 100 baht per head or 500 baht per boat (maximum 6 per boat). After the boat ride, walk along the canal and take some photos. By this time, the market would already be packed with tourist boats, and you will see a real traffic jam. The weather becomes extremely hot so it is not a good time to take a boat ride at this time anymore. The market usually finishes around noon.

Somebody ask me what is the current exchange rate in Thailand. You can check out the current exchange rate at one of the Thai Bank websites. Here is a quick link. Kasikorn Thai Bank Siam Commercial Bank Bangkok Bank In Thailand, you can find money exchanges from banks everywhere. Usually, the rate the other money exchanges give is around 0.50 baht higher but sometimes it is difficult to find one.

Just coming back from the Lion City, that is, Singapore. I went there for my sister's graduation. Talking about Singapore, everything is expensive. It was more expensive than the last time I went there three years ago. Food is really expensive and the taste is horrible, in most food courts, except in China Town. Taxi fares are extremely expensive, with so many surcharges for rush hour, downtown fare, etc. Just a few kilometers trip from downtown cost me S$20. Believe me, if it were in Bangkok, it won't cost more than S$5! I was shocked. And the fare that is displayed all the time on the taxi meter is not the tatal cost. You have to add all those surcharges to get to the total cost. However, the public transport is excellent. You can go whereever you want using the public transport. There is no confusion about it. And all the direction signs are well laid out. Taxi drivers are also nice. And the roads are clean and the the cars strictly follow the traffic rules. To my amazement,...

If you are visiting Myanmar, you will find yourself trying to find a money exchange to change your foreign currency into Myanmar kyat. Although US dollar is universally accepted, small vendors will be reluctant to accept US dollars because of difficulty in exchanging into kyat. So you invariably have to change some money into Myanmar kyat anyway. The first place you can change is at the airport. There is an authorized money exchange counter at the airport, but the rate they pay is very low, so you better not change there. Your hotel might be able to make money exchange for you at a reasonable price, so you should always ask their price first. If they cannot, they can give you some advice on it. They can contact a money exchange dealer as they always have contact with these people. Apart from your hotel, the most convenient place in Yangon to change your dollars into kyat is in Bogyoke market. There are a number of money exchanges in Bogyoke market although none of them are authorized. ...

If you are planning to go to Mandalay directly from Yangon, you have three options. The most comfortable, convenient and expensive one is to take a flight. The price (for two way ticket) is more expensive than a two way ticket between Bangkok and Yangon. The second, less expensive one is to use the train. The cheapest and most uncomfortable way to travel is by bus. Buses from Yangon to Mandalay usually leave around 5 PM in the afternoon, and arrives to Mandalay the next morning around 9 AM. The buses are all air-conditioned, but some of the bus drivers may turn off the air cons once the leave Yangon. Most buses will also take passengers in the axle seats, which makes the bus very crowded. The buses will stop on the way for dinner and supper, usually around 8 PM and after midnight. The stop depends on the bus service. Food might be a little difficult for you to digest as this is always Burmese rice and curry. Food price is not included in the bus fare. The toilets at these restaurants a...

If you are a foreigner, and coming to Burma for the first time, you will found yourself in a completely different world. And the first daunting task would be to go to your hotel. If you have already arranged with your travel agent to pick you up at the airport, everything would be OK. But if not, you will have to hire a taxi. There is no airport bus service running from the airport so the only way yo can go to your hotel is by a taxi. And this might be more complex than you think. The taxis in Myanmar are not metered, and the fare is not fixed. So you have to bargain with the taxi drivers at the airport. They will tell you that this is a fixed price, but it is not true. The taxi fare from airport is always more expensive, but you can always bargain. If you are not carrying many things, you can walk out of the airport compound (which indeed is a very small compound) and hail a taxi on the road. Only a few taxis come this way but most of the time, you will be able to get a taxi, cheaper...

Have you ever heard about head basket? Well, we have in Chin Hills. Lets call it Chin head basket. It is a kind of basket that you carry by hanging around your head with a string. You don't carry it by hand. The basket is quite a large one, big enough to carry a 5 gallon water container. And people, even young women and children, carry them by a string hung over their head. It is a tiring thing to do so. I once tried to carry one with some weight in it but couldn't carry more than a few minutes. For the Chin people, they have been carrying a big load since they were young so seem no problem carrying a heavy head basket over their head. Technorati Tags: Myanmar , Burma , Chin Hills , Chin State , Mindat

If you are interested in going to Mindat, here is a guide. You cannot go there direct from Yangon. First, go to Pakokku, a big city on the west bank of Irrawaddy (Ayarwaddy). To go to Pakokku, you have two options. One is the direct bus trip to Pakokku from Yangon. The buses are quite old and slow, and carry a lot of goods and cargo. I recommend the second option which is to take a bus to Pagan (Bagan) and from there, cross the Irrawaddy. The bus to Bagan leaves around 3 PM from Yangon, and arrives there around 5 AM the next morning. You can take a ship from Bagan to Pakokku. This ship travels between Bagan and Mandalay, but you can drop in Pakokku. The trip will take around one and half hour. Alternatively, if you are more adventurous, you can take a ferry boat to Pakokku. From the boat pier, you can take a tricycle or a horse cart to Mindat bus station. The station is called "Mindat Gyar Sakhan", meaning "In between camp". From there, you take a bus to Mindat. It ...