Myanmar

How to get to Myanmar from Bulgaria

From Bulgaria you can fly to Bangkok and from there catch a connecting flight to either Mandalay or Yangon in Myanmar, or fly directly to the respective cities in Myanmar. Although the tickets in the first case might seem a little cheaper, there is a catch – the multiple entries visa for Thailand is priced at 150 Euros per person.

So my advice will be to fly directly to Myanmar or get a single entry visa for Thailand for 30 Euros, go to Bangkok, from there to Mandalay or Yangon and then come back to Bulgaria directly from Myanmar to avoid spending that much money on the expensive Thai visa.

Visa for Myanmar/Burma

You can apply fo an eVisa for Myanmar here. The price for a tourist visa is $50. The application is processed within a few days.

Sofia Bangkok flight

The cheapest tickets I have been able to find to Bangkok from Sofia are the ones offered by Qatar Airways – around 450 Euros. Of course, you need to book them a few months in advance in order to get a good deal with a layover of less than 3 hours in Doha. The total duration of the flight without the connection time is around 12 hours.

Bangkok Mandalay flight

AirAsia offer return tickets for as much as 70 Euros per person. The duration of the flight is a little less than 2 hours. The flight departs from Don Muang Airport.

How to get to Don Muang Airport in Bangkok

You can take the BTS Skytrain to Mo Chit station and from there  take exit 3 and at the end take the escalator down on the right. Once down to the street, the A1 bus stop is just in front of you. The ticket for it costs 30 Baht. If you miss the bus (which happened to us), you can take a taxi. For a taxi from Mo Chit to the airport we paid 130 Baht.

When you start planning your Burmese trip you will most definitely come across the so called Big 4 – the four most popular tourist destinations in the country. These are the two largest cities – Mandalay and Yangon, the temple complex of Bagan and the Inle Lake.

Since we were arriving in Myanmar from Bangkok we “lost” two days in the Thai capital which limited the time we could spend in Myanmar. So we had to give up on one of the Big 4 destinations. It didn’t take much time to decide – Yangon was referred to by different people in travel forums as a place you might arrive to due to its airport, but nothing more. While we were in Myanmar we had the chance to talk to other tourists who had visited the capital of Yangon and they only confirmed what I had read.

So, if you don’t have enough time, simply skip Yangon. The other three destinations part of the Big 4 are also forming something like a triangle on the map and are very convenient to explore in about one week as they are close to one another. This is how we did it:

1st day – Arrive in Bangkok which is the most popular gateway to Myanmar and spend the rest of the day there.

2nd day – Flight to Mandalay. We booked our tickets with AirAsia and arrived in Myanmar in the early afternoon. You could try catching the sunset at Mandalay Hill. Here is how we spent our time in Mandalay.

3rd day – Take the boat to Bagan early in the morning. You can find information on the different transportation options from Mandalay to Bagan here. I highly recommend the rather long but very pleasant boat trip.

4th day – Rent an e-bike and explore the Bagan temples. More about our impressions of Bagan here

5th day – Another day around the temples. Catch a late bus to Inle Lake. Detailed information about the transportation options from Bagan to Inle Lake you can find in my post here.

6th day – Boattrip in Inle Lake. Here is how we spent our day there.

7th day – Early afternoon flight from Heho (the town near Inle Lake where the nearest airport is located) to Mandalay. A walk around the temples in Mandalay.

8th day – Flight to Bangkok.

If you have more time I would suggest that you spend one or two days more in Bagan and around Inle Lake. Another option would be to catch a bus from Bagan and on the way to Inle stop at Kalaw. From there you can trek to Inle Lake. This will add up 2-3 additional days to the program.

We arrived at the bus station in Nyaung Shwe around 4:30 a.m. after a 9 hour journey with the bus from Bagan. More about transportation from Bagan to Inle Lake you can read in my post here: http://lessthan10days.com/2016/03/12/travel-from-bagan-to-inle-lake/

There were two minivans parked at the station, waiting for the tourists and locals to arrive. I had checked the distance between the bus station and the place we were staying at and I knew it is about 2km so when they asked us to pay 4000 Kyat per person I told Ivo this is way too much. The other tourists and the locals hopped on without discussing the price. We waited for the first minivan to leave and then asked the driver of the second one about the price once again. His minivan was full only with local people and when he saw we were not going to pay the high price he initially requested, he agreed to give us a lift for 2000 Kyat per person. The young girls we were sharing the minivan with were very curious, looking at us all the time and giggling during the whole ride.

