Note: Beep! Beep! Travel Story alert! I like to write these every once in a while to get out of the bubble that’s our fair city because
1) We need it
2) People get tired of my rants about Facebook
3) You’re in freaking Asia, so travel! Going to Tsing Yi on the Airport Express because you’re hungover and got off at the wrong stop doesn’t count, Roger. Yes, I’m calling out my friend Roger who actually did that.
Of all the “wild” places in Asia, Myanmar seems to be the hottest right now. When I first moved to the region in 2006, Cambodia was all the rage but I guess we’ve moved on. The wild tourism buzzwords pop up: untouched, natural, real with some sage explaining to you at a dinner party “you’d better go now or in the next five years it’s going to be totally different.”
Idiots aside, I did take a trip to Myanmar and I really did enjoy it. So while Hong Kong is negative 10 trillion degrees, I might suggest you pop out there for a few days.
Preamble
Why go to Myanmar: because I told you so and don’t question me, bitch.
Ok fine. Read the wiki page for full details, but think of Myanmar as an up-and-coming Southeast Asian country that hasn’t lost its cultural vibe to the tourism machine, like you might feel in say, Thailand. It’s culturally diverse with the most amazing temples outside of Angkor Wat.
The people are nice, the food is yums, and you get a real sense of place and time. A villa in Phuket it’s not; it’s a visit markets, chat with locals, hit up temples spot. It’s something very different to Hong Kong.
Where to go: For a first timer, I suggest you spend a few days in Yangon, the capital, then head up to Bagan, the awesome place with the temples. So my suggestions are based on that sort of short, five-day quick strike trip as opposed to the two week backpacky thing. If you’re going for two weeks, then it makes sense to buy a guide book instead of looking at my handsome Coconuts picture for advice.
Amble
Visa: You need a visa (ugh). You can you get it online (yay!). Get it here.
Flights: Don’t go budget on this because the connection time is a killer. Just take Dragonair (or whatever its dumb rebranded name is) direct to Yangon (that’s the capital). For domestic flights – oh yeah you’re going to be travelling within the country – I like Air KBZ, basically because other local carriers have insane websites where you can’t really book online. Trust me, you don’t want to spend days of your trip trying to use local currency in some airport office in a strip mall getting tickets.
Yangon
Photo: Travel in Myanmar
Stay: Wealthy people will tell you the Belmond Governor’s Residence, but for those without a private jet I really like the Sedona Hotel. It’s really pretty and they just opened a new wing called the Inya Wing, which is basically a callback to like a Bali-style hotel. Good location, free breakfast with lots of noodle soups I liked more than at the markets, and intelligent staff. This last point is EXTREMELY important in Myanmar because, as with many up and coming spots, service is not always up to HK standards.
Eat: Port Autonomy. My friend opened it, it’s super trendy and awesome, they did a pop-up in HK, we wrote about it, and they even have a Cuban sandwich, which you’ll want after three days of Burmese food.
Photo: Coconuts Yangon
Do: Shwedagon Pagoda. Missing this would be like going to HK and not doing the Star Ferry or Peak Tram. You just don’t miss it. It’s an amazingly huge stupa that’s see-it-to-believe-it-breathtaking. Obama visited it and if it’s good enough for him it’s good enough for you especially as we’ll all have to suffer four years of President Trump. OMG I can’t believe this is real life.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Bagan
Ok so Bagan is basically an ancient city in the Mandalay region of Myanmar and housed the Pagan Kingdom, which eventually unified the regions of Myanmar. It’s also one of the prettiest places you’ve ever been with loads of green. There’s also a buttload of temples, which is why we’re going y’all. Check out some of the pics!
Photo: Wikipedia
Photo: Wikipedia
Stay/Eat: Doesn’t matter. Did you not see these pictures? Honestly the food in Bagan is nothing to write home about, and nor are the accommodations. This is proper roughing it. So I’d probably just get whatever you find on booking.com or whatever hotel aggregator you use and grab that. It’ll be fine.
Do: Balloons over Bagan. I cannot stress how worthwhile this is.
You’re basically in giant balloons that rise up at sunrise and give you a gorgeous view of all the stupas and temples in Bagan. It’s one of those magical moments, the way you feel walking into a massive church, or hearing a wonderful sonata, or eating a xiao long bao for the first time.
I was a bit taken back by the price, as it’s about the same as a plane ticket, but I really found it one of the top experiences I’ve had so yeah, do that. And send me pics!
Photo: Amazing Oriental Travels
Enjoy your weekend everyone! Next travel guide: Jordan. Not the country, the MTR stop (it’s all about exit B3 baby!).
Yalun Tu is a writer based in Hong Kong. He wrote The Straight Man column for HK Magazine, and TV scripts for HBO Asia, Channel V, and Fox Movies Premium. You can contact him at yalun.tu@gmail.com or @yaluntu on Twitter.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co
Reader Interactions