Burma Here We Come!

I’m finally back from my week long trip to Myanmar and as promised I will blog about how my vacay went.  I just came back home last Monday btw and I’m still quite exhausted although I really had a great time there no matter how hot the weather was the whole time I was there. Myanmar is by far the closest I’ve felt from home among the countries I’ve visited so far here in South East Asia because of the similarities with the weather and their metro area (Yangon) which reminds me of Pasay, Ortigas and Makati infrastructure wise. The weather in Myanmar is more arid though, like almost no air especially during summer season when the temperature spikes from 30 to almost 40ºC, it was fire hot outside!

My sister and I (my constant travel buddy) booked this trip on a whim couple of weeks ago to simply take advantage of the cheap airfares offered by Tiger Airways to Yangon because that's rare (I’ve been monitoring the airfares and the one we booked was by far the lowest rate) because on a regular basis, the cost of flying to Yangon is often expensive since there’s no direct flights from Manila to Yangon. Our flight was Manila to Singapore first then Singapore to Yangon. We chose to connect in Singapore  because we've been craving for SG's Chicken Rice and their delicious Bubble Tea plus it’s been six years since the last time we were there.

Bound to Manila
02.27.17 | Monday

My sister and I are coming from the north so we decided to book our bus trip to Manila few days in advance. Our first option was Joy Bus (owned by Genesis) days before our flight since they drop off passengers directly at the NAIA Terminal 3 (like what we did last year for our Vietnam trip, Joy Bus dropped us off to T3 where our flight will depart from and it was oh so convenient). However, this time around, our flight will depart from NAIA Terminal 1 and if ever we get the chance to book through Joy Bus we will just take the NAIA shuttle from T3 to T1. Unfortunately though, Joy Bus was fully booked because of Panagbenga (Flower Festival in Baguio) so we took our chance with Victory Liner and luckily we were able to book their VIP bus bound to Pasay (travel time: 5-6 hours nonstop via SCTEX vs. 7 hours for regular trip).

We left at 11:20AM and slept the whole time on the bus. Victory’s VIP Bus is quite cramped up though compared to Joy Bus’ Deluxe one although the price is pretty much the same. Victory also served snacks on board (a chiffon bread, pack of chocolates and a bottle of distilled water). They did not provide any blanket. I can’t help but compare Joy Bus from Victory because the other bus has more leg room plus they provide blankets to keep you warm the whole trip as the bus can get too cold at the times. Joy Bus’ route from the north is via TPLEX which is somewhat faster compared to Victory’s deluxe bus. 

UBE Express Shuttle Bus 

Our bus arrived at the Pasay terminal around 5:00PM past as far as I can remember. Whilst at the Victory terminal we started looking for HM Transport Shuttle Bus because we read online it will only cost P20 to get to NAIA through them but we weren’t lucky to find them and instead, as soon as we got off bus, we found these group of men and women in purple shirts (near the sign that reads Shuttle) offering shuttle to the airport so we decided to go ahead and take that one instead of looking for the HM shuttle service. We later on found that it was UBE Express and that they will take you to all the NAIA Terminals for P200 per person which is not bad compared to taking those airport cabs which would charge you a hefty just to get to the airport. The UBE Express buses are pretty nice (looks more like the buses you see in Singapore), it’s air-conditioned and offers free WIFI. They will ask first what time is your flight, Terminal number, issue you a receipt, wait for a little while and depart the Victory Pasay terminal in few minutes even if the bus isn’t full yet. 

NAIA Terminal 1

Manila - Singapore

We got off at the NAIA T1 before 6PM, paid our travel taxes (P1,620 per person) and checked the departure boards to see which check in counter Tiger is assigned to. Since our flight is not until 9:35PM and the check in counter won’t be open until 7:35PM we decided to grab a bite first. I personally do not like the NAIA Terminal 1 because it looks old compared to T3. I hope it undergoes a total renovation to make it more cozy and comfortable for passengers and their families who are to wait with them before they fly out. The 30-minute free wifi access for everyone is good but I’m hoping NAIA will also offer something longer than half an hour. 

7:35PM

Check in time-We just got our boarding passes since we do not have any bags to check in so it was pretty swift. I spent a good worry though procrastinating if our carry-ons will exceed 10kgs because we did not weigh them. 

TigerConnect

Since we took advantage of TigerConnect, we were already handed both our boarding passes for Manila to Singapore and Singapore to Yangon so all we need to do once we land in Changi is to look for our boarding gate bound to Yangon. 

Now it’s Nuninoo time. Our flight took off a little before 10PM. 

boarding gate finally...