In about 10 minutes we arrived in front of the so called resort where we had booked a bungalow. It was the worst place we stayed at in Myanmar, the room was really cold and there was no hot water in the bathroom. So I went to bed freezing from the air-conditioning in the bus and hoped I won’t have a cold on the next morning. Overall, the temperature around Inle Lake is somewhat lower than this in Bagan or Mandalay, especially in the evenings so we had to adjust very fast. Before going to bed we spoke with the guy at the reception to arrange a boat for us for the next day. We agreed that the boatman will wait for us at 9:30 at the reception and that we will have to pay him 20000 Kyat for the service.

On the next day we woke up and after breakfast took two of the bikes in the resort and cycled through the city following the boatman who was driving a scooter in front of us, showing us the way. It was a great morning with a clear sky and birds singing throughout the whole way to the river. Our destination was a house where the owner of the boats showed us a map with all the sights we were about to visit. He also mentioned several more distant ones and told us we need to pay extra if we would like to see any of them. We decided to stick to the initial plan, as we didn’t think we would have enough time to see that much in just one day. The boat was long and very thin with four seats one behind another and we had it all for ourselves which was great.

 

What one should definitely take for the boat is a wind stopper, a hat and a sunscreen. Since you spend the whole day travelling around with the boat the temperatures change and you don’t want to be cold or to have a sunstroke. I was lucky because there were blankets in the boat which I used early in the morning to warm myself up. The boat trip starts in the wide part of the lake where you can see the typical local fishermen standing on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. Usually they want you to pay them money for taking photos of them which was rather annoying and at a certain point we started doubting if they went there fishing at all, or were just pretending for the tourists.

Our boatman then brought us to a silk factory where we could see the process of creating silk scarves. We also visited a place where people were creating silver jewels. There we met the famous lady with the long neck. We went to a place where people were making wooden boats outside, and inside the house a number of women were rolling cigars with different flavors and selling them. These places were all part of the so called floating market as they were all situated on stilt houses.

We then continued to Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda. We entered it and saw many locals praying. In the middle there were some weird gold balls. I later read that these are actually 800 years old images of Buddha, to which so much gold leaf has been applied that they are no longer recognizable as Buddha images. Women can enter the monastery, but are not allowed to go near the Buddha figures.

Our boat trip continued with a visit of Nan Pau village which was incredibly beautiful with all of its houses on stilts. There you can go to some of the best restaurants in the area. I found one which was recommended in our guidebook and asked the boatman to take us there. He said he knows a better place and insisted it is not possible to go to the one I have chosen without reservation. We argued for a while and at the end he agreed to drive in this direction. On our way to the restaurant he several times tried to persuade us it makes no sense to go to this restaurant without reservation. We ignored his remarks and when we arrived there was only one table which was occupied. Then we were absolutely sure that what we suspected was true – he was just trying to take us to a place where he is on a commission. The restaurant we chose is called Green Chilli and offers a wide range of Thai dishes, has a great terrace with an incredible view over the lake and all the houses around it.

While we were having lunch we could watch a woman take a shower at the pier close to her house. She was wearing a long sari-like dress and was washing her hair using the lake water. There were boats floating around – some fishermen with their catch, old ladies using it as a means of transportation. It was great to just chill on the terrace, enjoy the tasty food and observe the daily routines of local people.

 

We then headed to the Jumping Cat Monastery and while we were travelling with the boat I was looking in the guidebook for a place I saw on one postcard somewhere in the shops earlier this day. It was a place with many pagodas sitting comfortably on a hill. This turned out to be the village of Inn Dein. I asked the boatman to stop the engine and tell us where this village is located. He said it was too far and we had not paid for it and turned the engine on again. So we had to argue with him and insist that he brings us there. We had to pay additional 5000 Kyat for this and after a phone call with his manager and a confirmation the boatman brought us to the village. We were really happy we decided to go there – when you head to the village the lake turns into a small waterway with houses and land pretty close to you on both sides of the boat.

