Myanmar: A new world awaits

The year has gone by so fast. Winding up a good first project in India, then coming back to LA, settling down and syncing with spring time, traveling with hubby and parents, spending quality time catching up with girlfriends, and just everything else that summer brings has kept me away from blogging. I have missed it.


Recently, a friend asked me about my trip to Myanmar and the memories rekindled my love for writing, describing, and documenting. So, this entry is about Myanmar and why you should travel to Myanmar. It is the copy of the email I wrote to my friend, and therefore written as a travel recommendation. Whether you ever make it to this magical place or not, do read the books and articles I have mentioned here. New discoveries await you.

If you'd like the documents I have mentioned below - my Myanmar itinerary, the Nat Geo photo seminar notes, two magazine articles - email me and I'll send them to you. For some reason, I can't find a way to attach them here. I'll keep looking.

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"You'll find the complete Myanmar itinerary attached plus a handout from a Nat Geo travel photography seminar I took that inspired me a lot, and two scans from my collection of interesting readings that I found in the TIME magazine and an in-flight magazine in Burma.

Young monks chant from a religious text

Basically, I studied the country using the Lonely Planet first. Then I looked at my two favorite itineraries from Nat Geo, the a Santa Fe Photography Workshops and added places that I surely wanted to see. The agent then worked this entire attached program for us with my hotel recommendations and must see spots such as certain specific temples in Bagan, Inle Lake and the 2500th anniversary celebration of the Schwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. So, what you have in the attachment is an itinerary customized by me. 

Whether you are in a group or going alone, I would highly recommend a pre-planned packaged itinerary for Myanmar. I did it through my own travel agency in Ahmedabad and we will be more than happy to do the bookings for you. If you go through the German agency I used, they are really meticulous, were always on time, and very reliable. As Indians, we pay competitive package rates and life becomes so much easier. 

Generally, I am an explorer and fairly spontaneous when it comes to traveling, but I was very thankful for having flights, hotels, and routes as well as pick-ups, drop-offs and very good, warm guides to help me out - all booked and ready for us wherever we landed. Myanmar is a very different country from most you might have visited and getting around alone is not yet super convenient. I am sure it will get easier as the country opens up more, but then safety might become a question. Right now, it's almost pristine, safe, and simply heavenly. We had some amazing guides there, especially an elderly wise man in Bagan, who I can try to trace down for you. He was a gem, knew so much, and had moved around with pro photographers; therefore, he would point out lovely angles and locations and patiently wait around while I clicked away incessantly.

Sunset at Schwedagon Paya, Yangon

This itinerary is for eight days and it's great that you have ten days instead. I'd use all the extra time in Bagan!!!! It is a breathtaking place and you can't catch enough sunrises and sunsets here from temple tops or from the Irrawady. I won't reveal more here, but Bagan will always stay deep in my heart and existence. It is a place like no other and I've been fortunate to get around a bit. 

One tip for Bagan: Through your guide or the hotel, try to arrange for a 5 or 6 am horse cart ride (30 minutes before sunrise) to go to a nearby temple or monastery ruin where you can climb up, set your tripod and remote, and wait for the sun to rise over the Irrawady and light up the thousands of temple peaks as far as your eye can reach. You'll never be the same person again! And, do it more than once if you have the chance at different locations. For the sun set, there is a designated temple that every one goes to and it's a magical thing to do as well. All of Bagan and everything about Bagan is magical!

Theoretically, you could skip Mandalay. It was the most unimpressive city for me, which most people go to because you've got to experience the "Road to Mandalay." Nevertheless, it is probably still worth going for the U-Bein Bridge alone, the longest teak bridge in the world where daily life unfolds as the sun moves from east to west. You see very interesting faces and witness fishing, farming, working mothers, kids diving in the Irrawady, and more as you stroll the length of this gorgeous bridge. You meet young souvenir sellers who'll impress you with languages from around the globe, and you'll see beautiful old faces who have many stories hidden behind them. Life on the U-Bein bridge seems to have so many secrets and stories waiting for you to discover. Make sure you go down to the river bed and tread along the paddy fields and walk around the bridge; you'll miss a lot if you just stay on it.

Inle lake is a whole different world. It is to me the ultimate proof of human determination for survival on water. There is no land around the lake except swamps and mountains that rise abruptly all around in the far distance. In such warm, swampy, and humid weather, the tribes of Inle have created art, survival strategies, sustainable water farms, and striking pagodas that have defined their lives for centuries. This place is a must see and a stay at the local tribal cooperative's floating hotel is not to be missed. Make sure you stay in the specified hotel in the itinerary as it is closer to all the sights by boat. They have another property, which is more for people who don't want to explore but just enjoy the waters, and is far from the various craft villages and most sights.

Finally, the itinerary moves you around in a sort of a circle, which you can start from any direction. After we did the Yangon-Bagan-Mandaly-Heho/Inle-Yangon loop, I realized that we could have moved around in reverse order to save Bagan, the most spectacular place in my view, for the last and before heading out of the country. So, it's up to you how you want to go about it. 

There is so much more I can tell you about Myanmar. The attached itinerary will tell you some and then if you have questions, let me know. Its a known fact that I am a bit insane when it comes to clicking photos, but to give you an idea of how insane I am, I shot about 30 GB of RAW images alone in Burma and came home with a total of 60 gigs worth of photos. Yes, I know, I am MAD! Now, I realize even my computer can't handle this madness and so it's taking me longer that I thought to process everything. Well, besides sharing the fact that I am nuts about photography, my point here is to say that make sure you have enough storage cards, two cameras - one pocket cam for emergency or handy shooting if you are taking one SLR, and lots of energy in the form of enthusiasm, and all kinds of travel emergency aids people travel with - electral powder, energy foods like dates, nuts, and so on.

Moon rise over Schwedagon Paya, Yangon

Lastly, some inspiration I found along the way: 

1.   A lovely book a dear friend gifted me (you'll come back with such shots too, I promise; everywhere you look in Myanmar, there's a photo opp.) - 

http://www.amazon.com/Humanitas-III-The-People-Burma/dp/0789211092

2.   The Author's site: http://www.fredricroberts.com/portfolio.html

3. Recommended Reading (I really enjoyed reading this book while traveling through the country): http://www.amazon.com/Finding-George-Orwell-Burma-Larkin/dp/0143037110/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339220375&sr=8-1

Travel safe; enjoy Myanmar!

Love, 

Tarana

PS: I have also attached the handout from a great travel photography seminar I took with two Nat. Geo. photographers last year. It was really a chain of coincidences that I ended up in Myanmar half a year after these photographers mentioned it as the TOP travel photography destination."

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“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” – St. Augustine