Changi Airport Terminal 2

Singapore to Yangon

6 hour layover

02.28.17 | Tuesday

Duck Rice @Singapore Food Street

It was quite a bumpy plane ride bound to Singapore (that’s why I hate evening flights) nevertheless, we arrived safe and sound past 1:00AM. Changi Airport felt like a ghost town except for the 24 hour food stalls. My sister would like to eat some Chicken Rice badly at the Singapore Food Street so we took the Skytrain from T2 to T3 only to find the food stall that serves Hainanese Chicken Rice is closed so we just suit ourselves with some Duck Rice and Coffee O’ (brewed coffee with some milk). All the stalls at the Singapore Food Street btw do not accept cold cash which we had no idea at first. You have to exchange your cash to a 'food street' card which they will swipe like a debit card. It's not advisable to exchange so much cash to debit because the exchange rate affects you moneys worth. All the money changers were also closed so we had our 20 bucks exchanged instead at the Food Court counter. I didn’t really understand the Singaporean guy at the counter at first because of his heavy accent when he asked me something so I was surprised when he handed me a Singaporean Food Street card in exchange for my 20$. I  decided to figure out myself what the hell the card was all about through those letter sized paper boards posted in pretty much every stalls there. I learned that, it’s best to check the food prices first before you order anything so will only exchange whatever is the cost of the food you’re eyeing to the food street card. Then, as soon as we’re done eating, I returned the card back and the guy gave me Singaporean dollars as change which is pretty much the same exchanging them through money changers. 

touch down Singapore...

Six hours was just enough for us to explore the airport, take advantage of the free foot massage pretty much all over the terminals. The Skytrain closes at 2:30AM and resumes at 5AM so we decided to go back from T3 to T2 by foot but hours of walking did not do us any good so we just decided to wait for the Skytrain five minutes before 5AM. We also took advantage of Changi Airport’s free 24hour wifi access by simply scanning our passports on one of their wifi kiosk. How does it work? Just scan your passport, a code will be flashed on the PC monitor and from your phone just look for #Wifi@Changi and it will take you to a landing page where you could input the code from their computer. Afterwards, it will redirect you to another page where you have to provide your roaming prepaid number and they will send you an activation code and you’re good to go. The speed was fast enough for us to upload photos on Instagram. 

7:20AM 

the skytrain during wee hours...

Our flight took off from Changi T2 bound to Yangon. Singapore and the Philippines btw is under the the same time zone so we’re 1.5 hours ahead from Myanmar. We were expected to land in Yangon at 8:45AM (10:15AM Manila time). i decided to add another city instead to my iPhone clock app so as to avoid myself getting further confused lol. I love the flight to Yangon as it was already daylight and the weather was really good. I enjoyed my seat on the plane which was right next to the window because I was able to clearly see those big fluff of clouds. I know it cost more to pre-select a seat but we could care less because my sister and I cannot afford to NOT sit side by side. We would often argue as to who sits beside the window, I know it may sound funny but this is the enjoyable part in riding a plane, who’s turn is it to sit right next to the window just for the view lol. 

DAY 01

Touch down Yangon!

Myanmar 's local currency

Kyat ("chat")

We landed in Yangon few minutes before 9AM and boy it was hot outside. Their airport is not as extraordinary as Changi, more of like our very own NAIA T1 only a notch better. The Yangon Terminal 1 is not as vast but they have pretty much everything that you need there as usual (convenience store, fast food like KFC, coffee shops, souvenir shops, money changers etc.) 

As soon as we’re done with Immigration we immediately looked for the money changer counters to have our fairly new US dollars exchanged to their local money called kyat (pronounce as ‘chat’). The exchange rate at the airport is pretty good as it did not veer away from the actual conversion rate (It was a bank counter for as much as I recall). Our 100USD was converted to 136,000 plus kyats. Before you head off to Myanmar btw, make sure to carry along pristine US dollar bills, brand new ones preferably because its value depreciates the more old your dollar bill is. They want one without any marks, crisp and not folded USDs. 

Munch Time

Yangon International Airport T1

Bites @ Yangon Int'l Airport T1

It was a little before lunch time already and we’re both starving so we were torn whether or not to try their local dishes first or eat at KFC so the food is served faster. I insisted to try their local dish first so we would at least have an idea how Myanmar food taste like (although I had an inkling it would be spicy since Myanmar is geographically located between Thailand and India). We went to Bites across the check in counters and check out their menu. They have the Chicken Nasi Lemak ones which we knew would be spicy since we’ve tried Nasi Lemak before when we lived in Singapore years back and it was tasteful, spicy but good. So, we had their Chicken Lemaks, one fried and one wasn’t and paired it up with Coke zero which was ok. I love how hot and spicy it was plus the peanuts and anchovies (or Dilis in Tagalog, yes the small fish). We were happy with our meal absolutely but we were just a little concerned with the mosquitoes while were eating. Oh make sure to always apply those mosquito repellant lotion if your going to Myanmar (we read this online) because there’s a lot of Mosquitoes in public places, just to be safe.  