The village of Inn Dein itself is full of women selling beautiful silk scarves and other souvenirs at quite good prices. You reach the hill through a bamboo forest and see another one – the stupa forest. The stupas were so many – old and new ones, some bigger, other smaller, painted in different colors and all of them with their bells on top creating together with the wind a magical symphony which takes you into a meditative state.

On our way back we checked the Jumping Cat Monastery where the cats are no longer jumping into the lake, as they were once taught to. It was a very peaceful place and the perfect spot for the sunset and the end of the lake boat trip. We checked the floating gardens right next to the monastery, where we could see a vegetable farm with cucumbers, tomatoes and paprika growing in the water.

By the time we reached the house of the boat owner it was already dark. We took the bicycles and went to the Night Food Market which was a tiny street with a number of outdoor restaurants. The place was packed with locals but didn’t look appealing to us so I looked in the guidebook for another place to eat and chose Linn Htet. This was a super cute small restaurant with tasty food and the owner being a very nice lady. I had a funny experience when I asked her about the toilet. A little girl came and asked me to follow her. We then went to a house nearby where she opened the front door, I entered, she showed me the bathroom and left the house.

After dinner we went looking for a company which offers taxi service to the airport and found one with prices lower than the ones we were offered by the manager of the so called resort we were staying at. This is the e-mail address of the company: nanmyasein1985@gmail.com They also have a facebook page – mukyinanmyasein and can be reached by phone on 428354066.

When we reached the airport at Heho on the next day I couldn’t believe how ridiculous everything looked. We checked in by just pointing at our backpacks to a man who gave us stickers with the airplane logo. We had to put them visibly on our clothes. There was a giant heap of checked in baggage collected in the middle of the airport. The passport control was a desk where a lady was writing the passengers’ information in a notebook and we could take all the water we had in the “lounge”. It was more like an old bus station in the middle of nowhere. But there was free Wi-Fi! The flight itself was one of the worst I have experienced in my life by far. When we arrived in Mandalay I had to spend about an hour at the airport trying to recover. The staff there went crazy looking at me lying on a bench holding a bottle of water. A lady even came to me and started questioning where I was coming from while Ivo was waiting for the luggage.

If you decide to go to Myanmar, Inle Lake is a must. Together with Bagan they are great destinations, which still remain relatively unpopular. So if you don’t like the crowds with tourists and want to enjoy the genuine Burmese atmosphere you better go in the next few years before the country becomes one of the most desired destinations in Asia.

We arrived in Myanmar by plane from Bangkok. After spending some time planning the trip we decided to skip Yangon, as we didn’t have time for all destinations from the so called big 4 – Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan and Inle lake. Since the last two are a must, we had to choose between Yangon and Mandalay. From what I read most of the people preferred much more Mandalay and also it is much closer to both Bagan and Inle lake. So it was rather easy to come to a decision.

 

The flight from Bangkok takes approximately two hours. We arrived at the airport where we exchanged some of our Dollars for the local Kyats. This was the best exchange rate we found during our stay in the country. So my advice will be to change all your Dollars there instead of waiting to go to the city and find a better rate – the chances to find such are rather poor.  You need to keep in mind that bills that are not perfect – not looking like brand new, might not be accepted or might be exchanged at a lower rate. Also, larger bills ($50 and $100) are exchanged at a slightly higher rate.

There are many companies offering transport from the airport to the city and the cheapest one is the shared minivan offered by Shwe Nan San Minibus Company. The price per person is 3000 Kyat and they leave you in front of the hotel.

 

After checking in we went out to look for a place to eat. We were provided with the funniest city map ever! Mandalay’s streets are numbers which was quite convenient for us when we were looking for a certain restaurant for instance. We just had to look for let’s say the corner of 23rd and 79th. Distances are huge and the streets are quite dusty. For us the best time to just walk around was late in the evening when there was almost no traffic.

We went to Aye-Myit-Tar located on 81st street, between 36th and 37th – a good restaurant, slightly more expensive than the ones we tried afterwards, but still worth it.

