A guide to visit Myanmar

Known as “Buddhist Kingdom”, Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a Southeast Asian country with more than 100 ethnic groups. Myanmar impresses tourists with the unique culture, tasty food, beautiful landscapes, ancient temples, and pagodas. Day after day, Myanmar now being one of the most popular destinations in Asia and attracts thousands of local and foreigner tourists each year, especially worship ones

How to get to Myanmar?
Airplanes are still the best mean of transportation to get to Myanmar. Yangon International Airport and Mandalay International Airport are the primary entry point for almost passengers. From Vietnam, there are some airlines that you can choose. You can update the flights’ route and time on websites of popular airlines such as Vietnam Airlines, VietJet Star or Jetstar Pacific. If you want an international airline, Air Asia will be a great choice for you with the affordable price, but you have to transit at Bangkok.

Best time to travel
Myanmar’s weather is divided into 2 distinct seasons: dry and wet. The weather is not too tough so you can travel at any time of the year. However, the perfect time to visit Myanmar is from November to February, also the peak tourist season. It’s not too hot during the daytime and become cooler at night. This is also the least humid time and has the clearest air during a year

Accommodation
Myanmar offers thousands of hotels, lodges, resorts, and guesthouse with the reasonable price and modern facilities. However, in the peak season, the number of visitors increases and the price is also much higher than normal so you should check the price and the availability before traveling.

Top places to visit

– U Bein Bridge – a symbol of Myanmar. Talk about Myanmar, you may think right about U Bein Bridge. With the length of 1.2 km, the bridge is believed to be the longest and oldest teakwood bridge in the world which crosses Taungthaman Lake. The ideal time to visit U Bein Bridge is after sunrise when villagers and monks commute back and forth across it.

– Called “The Buddhist Kingdom”, Myanmar is home to hundreds of all-shape temple and pagoda. Therefore, Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, Shwenandaw Monastery, Sandamuni Pagoda, Shwe Kyin Monastery in Mandalay, and the Unfinished Mingun Pagoda, Shwethalyaung Pagoda in Bagan are the top attractions that you should not miss.

– Inle Lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District. The lake is famous for its floating villages and gardens. Here you can take a look and learn about the cultural life of local people.

– The temples of Bagan: This is the place which popular for the photos of hundreds of temples in Bagan rising out of the morning mist. The breathtaking view will definitely not make you disappointed

– Pyin Oo Lwin situated in the Shan Highland, just 2-3 hours from the center of Mandalay. Here you can explore the colonial architecture, try a horse-and-cart ride around the ancient town, hike to minority villages or head out to the majestic Anisakan Waterfall

What to eat?

Burmese cuisine is not as popular as its neighbor countries such as Thai, Chinese or Vietnam. However, it still has its own characteristics and unique. Here are top 5 dishes that 365 Travel highly recommend you to try when coming to Myanmar

– Mohinga (Burmese fish noodle soup): This is one of the most well-known dishes in Myanmar and usually eaten for breakfast. It is made from round rice noodles served in an herbal-fish broth. The tasty broth includes turmeric, ginger, chili powder, garlic and lemongrass

– Tea leaf salad: the dish is the perfect combination of shredded cabbage, sliced tomatoes, nuts and peas and mixed by hand with the sweet and sour. When it comes to travel Burma, visitors can easily find this salad in the meal of Burmese people

– Shan-style rice/ noodle: The word Shan means fish, one of the country’s main Buddhist ethnic groups. Therefore, in Myanmar, most of the dishes are made from fish. And one of the most typical dishes is Shan-style rice/ noodle. The rice or noodle will be cooked with turmeric then eat with flakes of freshwater fish and garlic oil.

– Burmese curry: there is no lack of choice for you choose from pork, fish, shrimp, beef, etc. The dish usually consists of rice, a tart salad, fried vegetables, a bowl of soup and to be eaten with many types of dips