In August 2018 I took a mini trip to Myanmar from Bangkok for three nights. I flew AirAsia for about USD 150 return to Mandalay and planned to do two nights in Bagan and one night in Mandalay. As a UK passport holder I did need a visa for Myanmar and you can get an e-visa pretty easily, and quickly which was lucky as I only considered this two days before my trip.

Myanmar was by far the most under-developed country I have visited. Everything from electricity to roads in terms of infrastructure. I should note that I never encountered a problem with wifi! The food was okay, the people were wonderful and the scenery was stunning.

Initially I had booked a bus but after a little more research I found a blog where someone had mentioned a driver named Fatty. I contacted him via facebook and he arranged for one of his friends Mr. Naing Htoo to pick me up from the airport and drive me to Bagan for USD 100.  I’m so glad he did as it was a long drive along some very bumpy roads. When I was looking for all of my links I did come across this page which has a lot more options for road travel between Mandalay and Bagan and might be useful especially if you are travelling in a group.

I chose to stay at Villa Bagan for USD 80 a night. It was spacious, clean and right on the edge of the pagoda area. You could literally have your evening beer, breakfast and everything in between overlooking a pagoda. They also had e-bikes for rent for about USD 10 per day (I’m sure you can negotiate cheaper if you feel the need to). I rented an e-bike for the evening and set off exploring. 

Zipping off road and through the hundreds and hundreds of pagodas was so much fun. There are a couple of key spots that are slightly higher for great landscape views. There are also kids that will offer to take you to some pagodas which you can still climb up as most of them have been closed up due to damage.

I had already booked a half day tour in advance by horse and carriage. I don’t think you need to do this, once you figure out a few key land marks its pretty easy to find your way around and so much more fun (and cheaper, and let’s be honest - four hours of Pagoda education is a little much).  

There are loads of little restaurants, I ordered a Pizza from La Pizza, as they aren’t licensed, I took mine to go and had an ice cold Myanmar beer overlooking the pagoda by the hotel. A lot of restaurants aren’t licensed so if you prefer a beer with dinner I recommend take-out and get a few beers from the hotel or minimart.

After two days in Bagan Mr. Naing picked me up and took me back to Mandalay, as we neared Mandalay he asked what my plans were and when I explained I only had one night he seemed pretty disappointed.  He offered to take me to a few places on the way to my hotel and do the same in the morning on the way to the airport, as I was alone without much else to do I figured sure why not.

This guy was awesome! He took me to all the best places, told me where to buy the ticket, helped me tie my sarong properly and even bought me a traditional breakfast before dropping me to the airport. In total I paid him about USD 150 for the drive from Bagan and the touring and the drop off to the airport but it was totally worth it!

I recommend doing pagodas in Mandalay in the early early morning or the late afternoon, they were literally empty during these times. Late afternoon also means as you’re driving around the schools are emptying and all of the monks in training are coming out which is really quite a special thing to see. I really wanted to see the stilt bridge at sunrise however the sunrise wasn’t fantastic that morning. I did however meet a young monk who wanted to practice his English and so we sat and had a chat for 15 minutes which was pretty cool, that and an old lady came over to re-adjust my sarong. 

To make it easy I added a list of the Pagodas and their locations on another post.

In Mandalay I stayed at the Ayarwaddy River View hotel. I knew I would only be there for about 12 hours so I wasn’t too fussed about accommodation. I did get lucky though as they had a roof top bar with views right over the river for sunset. Throw in an Ice cold Myanmar beer and I was a very happy girl.

If you’re going to do a temple/pagoda day then pack a long skirt or pants and a shirt or top that covers your shoulders. The local sarongs are pretty too but you need an expert to help you fit one. I didn’t feel as safe in Myanmar as I have done alone in other countries, I felt like a lot of people were looking at me so that’s something to consider as you’re moving around.