We then wanted to go to the palace and in front of the restaurant a very nice guy with a bike with two seats offered us a ride. As we had some very bad experience with one other guy with such bike in India, who I thought would not survive until he takes us to the destination, I was not willing a similar thing to happen once again. The guy, however, assured us there will be no problem for him, although we said we will be too heavy. We then agreed and asked him to drive to the palace. He was chatting with Ivo during the whole ride while I was taking pictures. I was sitting at the back facing the cars, scooters and bikes behind us and could see how curious everybody was – people were waving and smiling. They seemed to be so welcoming and warm.

When we arrived near the palace we saw it was situated inside a walled fort surrounded by a moat. Unfortunately, it was around 5p.m. and it was already closed. The fort is huge – we walked the moat for more than 30 minutes without even making a turn and we were about half way to its end.

 

As we wanted to see the sunset from Mandalay hill we tried stopping some of the people with scooters on the street – two guys took us to the hill for 1000 Kyat per person. We then found out we had to take our shoes off before entering. It looked very dirty and I therefore decided to go with my socks on. There are stairways leading all the way up the hill which I think is the best way to reach the pagoda at the summit. There is also a road leading to an escalator which is a good option for people who are not able to climb the stairways. A number of terraces make you think you have reached the summit, but once you are there you know for sure this is the final destination. We were not let to enter it with socks and later in Bagan we also had to be barefoot when visiting the temples.  The entrance fee for the summit is 1000 Kyat. It was almost impossible to see the city due to the heavy smog down there. At least we saw Irrawaddy River on which we were going to sail to Bagan on the next day.

 

 

 

When the sun sank it was great to spend some time just relaxing on the stone benches close to the summit. On our way back to the hotel we passed by the Kuthodaw Pagoda and Sandamuni Pagoda. Apparently it is a Burmese thing to light the pagodas colorfully which reminds you of the Christmas decoration on the streets in Europe.

We bargained a downtown ride with a scooter and went to an Indian restaurant called Pan Cherry for dinner. It is located on 81^st street between 26^th and 27^th. The place is cheap and the food tasty. By ordering a curry you get a number of side dishes and as much rice as you can eat.

On our way back to the hotel we looked for a shop where we could buy beer and a very kind lady took us to a small one. It looked more like a small shed with 5 men at a different age sitting inside and watching TV. Some of them were sitting on top of the table and playing a game with bottle caps. From the ceiling were hanging all kinds of packed snacks and apparently I was way too tall, because I had to bend over in order to be able to move inside without hitting the snack with my head.

With a couple of beers in our bag we happily headed to the hotel. It was already late and there were almost no people on the streets. We could take a look inside the houses of the richer people. The funny thing was that on the first floor they all looked similar – a big TV, a sofa and..a car parked inside next to the sofa. Obviously for them the car was part of the home interior and they were really proud with it. We could also see the homes of the poorer people – their doors were open and the living room was on the same level as the street so we could almost get inside. Most of the families we saw were having dinner together on the floor and there was almost no furniture. The little they had inside seemed very dusty as they most probably keep the doors and windows open during the day and nothing can stop the dirt from the vehicles get inside. We really wanted to take photos, but felt it would be too intrusive.  This evening walk was the most interesting and pleasant part of our stay in Mandalay as we could get closer to the life of locals and have a glance at their private space.

Getting to Bagan from Mandalay

The highlight of our journey in Myanmar was definitely Bagan. Its temples were what made me do a research on travelling in the country at first place. While I was planning our trip I had to decide how to get there from Mandalay and I discovered there were several boat companies offering journeys from there to Bagan. This was rather a luxury for budget travelers like us as the price of the ticket was $42 per person. My other concern was that it takes about 9-10 hours to reach Bagan this way. At the end Ivo and me decided this was a great way to see more of the country during our short visit and bought the tickets. We booked with Malikha who have a website with an option to buy the tickets online. Here is their website if anyone is interested: http://www.malikha-rivercruises.com/

 

The boat takes off at 7 a.m. and on the ticket we have printed was written that we need to be there at 6 a.m. so we asked at the reception of our hotel about a taxi for 5:45 a.m. and the lady at the reception convinced us that we can take the taxi at 6 a.m. and arrive there after 30 minutes, which according to her was absolutely ok. So we did and we arrived there together with a bus packed with German tourists who apparently were also travelling with our boat. I knew we had to be fast to get good seats so I ran and took the last two comfortable chairs. The people who came after us had to stay at the back of the boat on plastic ones which for such a long trip is not recommendable.

