[Day 2 Yangon Trip] Bago Region Heritage Zone

From Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, we continued our trip to Bago. Bago is 2 hours drive away from Mon State (Kyaiktiyo Pagoda’s location). As we arrived in Bago, the first place we came to visit was Shwemawdaw Pagoda. The entrance fee is 10,000 kyat (per person), but it includes four heritage sites across Bago. So, we just need to pay once for all the attractions around Bago which are included in Bago Region Heritage Zone.

Ticket 

Shwemawdaw Pagoda is so beautiful! It is covered in gold color making it look more stunning. The place is quite spacious and it was quiet of people at the time of my visit. In Myanmar, as far as I remember, most of the pagodas are situated in the centre of the site and usually the site is circular. So, we can go around in circle to see the pagoda in 360 degree perspective.

After Shwemawdaw Pagoda, we were off to Reclining Buddha. It took us only 20 minutes drive. As we arrived there, we were so amazed by the Reclining Buddha Statue. It is literally huge! There are also some open shops around the site selling some stuffs and souvenirs about Myanmar.

The next spot we visited after Reclining Buddha was Kyaik Pun Pagoda. It is only 10 minutes drive away from Reclining Buddha. We had to pay additional 300 kyat for camera fee. The site is not so that big. There is one big structure in the centre of the site. It is four Buddha Statues settled next to each other facing four different directions.

Kyaik Pun Pagoda was the last site we stopped at. There is one more spot of Bago Region Heritage Zone that we could have visited, but unfortunately it was late in the afternoon and we had to go back to Yangon. The journey from Bago to Yangon is about 1.5 hours. We arrived in Yangon around 6 PM, that means we had a 12 hours of day trip visiting Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and Bago in the same day. It was an amazing journey so far!

[Day 2 Yangon Trip] Rent Car & Kyaiktiyo Pagoda

Here comes the second day!

We planned to go to Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and Bago for this day. Weeks before this trip, I reached out some travel agents (searching on google) to find out the best deal for a rent car to those two places.  I came across some blogs and found out that it usually takes around 2 days 1 night trip if you want to visit Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and Bago. However, from Yangon to Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, we will pass through Bago so I came up with decision that I wanted to go for 1 day trip only to visit Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and Bago at the same time.

Kyaiktiyo Pagoda

Luckily, I got an email from Gandawun Shwe Bagan Travel & Tours (myanmartravel.org) giving us out the best deal ever among other travel agents I sent emails to. They offered us rental fee for a 3 seater sedan for USD 135 (inc. driver, fuel, toll fee, mineral water). They also said to us that it is possible to go for a Kyaiktiyo Pagoda and Bago for 1 day trip only and the price does not change with or without a stop in Bago. So, we took the deal!

We departed from our hotel at 6 AM and the journey was 3.5 hours long from Yangon to the point of embark/disembark for Kyaiktiyo Pagoda. The road trip was fascinating as we gazed out to scenery I am not so often to see. Along the journey, most of things we saw were ricefields, deserted landscapes, rivers, swamps, and so on. We arrived on 9.30 AM at the terminal where people are getting on a semi open-air truck. This is compulsory for everyone who wants to head up to Kyaiktiyo Pagoda to take a ride by the semi open-air truck. This way is conducted because Kyaiktiyo Pagoda is located at the top of the mountain and the terminal is in the bottom of the mountain. So, the semi open-air truck is the transportation mode.

The transport fee is 2,000 kyat/one way, that means we have to pay as much as 4,000 kyat for a round trip. But, I noticed in the terminal that there is a signboard saying that it costs 2,000 kyat (front seat) and 1,5000 kyat (back seat). For your information, one truck has about 6-8 rows, in which each row can be occupied by 6 people. We were going up from bottom to the top of mountain, it was a 45 minutes of bumpy and speedy ride with some turns (way down is faster than way up). Everyone in the truck was squeezing around slightly, but we arrived at our destination safe and sound. We disembarked the truck and walked down our way to Kyaiktiyo Pagoda. We stopped by at the ticket office an paid 6,000 kyat for entrance fee (per person).

Ticket Card

It took us around 10 minutes to arrive at Kyaiktiyo Pagoda from parking areas. It is also necessary to take off our shoes or sandals (barefoot mode on) and wear Longyi or long fabric. It was packed of people! There were not so many tourists there at the time of my visit. As I made my way closer to Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, I got amazed. I could not believe how a big rock like that could hang onto a cliff, stand still, seems like it goes against gravity. It was absolutely unbelievable. If you want, you can go down closer to the rock, pray, and touch it. That is how most of local people do it way. There is also something like viewing deck below the pagoda and we definitely can overlook green sceneries from it.

We did not spend so much time there, probably just 1.5 hours. Then, we headed back down to the terminal. Before that, the struggle was real. We had to compete with others to get onto the truck, squeezed in a crowd. We missed 3 trucks before we could really have a seat in another truck. At the end of the day, it was all worth it. We could really immerse ourself with locals and also act like the way they do. Well, as soon as we got back at the bottom of the mountain, we stopped at a restaurant nearby the terminal. We had 2 fried rice(s) and also 2 soft drink(s) for 8,000 kyats. We were so starving at that point! Then, we continued our trip to Bago.