We already booked our pretty much all our hotel accommodations back home so we only need to worry about buying souvenir items and food. We agreed to check in at this Airport hotel called High Five back home because they offer one of the most competitive rates plus the room photos were good. We booked through Hotels.com and prepaid our hotel room. 

Yangon Int’l Airport Cabs

Reminds me of home because men would clamor to carry your luggages to your cab. We agreed to pay the cab 6,000 kyats from the airport to High Five Hotel. The thing was the luggage guys started asking for tips and when I gave then 200kyats each they even complained and said it’s ‘too low.’ It was really funny though, few minutes of their time cost more than 200kyats? Unbelievable. We would’ve carried our luggages ourselves lol. 

Our cab driver was nice and even offered to take us for a tour at our preferred time, gave us a flyer and business card but we told him we’ll think about it later in the day since we’re still tired from our flight. The cost for the tours are ranging from 10,000-35,000 kyats depending on the place you’re looking to go to and the number of hours. In Myanmar 35,000 kyats is already good for an all day tour.  It’s pretty cheap and their rates is kind of similar to the tour packages offered in Cambodia. High Five Hotel is pretty close from the airport because it only took us less than 15 minutes to get there. 

High Five Airport Hotel 

The reception people were very warm and accommodating. One of the hotel staff

Asian breakfast at the
hotel

High Five Hotel

even provided cold orange juice for my sister and I while we wait as they check our reservation. I found Burmese people love to stare but not in a bad way, I guess that’s just the way they are with people from other countries. And as always, we have been constantly mistaken that we’re from Thailand so we would often tell them we’re from the Philippines. Somehow it was flattering because Thai women are slender, fair skinned and pretty mostly. On the other hand it made us wonder how come Filipinos aren’t as recognizable in this part of the Globe considering we are neighbors with them.  Going back, High Five Hotel is quite small as the dining area is right across the reception desk. They don’t have any lift and the stairs were pretty steep thus we made an effing huge mistake for choosing a room on the 5th floor lol. Anyways, I’ll make a separate review about the hotel just to give other travelers like us an idea whether or not they should stay at this hotel while in Yangon.

Our DIY Tour

As soon as we’re settled in our hotel room, my sister already wanted to take a tour of Yangon right away. I was apprehensive at first because I’m still tired and I need to recharge, nap, take a bath or whatever but she was so squeamish in taking the tour since we only have one day here as we’re headed to Bagan tomorrow night. Ok, so we tried contacting the cabbie driver who brought us to the hotel but the line was busy so we decided to just tour Yangon ourselves and take a cab. We rested for a while, took a bath, put on some light make up (because we know it will melt away anyways because of the heat), changed to comfortable and light clothing then headed back down to the reception area to ask if they have any tour packages. My sister wanted to go to pretty much to all of the temples in our itinerary but I disagreed big time as it’s pretty late already to go to all of them (past noon time). I firmly suggested that we go to Shwedagon Pagoda first as it’s one of the most popular place to visit in Yangon then we’ll figure out what’s next later on. I’ve always anticipated plans and itinerary may change once you’re in the actual place as this happens all the time every time we travel. You may think one temple is close enough from the other just to learn that you’re wrong as it can be minutes to hours away. We then asked the hotel staff to call a cab for us that would take us to Shwedagon Pagoda as per the receptionist’s recommendation as well. High Five Hotel to Shwedagon Pagoda cost: 6,000 kyats. Cabs in Yangon looks pretty old but at least they have AC.

Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon Pagoda

The outside of Shwedagon Pagoda has couple of massive lion statues and you have to take off your shoes/footwear as soon as you walked past the entrance as it’s a sacred ground. We brought ziplock bags so we could put our shoes inside our bags (sad fact: we Filipinos are very wary people because back home if you leave your footwear outside in a public area it’s a goner when you come back to retrieve it 90% of the time lol). Walking barefoot in such a huge place is something new to us because back in Cambodia, tourists were never asked to take off their footwear in any of their temples so I guess that’s a indication that the Burmese people are very religious and conservative I think. Almost all men we’ve seen wore Longyi (pronounced as “Long-jee”) and women all long skirts. Don’t be surprised by the way to see people with brown chalk like texture stuff on their faces as they call them “Thanaka” which sort of has a cooling effect on the skin. 

and more of Shwedagon's beauty

The Shwedagon Pagoda is uphill so you have to walk many stairs to get there. Along the way you’ll see tons of souvenir items to choose from. It was just a little uncomfortable walking barefoot that’s all. The entrance fee to the Pagoda cost 8,000 kyat per person which you have to pay at the booth to your left. In our case we did not see the booth so this guy approached us and asked us to pay at the booth. They gave us a ticket, a sticker and a thick flyer which shows what’s inside Shwedagon. I was just surprised they charge to enter their “church” technically. I guess the proceeds go to the rehabilitation of the Pagoda as some areas were damaged by last year’s earthquake in Myanmar. Shwedagon Pagoda was massive and our jaw dropped in awe when we saw the many golden temples inside, they were all intricately made. It felt like transcending to a totally different place from of a book. The experience was just priceless and i said to my sister “I told you so.” I highly recommend this place you will be visiting Yangon, never miss it. It was actually the highlight of our Yangon trip. The next on our list was Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda & Reclining Buddha.

Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda & Reclining Buddha

We took another cab to get to the Reclining Buddha which only cost us 2,500 kyat as it’s not too far from Shwedagon anymore. Cab drivers in Myanmar varies from the highway to hell drivers (the over speeding ones) to the modest ones who will only charge you what is deemed fit for the travel distance. 

The Reclining Buddha..

It was about 3PM when reached Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda & Reclining Buddha because we spent about an hour or so in Shwedagon. What we noticed at first at the Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda was the number of dogs sleeping outside the temple like nobody cares lol. Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda houses the massive Reclining Buddha. It wasn’t as phenomenal though as the Shwedagon Pagoda probably it’s ‘cuz we’ve seen something better. The good thing was they do not charge anything for entering the temple, just donations. It just took us a good 20 minutes to round up the temple then afterwards we bought souvenir items right outside. I bought some fridge magnets 3 for 6,000 kyat (originally 2,500 kyats each), couple of shawl/Pashminas for 4,000 kyat each for our other sister and a family friend whilst my twin sister bought a longyi for 7,000 kyat, a scroll display for her friend 3,000 kyat then off we got to grab a bite somewhere since we were both starving after walking endlessly. 

Roughly 200 meters outside Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda we found a restaurant thank God! Burmese people mostly do not speak in English so the best way to communicate with them is by pointing out something on the menu and gesture a peace sign if you want couple of orders. We Filipinos have this term colloquial term we call “nose bleed” if we’re already having a hard time expressing ourselves in English, in Myanmar we turned “nose bleeds” in communicating with the locals because they do not understand English neither so I guess it really wouldn’t matter whether you speak fluent English or not. 

restaurant receipt

Past 4PM - catching a taxi ride along the highway was quite difficult as it’s already rush hour in Yangon. All cabs were pretty much booked but with ample patience we were able to catch a ride. The only thing was, the driver we got was the racer type as we were holding on to our seats the whole time, hearts throbbing, the moment the road is clear from the heavy traffic jams. We got back to our hotel around 7PM, yes that’s how heavy their traffic was. Good thing, some Burmese music kept us entertained. The funny thing was, when I handed the 6,000 kyat to our cab driver before I alight from the cab I said “bayad po” in Tagalog (“here’s the payment” in English) totally forgetting I am abroad geez. My sister laughed her heart out. We dozed off before 11PM because we were too caught up transferring/editing photos from our phones to our laptop. This day was awesome, the food and places.

DAY 02

Yangon to Bagan

03.02.17 | Wednesday

Faludah..

We woke up a little early to avail the free breakfast at the hotel. The food at the breakfast bar have limited items though but not bad at all. They only had one cup of fried rice available by the time we had breakfast so my sister just had toast with jelly, orange juice, some yellow watermelon whilst I had some sausage and fruits as well. We also tried their cereal with milk. We just stayed at our hotel room to rest until our check out time which was at 1PM. The hotel manager gladly allowed us to stay until an hour past check out time (usually 12NN) even if they were fully booked which we really appreciate. We asked for late check out btw before we checked in yesterday. We regret though we did not add another day to our hotel reservation in Yangon because we loitered for 7 grueling hours near the JJ Express Terminal doing nothing but eat at this restaurant close by. We had Chicken Curry for lunch, a big bottle of water and the refreshing Faludah (similar to our very own Halo-Halo in the Philippines). 

