Over the weekend I did a short trip to Myanmar (formerly Burma). Having traveled extensively in my younger years, Myanmar was the only country that I haven't visited in the Indo China region so visiting Myanmar was on one of my bucket list (list of must do things in life).
I've always thought that as a Malaysian, visiting ASEAN countries do not require VISAs. Going to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand didn't require a VISA as a Malaysian citizen. I was a bit surprised to know that Malaysian citizen going to Myanmar require a VISA. I found it out by accident, when my Myanmar tour guide casually asked my a few days before my trip if I had done my VISA. So I scrambled to find out about it from a website called iVISA. I was charged USD 50 for the VISA. While it was expensive, the entire process was hassle free, I just paid, waited 3 days and the VISA arrived as a Adobe pdf format. I believe local tour companies can do the Myanmar VISA much cheaper but this online option (iVISA) offers convenience over price.
Make sure you make a VISA before travelling to Myanmar because at the Airport I was asked to produce the VISA before boarding the plane, means I can't just say I am planning to get a VISA on demand. You won't be allowed to board the plane without a valid VISA to visit Myanmar.
I visited the famous Shwadagon Pagoda (Great Dragon Pagoda) in Yangon downtown and Inle Lake in the Shan province. 1 day at Yangon is more than sufficient to cover the entire place. English is widely spoken in the major tourist areas and moving around is not difficult. As the country was formerly a British colony, English is taught in schools.
The country is basically littered with Buddhist pagodas and stupas so most of the tours will be mostly visiting these places of worship. The number of Buddhist pagodas and stupas way outnumber the ones in Thailand. It seems in very early days Myanmar was the center of Buddhism in South East Asia.
Inle Lake is located at the Shan province in Myanmar and requires a 1 hour domestic flight from Yangon to Heho (αဲαိုး) and then it is a 1 hour car ride to the lake. I took Myanmar airlines Air Thanlwin for this journey. Inle lake is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles.
The trip overall was a real eye opener to me. I didn't travel to the more touristy area Bagan to ride the hot air balloons as didn't have enough time for the trip.
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As souvenir, I bought the local Mandalay rum back at the airport for family.
Updates 2023-2024, Myanmar is not safe to travel to right now. There are many risks and dangers for tourists, such as civil unrest, armed conflict, terrorism, landmines, and human rights violations. Many foreign governments have issued do not travel advisories for Myanmar and urge their citizens to avoid visiting the country.
πLinks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inle_Lake