The road to Mandalay

If you were to produce a list of the most dangerous places to visit in 2018, Myanmar will probably be up near the top of that list. Burma has suffered from prolonged internal conflicts, involving many non-state armed groups from Burma’s ethnic states. But away from the internal troubles, Myanmar is a fascinating country to visit, and should be on every backpacker's bucket list.

With the UK embassy travel advise glued in my head, my tour started with a flight to Yangon, Myanmar’s main international gateway. Serving as the capital until 2006, Yangon strikes a balance between a colonial-era urban core, with some of the most sacred of Buddhist temples in South-East Asia. Admittedly, my expectations for Yangon were not set too high. It will just be a more run-down version of Bangkok; I thought. But it was my first stop on an eight-day tour, and my excitement levels were high. But what kind of reception would a Western tourist be greeted with?

Getting through the airport was remarkably quick. As a foreigner, an eVisa must be applied for in advance, for around $50. A quick check by the airport staff and away I went through the exit doors, to be hit by a wave of cheery taxi drivers soliciting their services. Weirdly, in Myanmar, cars drive on the right-hand side of the road, but the driver seat is also on the right-hand side. Like with most big cities, the traffic was busy. Although it was a refreshing change not to see motorbikes dominate the roads, like in Vietnam. Having arrived to my hostel at about 9pm, I decided to walk through a few of the night markets, grab some street food, and get an early night ready for a full day of exploring.

Having saved the bulk of my eight-day travel period for Bagan, I only had the best part of twelve hours to explore Yangon. I used the morning to walk around the city, before going on an afternoon tour when the heat set in. Myanmar is one of the poorer countries in South-East Asia, but also the most untouched by Western tourists. With this comes a unique experience. It can be frustrating to travel to new places only to find hundreds of tourists and backpackers snapping away with their cameras, and Western franchises setting up shop on the high-streets. Myanmar was not like that.

That is not to say Myanmar is lacking in any external influence. You can easily see the Chinese and Indian influences in the food. In Yangon, the British colonial buildings still stand alongside the numerous Buddhist Pagodas. Non-more impressive than the Shwedagon Pagoda. A golden splendor, shining in the afternoon heat. Yangon provided a good introduction to Myanmar, but really it is overshadowed by Bagan, my next destination.

Arriving at 5am after a rather poor sleep on the night bus, I was able to negotiate with the taxi driver to drop me off at a popular hilltop to see the sunrise, before being taken to my hostel. Words cannot describe the quality of the sunrise over Old Bagan. With over two-thousand Pagodas in the area, and the hot-air balloons taking off in the horizon, the scene with the red glow of the sun was probably the best I’ve ever seen. A view I could never grow tired of, and one that will stay with me for a lifetime.

Unfortunately, the rest of the day did not run so smoothly. A nasty bug made me bedridden for the rest of the day. Quite a common thing for backpackers in Myanmar. Funnily enough, another girl in my hostel room also fell unwell, so at least I had someone to talk to in between trips to the toilet! Feeling better the next day, I was intent on making up for lost time. Just me with a map and an eBike, with hundreds of Pagodas to explore. It was fulfilling to just drive around with no particular place to go, making use of the locals for guidance. The sunset was just as good as the sunrise. A postcard picture with every snap.

The next day was more of the same, which I enjoyed. A much more relaxed pace than other places I have visited in Asia. I even booked onto a sunset Yoga session on a river island in the middle of the River Irrawaddy, the longest river in Myanmar. This was the night before my boat trip to Mandalay. A 5am set-off, the boat moved at a steady pace, passing villages along the way. Observing villagers use the river to wash their clothes at the same time buffalo were drinking from the banks - an opportunity to appreciate how other people live their lives, and with it, to reflect on my Myanmar journey. Fourteen hours later, my road to Mandalay was complete.

Mandalay was another big city, but probably less hectic than Yangon. Again, I only had one day to explore, so I ticked off the main attractions. Mandalay Palace

was interesting, most notably the tall walls that squared around the building. Feeling a lot better than I had felt in the days previously, I hiked up to the top of Mandalay Hill, which provided fantastic panoramic views of the city. This was before being taken on a motorbike tour around the city with a friendly local that I had met. I must note that I was pleasantly surprised by the general friendliness of the Myanmar people. The level of English was equally as impressive. We finished our tour together with a coconut drink sat underneath the U Bein Bridge – a popular place to observe the sunset.

Despite its internal problems, I would encourage you to visit this wonderful country soon, before it inevitably becomes overrun with tourists, like a lot of South-East Asia. To quote Rudyard Kipling, ‘This is Burma and it is unlike any land you know about’.