JJ Express Terminal 

Room No. (A 5,6), Mawlamying St., 

Aungmingalar Bus Station, Yangon 

The JJ Express terminal is 10 minutes away from High Five Hotel and it cost us an average 5,000 kyat taxi ride to get there. Our trip to Bagan is not until 8PM but we decided to go to the terminal around past 1PM since we already checked out at our hotel to pay for our tickets (booking is done through Facebook, payment at the gate or no other than the bus terminal itself). The lady at the ticketing counter was quite grumpy because I can’t understand her and I just realized she’s confirming my name on their booking list because she said the word “name” really differently (language barrier is one of our biggest dilemma while in Myanmar) then she uttered something in Burmese. I opted to pay in USD, 19$ per person for the trip to Bagan so I paid 40 bucks. However, she doesn’t have 3 bucks so she wants to give me 5$ and I give her 3$ so we’re even but I don’t have 3$ neither since my sister and I only have 10, 20 dollar bills available so she asked me to pay in kyat instead which was such a hassle because my sister had to walk all the way to the money changer to exchange our 40 bucks to kyats and that the money changer exchanged our dollars to a little lower rate because it wasn’t ‘so pristine’ after our ordeal making the payment we finally got our tickets and we were assigned to Bus #16.  

JJ Express VIP Bus to Bagan

Quarter to 8PM

After many hours of doing nothing around the JJ Express Terminal it’s finally boarding time yey! We started boarding before 8PM and the bus was parked less than a hundred meters away from the terminal so we had to walk a little to get there since there’s another bus about to depart from parked right in front of the terminal. The JJ Bus Terminal is also close to Shiva Temple in Aungmingalar Highway, so if you see any golden temple close by, then, the bus terminal is definitely just around the corner. 

purple towel, snack box with really good chiffon cakes,
movie player, and a sticker you have to stick on to your
clothes which reminds me of those tour bus stickers 😂

🚍 Bus Amenities:

• snack box - the mini cakes were really good
• bottle of distilled water 
• tamarind candy - it starts to taste a little weird as it melts in your mouth though. 
• cup of soda 
• blanket - to keep you warm, this helped me sleep the whole trip. My only complaint—my blanket smelled of viand which could mean it wasn’t newly washed.
• movie player (loaded with 3 movies so make sure to bring your own earphones)
• Reclining seat with foot rest

I will be making a separate review as well regarding my trip to Bagan via JJ Express VIP Bus. 

DAY03

Bagan, Myanmar

03.03.17 | Thursday

We arrived in Bagan before 6AM (Yangon to Bagan is 9 hours and vise versa) and it was still pitch dark outside. We didn’t even realized we’re already there because my sister and I were both asleep and just awoke to the bus attendant’s announcement that we’re already at the Bagan JJ Express Terminal. We alight from the bus and started collecting our bags when a guy approached us and asked if we want a cab. I really would like to get to our hotel and lay down, nothing beats sleeping inside a real room and a bed. We asked how much they will charge first (you have to ask every time while in Myanmar to make sure it’s reasonable before you get in the cab) and we were told it’s gonna be 1,500 kyat although my sister said she heard 15,000 kyat then off we go. The cab driver we got is again one of those who drives abso-f*ckin-lutely fast as if he’s driving on  a race track. I think our speed the whole time was between 100-200KPH. Gadh. We reached our hotel in no time of course because our cab felt like flying in mid air so what do you expect right? And yes he charged us 15,000 kyats which was a total rip off as the usual rate from the terminal was between 7,000-8,000 kyats only (which we learned later on). Moral of the story, make sure to listen properly when talking to the locals since language barrier is a big problem in Myanmar. 

Sky View Hotel

Bagan

View of the hot air balloons from
our hotel's roof deck

Sweet

Nevertheless, we were warmly welcomed at the Sky View Hotel. The people at the front desk weren’t as versed in English when we arrived there but as we went along we noticed that they also have few staff at the front desk who’s quite good in English. Not a biggie though, what matters most was they were nice and very polite. So far they have the most number of English speaking staff compared to other hotels we stayed at in Myanmar. 

We booked the Sky View View Hotel online through Agoda.com and the reason behind that was they offer a good view of Bagan’s infamous hot air balloons from their rooftop/dining area which happened to be true since we saw them ourselves during our stay there. However, you should check out the hot air balloons quite early and I mean between 5-7AM or sunrise because they’re gone by 7:30AM onwards. We had breakfast at the rooftop (7-10AM) few hours after our arrival. They also have limited breakfast items but who cares they’re free anyways lol. 