There are some binoculars on the spot

That’s all for this post! I will see you on the next article.

Have a good reading!

Thanks for stopping by! Cheers.

[Day 1 Yangon Trip] Sule Pagoda & Shwedagon Pagoda

Yangon.

A vibrant city, used to be the capital city of Myanmar, is packed with a lot of beautiful sights which undoubtedly will blow your mind. As Myanmar has moved its capital city to Naypyidaw, Yangon still remains as a busy and hectic city. When I arrived at Yangon, the first thing I noticed was the way people driving their cars or vehicles. For example, most of the cars in Yangon are equipped with right-side steering, and guess what, they drive in a right-side steering mode but also in right lane! How unbelievable it is. Usually, in Indonesia, people drive in right-side steering as well but we use left lane when we drive our cars. What is going on in Yangon in terms of the way people drive cars is quite interesting!

We stayed at Novotel Yangon Max for 4 days 3 nights. It is located in Pyay Road and it takes about 35 minutes from Yangon airport. We stayed over in Deluxe Room on eighth (8th) floor and we got an amazing view overlooking to Shwedagon Pagoda. The hotel is facilitated with sophisticated facilities and equipped with swimming pool, restaurants, tennis court, fitness centre, cafe, and many more. The fare we paid was included breakfast and the breakfast was amazing. They serve extensive selection of foods during breakfast, for your information the breakfast is served at The Square restaurant. If you wish to have your dinner in the restaurants inside the hotel, they also have some promotions. There is also a chinese restaurant located inside Novotel. According to my experience, I spent 25 USD for buffet dinner (all you can eat) on my first night and on the second night I paid 35 USD for seafood buffet dinner (all you can eat). I had my dinner at The Square restaurant, the same location to enjoy breakfast. For further information about Novotel Yangon Max, you can jump into its website www.novotel.com/Yangon or you can just go straightaway to google. I would say it is a very recommended hotel in Yangon and you will be satisfied by its excellent and top-notch services.

Unexpected journey to Yangon

It has been a while since the last time I posted an article into this blog, Well, I guess this is going to be a perfect timing to write something new as I just got back from Yangon, the former capital city of Myanmar.

To begin with, at first, I did not expect to travel to Myanmar. Firstly, I desired to book a ticket to Singapore but then my friend texted me and invited me for a trip to Yangon. I was in total confusion. I really wanted to go to Singapore because it was just in time to Garuda Indonesia Travel Fair so I expected to get cheap fares. However, in other side, there was a strong force saying that I could not miss my friend’s invitation like “dude, you have never been to Myanmar before and this is just a right time”. I spent like one night long just to figure it out. Then, I came up to decision that I would go with Yangon’s trip no matter what, so ticket was booked!

self-made itinerary

I departed to Yangon on April 19th, 2017. I had to have a transit in Kuala Lumpur. My flight from Bali to Kuala Lumpur took off at 21.20 AM and arrived in Kuala Lumpur around 00.20 PM, 3 hours flight. As I landed at KLIA2, I needed to spend 6 hours of layover. Thankfully, KLIA2 is equipped with extensive selection of food vendors, free Wi-Fi for 24 hours, seating areas, electricity socket, duty free area, and many more. As the night has gone by, a new day began. We left Kuala Lumpur for Yangon at 06.50 AM and arrived in Yangon International Airport on April 20th 2017 at 08.00 PM (Yangon’s local time is 1hr 30min behind Kuala Lumpur’s local time), so it was a 2hr 40min flight.

If you book a connecting flight, usually your luggages will be transferred directly and straightaway from departing airport to arriving airport. There is no need to claim your baggage at transiting airport, just go to transfer hall as soon as you arrive for transit.

Yangon International Airport. At first, I did not expect that Yangon’s Airport is so huge and designed in sophisticated architecture. The facilities across the airport are not limited as well. This airport really puts much effort in ensuring passenger’s comfort. Well done! This slideshow below will show you a glimpse of Yangon International Airport, photos taken by writer’s phone.

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After clearing immigration section, you will be directed straight to baggage claim area. Then, you will walk down your way to arriving hall (before that, you have to hand out custom declaration form to the staffs). There are some money changers, food kiosks, convenience store, sim card kiosks, information, and taxi pick-up stand. There are also a lot of locals offering a taxi ride at arrival hall.

 

For (sim card) internet operator, I chose Ooredoo. There are Ooredoo and Telenor stand adjacent to arrival hall’s flight board and next to a money changer. I had to pay 7,500 kyats for 3,5 GB internet use. For 2 GB internet use, we have to pay 5,000 kyats and there are number of choices for the data plan. It is valid for one month.

 

Myanmar’s local currency. For 1 USD, it is equal to 1,346 kyats (it is around 13,300 Rupiah).

Myanmar’s local currency

 

This is the common signboard that you will find before you enter every pagoda or temple in Myanmar.

This is my expenses at the airport. Just to let you know if you are wondering the prices of living cost there.

 

And this is how electricity socket looks like in Myanmar (it is quite similar to the one in Malaysia).

 

Well, that’s all for this article. I will write details of my Yangon trip on my next articles. I will separate it into Day 1 article, Day 2 article, and Day 3 article about my trip around Yangon. Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by at my blog.

Regards!