All Day Tour

8:15AM

stalls at the Shwezigon
Pagoda

My sister called up the reception to inquire if they offer/can arrange any tour around Bagan last minute and thank God they do. The receptionist gave her two options; a full day or half day tour. The full day tour would cost 35,000 kyat until sundown, a private car & your own driver whilst the half day tour starts around 2PM. We wanted to make the most of our stay in Bagan even if we’re still tired so we went ahead and took the full day tour instead which was all worth it since we visited tons of temples in one day. 

some of the temples we visited

We first visited Bagan’s famous Shwezigon Pagoda (yes, if Yangon has Shwedagon, Bagan has Shwezigon) where we bought 50% of our souvenir items. If you’re looking for elephant pants then the shops at the Shwezigon Pagoda is so full of those. I even bought one myself and a black tee with gold prints for 5,000 kyats each. However, if you’re looking for fridge magnets I did not find anything there. We spent roughly 40,000 kyats for souvenirs at the Shwezigon area. After Shwezigon Pagoda we went to tons of other Pagodas such as the Ananda Temple, Buphaya, Hitominlo Guphaya-gi, Mahabodhi Temple, Thiri Zaya Bumi Bagan Golden Palace, Mya Zedi Pagoda to name a few. We had lunch at the Moon Restaurant (Vegan) close to the temples and had a vegetarian meal (Tofu with tomato sauce) and Coke zero

Moon Restaurant

which cost 9,300 kyats in total. We went to few more temples which I’ve gone tired of remembering since they pretty much all look the same. After few more hours I told my sister to call it a day because my feet is already aching and it’s unbearably hot outside to walk barefoot (just bring slippers if you’re looking to temple hop because you will take them off anyways so there’s no point in wearing shoes really) plus we’re running low on cash and we need to exchange more dollars to kyats. We told our driver to take us first to the nearest money changer then back to our hotel. The problem was he barely understands English so he took us to our hotel and not to the money changer first to  our dismay. We had no choice but suit ourselves with whatever kyats we have left except that we need to eat dinner and the most convenient place is at the hotel of course so we just withdrew some cash at the ATM machines downstairs beside reception. They have 3 ATM machines at the hotel btw so don’t fret if you do not have anymore kyats on hand. 

DAY04

Bagan to Yangon

Check out day at Sky View Hotel

03.04.17 |  Friday

7AM

Black tee and elephant pants i bought
for 5,000 kyat a piece from the souvenir
shops at the Shwezigon Pagoda in Bagan.

We decided to have breakfast early today and we’re happy to see more hot air balloons on sight. Tonight we’re off to Yangon again because our flight to Singapore is going to be on Sunday (the trip back to Yangon is again for 9 hours from Bagan). We requested for a late check out but the hotel is fully booked so check out at 12NN. The hotel called a cab to take us to the JJ Express Terminal in Bagan (7,000 kyat) but it was way too early for so our cab driver offered a tour to Mt. Popa which was an hour away from Bagan. We thought about it and asked the driver to take us first to closest money changer which happened to be at the downtown area so we paid another 5,000 kyat. The another funny part was whilst at the money changer we left our backpacks in the cab and just carried our shoulder bags then told the cab driver to wait while we exchange our USDs to kyats, however, he drove away as soon as we stepped out so I had a panic attack and told my sister the driver must’ve misunderstood (my fear concerning this whole language barrier thing is getting worse lol) so he drove away with our stuff still in the trunk! The more embarrassing part was we chase the cab as he turns around like fools on parade wtf lol. The moral of the story again is don’t be so paranoid.

Anyways, the money changer refused to accept one of our 10$ bill because it was a little ripped so we gave him a ‘newer’ one and we just exchanged 90bucks to 118,000 plus kyats so we’re friggin’ rich again lol. We headed back to JJ Express terminal so I could pay for the tickets and left my sister in the cab to guard our stuff as per her suggestion and so as not to replicate the same stupidity we did whilst at the money changer. When I came back she spoke with the cab driver and he told her again about the tour to Mt. Popa for 35,000 kyats. Since we have more than enough kyats to spare, I said why not go ahead with the Mt. Popa tour, we’re extremely early for our 8PM trip anyways. 

1:30PM (or around that time)

Our driver took us first to this Palm farm on our way to Mt. Popa where they make candies out of palm sugar, alcoholic drink made from palm juice (fermented and all), palm oil and house decors using palm leaves. It was nice to know that a Palm tree has a gender: the female one bear fruits whilst the male one does not and that the female palm tree must be planted beside the male one in order for it to bear fruits. Awesome fact right? 

Nat Temple

Nat Temple; Mt. Popa summit, 
777 steps indeed.

Mt. Popa, Bagan

2PM past

According to Wikipedia, Mount Popa is a volcano 1,518 metres above sea level, and located in central Burma about 50 km southeast of Bagan in the Pegu Range. As we drove along, the cab driver pointed at the mountain heading north then said that’s where we’re headed so we became excited because we never heard nor read about Mt. Popa when we did our pre-travel research about Bagan probably because it was already too far. This is what I love about exploring further, you get to discover far better more things although at the back of my mind though it was a little risky as well because we’re headed to an unfamiliar location an hour away from Bagan on a foreign country just us, two women, with a stranger plus the way to Mt. Popa was pretty desolate as well. Nevertheless, we reached Mt. Popa safely and we were astonished to find that there’s a temple on top of the mountain thus explains the name Mt. Popa as it is literally at the peak. We were also fascinated with the monkeys at the foot of the temple, some will charge at you if you touch them whilst some are cool as cucumber. Barefoot hiking here we go again. There were tons of souvenir shops as usual on our way to the top of the mountain and monkeys, more monkeys. 

Smize. They may look cute, but 
never pet them.

We’re already starving so we decided to eat lunch halfway. We bought couple more of those cold one liter distilled water bottles, ordered soup and Myanmar salad (you may choose between noodles or papaya shreds, we chose noodles so we could climb up the steep stairs). After we devoured our spicy lunch we continued walking our way up to the temple. I am unable to climb anymore stairs because it’s such a bad idea to walk uphill with a full stomach without any warm up. My leg muscles were already stiff and my heart is already drumming so fast so I got scared and told my sister that’s as far as I could go. She said she’ll continue on and she’ll just meet me back on that same exact place as soon as she reached the temple on top of the 

Myanmar noodles mixed with
bare hands

mountain. After a good 20 minutes I texted my sister (good thing we’re both on roaming) and told her I will climb up as well. I told myself to not quit because I’m already halfway through and I will not let this trip pass without finishing what I have started so I climbed roughly about a hundred more steps to reach the summit. I did not find my sister there because she took the short cut to go back down that’s why. I was just a little disappointed that the top doesn’t have much to offer except for the temple and the scenic view of the neighboring mountains. Going back was another agony but I was glad I did not quit. I may have climbed those stairs inch by inch but at least I did not quit, at least I saw for myself what’s out there and I am proud to say someday I’ve been to Mt. Popa’s summit (where Nat Temple is) and climbed 777 steps to get there. Rock on. 

4PM

On our way back to Bagan. We passed by group of people who would be attending a monk ordination ceremony and they were all dressed up for the event. I think becoming a monk in Buddhist countries is a prestige. 

5PM past

Back to JJ Express Terminal. We had some local french toast and lemonade for snacks.

8PM on the dot

JJ Express VIP bus departs Bagan. Off we go to Yangon again. This time around the snack box was served in the middle of the trip. 

10PM past 

First stopover. Took roughly 30 minutes if I’m not mistaken. Loo break. Watched the movie “Everest” from my mac book for a good couple of hours then my sister and I slept again afterwards. Night trips is good for sleeping since there’s nothing to see outside but infinite darkness. 

DAY 05

Galaxy Hotel 

03.05.17 | Saturday

minutes before 6AM

❤️ Galaxy Hotel

Our bus arrived in Yangon. We took a cab to Galaxy Hotel (another hotel in Yangon close to the airport) for 10,000 kyat. The bus terminal was quite far from the hotel though. The Galaxy hotel is also spanking new. 

Breakfast

The hotel is situated beside the Monastery so it was peaceful and quiet in the area. Galaxy Hotel is also obviously fairly new because it’s pretty modern and the interior reminds me of Holiday Inn. The receptionist served cold orange juice for us while we wait as she scans our passports. None of the hotels we stayed at in Myanmar asked us to leave our passports unlike in Vietnam. We booked two nights at this hotel so we don’t have to wait for check in time which is normally at 12NN. The first day was for a very late check (March 3-4) since we arrived at 6AM whilst the second day we checked out very early because of our connecting flight bound to Singapore. Sadly, we still paid the full couple of days as hotels do not pro-rate it. 

DAY06

Yangon to Singapore 

03.06.17 | Sunday

3AM

en route to Singapore again...

Woke up early so we have ample time to prep up. We planned last night to check out at around 5:30AM today so there’s enough time for the hotel to call a cab which would take us to the Yangon International Airport for our 9:25AM flight to Singapore. 

5:45AM 

cab arrived at the Galaxy Hotel. 10-15 minute drive to the airport. 

6AM 

reached the Yangon airport but the driver dropped us off in Terminal 3. Our fault though because we assumed he knew we’re supposed to go to Terminal 1 so we walked from T3 to T1 so early in the morning geez. 

6:30AM

Breakfast at KFC Yangon Airport. Our food cost 5,200 kyat for a bunch of french fries and bite sized steak burgers I think. 

7AM

Got out boarding passes for both Yangon-Singapore and Singapore-Manila flight. Picture taking time at the airport then passed through Immigration. Another stamp on our passports accomplished. 

9:25AM 

plane took off. Singapore again in few hours for a 12 hour layover. At this point I set my clock back to Manila/SG time. Slept on the plane the whole time. We’re just bunch of sleepyheads because we woke up really early today. We’re early birds every time we have a flight because we cannot afford to be late otherwise our connecting flight will be messed up as well. 

Skytrain  at the Changi International Airport  

Changi Int’l Airport T2

Hainanese Chicken Rice for 5.50SGD
@ Singapore Food Street in Terminal 3

Touch down again Singapore. We had lunch at Singapore Food Street again but this time around we were able to finally taste Chicken rice again yum! Mission accomplished. Our next plan was to find the closest place at the Changi airport that sells bubble tea, unfortunately you have to pass through Immigration to get to KOI Express and we can’t since we availed Tigerconnect so better luck next time. We exchange our 20bucks to Singapore dollars so we could buy some more souvenirs and food while here in SG. We bought this pack of fridge magnets for 12SGD, a pack of mini Snickers for 8SGD and another pack of mini Kitkat for 11SGD I think and some pies for us 1.20SGD a piece. 

3:30PM

Took the Skytrain from T3 to T1 for our 4PM six hour reservation at Aerotel Transit Hotel in T1. 

4:00PM

Changi - Terminal 1

it took us roughly 15-20 minutes to find Aerotel as it’s quite far from the Skytrain (boarding gate D41). Landmark: D40 escalator - Aerotel’s front desk is righ across the escalator. 

Aerotel Transit Hotel

4:30PM

Aerotel is by far the nicest transit hotels I’ve been. I badly need shower and nap. Our room was spanking new. My only conerns (although not that big of a deal): the toilet doesn’t have hand-held bidet and no separate body wash & shampoo dispenser. But, nonetheless, I love the place. And yes, they have Colgate! I miss these familiar toothpaste brand because they did not offer any of these on any hotels we’ve stayed at in Myanmar. Set my alarm to 7PM then dozed off. 

7-10PM

woke up again, had shower, put on make up, pack stuff again for our onward flight to Manila, had coffee. All set by 10PM.

10:15PM

Checked out at Aerotel, had a nice sleep. Warm shower always saves the day. Took the Skytrain to Terminal 2 and waited for boarding time. Had some free foot massage around 11:30PM for roughly half an hour. 

12AM

Checked the departure boards and found out that our flight had been re-assigned to a different gate. Good thing we checked. 

Manila at 5AM

DAY 07
Back to the North

03.07.17 | Monday 

1:10AM 

I think we boarded right about this time. 

5:25AM

"Home is where the heart is"

Touch down Manila. I missed my bed, my cat and oh the cold up north. 

7AM (I think)

My sister made an advance reservation with UBE Express whilst in Yangon couple of days back. Their airport shuttle picked us up at the NAIA T1 then dropped us off at the Victory Liner Terminal in Pasay. We reached the Victory terminal around 7:30AM and decided to take the 8AM trip to Baguio as it was the next earliest one. We did not grab breakfast anymore so my sister just bought some hotdogs at the terminal.

souvenir items from Yangon
& Bagan

Homebound finally! I had a great time in Myanmar despite the very hot weather. I climbed Mt. Popa, visited over ten temples including The Swedagon and Shwezigon Pagoda, tried their spicy yet delectable local dishes, walked barefoot inside and outside the temples, immersed in their culture and above all gained another experience traveling across oceans. 

soft adhesive foot pads;
photo from google images

Useful tip: If you plan to go temple hopping in Myanmar then I would highly recommend to use one of those soft adhesive foot pads because they are quite sanitary especially if you feel iffy to walk totally barefoot. I should've bought one except I wasn't aware they are very strict when it comes to shoes/foot wear inside their temples. 

Alright then, another country off my bucket list. So where to next?

Here's a video clip regarding how our Burma trip went ☺️

Related Posts:

High Five Airport Hotel, Yangon

Sky View Hotel, Bagan

Galaxy Hotel, Yangon

Aerotel Transit Hotel, Changi Airport, Singapore

JJ Express VIP Bus Yangon to Bagan & Vise Versa