We set off at 7 a.m. sharp and I was really thankful that Ivo had packed two wind stoppers in his backpack because until the sunrise it was freezing cold. There was breakfast and lunch on the boat, we could buy beer and one old German guy was really impressed with Ivo purchasing his first one around 10 a.m. 🙂 Actually, during the whole trip in this country most of the tourists we met or heard talking were from Germany. We managed to sleep a bit in the compartment inside the boat, where the temperature was quite ok, because after 1p.m. it was unbearably hot at the upper deck.

 

Nyaung U to Bagan

Around 5 p.m. we arrived in Nyaung U where we took a taxi after a lot of bargaining. On our way we stopped at a ticket counter to buy our tickets for 25 000 Kyat per person. They are valid for one week, but I highly doubt anyone will find out yours is not valid anymore in case you decide to spend some more time in Bagan. We weren’t asked to show them a single time while we were there.

 

 

 

We checked in at the hotel where we could also rent an e-bike which is the best way to explore the temples. Since it was already 6 p.m. we had to hurry up if we wanted to see something before it gets pitch-dark. Unfortunately, by the time we reached the first temples on the road it was already dark. There were some temples which were lit like the Ananda temple we visited. As we discovered on the next day, it was great that we visited it late in the evening when local people were coming to pray and there were absolutely no tourists. Because during the day it is one of the busiest sites with buses and cars parking in front of it and loud tourist groups walking around.

 

 

Where to eat in Bagan

We then decided to look for a place to eat and with the help of our guidebook we found a great restaurant near Tharabha Gate called The Moon. This became our favorite restaurant where we were eating while in Bagan. When we asked for the check they gave us a bow with very strange bonbons which were so delicious that we wanted to buy from them. It turned out that in the restaurant were selling these big packs of the Tamarind bonbons. So we bought one and got back to the hotel to rest and plan our next day.

Where to stay in Bagan

I knew we had to get up early to see the sunrise from one of the temples so I asked the lady at the reception for advise on a temple which is less crowded early in the morning and she recommended Thisa Wadi which was really easy to find thanks to the map she provided us with. New Bagan turned out to be the best place to stay, as it is closer to some of the best spots for the sunrise. This saves you time early in the morning which at the end of the day makes a difference, because you get exhausted by all the travelling on the bumpy roads, climbing the temples and the super high temperatures. So some 30-40 minutes more sleep in the morning is always welcome.

 

So we woke up a bit late (5:45 a.m.), had breakfast and took one e-bike from the hotel and headed to the temple. It was easy to reach it as we saw the golden pagoda Dhamma-ya-za-ka on our left side, made a left turn and headed towards it. When we reached it we asked some people which way we had to drive for Thisa Wadi. It was pretty close and we managed to climb the stairs and reach its terrace when the air balloon were launching. The temple turned out to be a great choice as the current route of most of the balloons was right over it. So we could even see the people in the baskets and take some very good pictures with the rising sun and the balloons.

After the sunrise we drove around the temples between Thisa Wadi and Old Bagan. We had to go back to the hotel around 11 a.m. and pack our stuff. When we arrived at the hotel I checked my mail and saw that from the bus company had written asking me to go pick the bus tickets I have booked in advance from their office in Nyaung U. They were saying for your travel tomorrow March 1. It was then when I realized I have completely forgotten it was a leap year and it was February 29. It was just ridiculous. Then I freaked out that we most probably have paid for only one night in the hotel and it turned out we had one more day in Bagan and everything was alright with the accommodation. I had simply forgotten how many days we had planned to spend there. Honestly, I was wondering when we arrived, how could I have left only half a day for Bagan when this was supposed to be the highlight of our trip.

This totally changed our mood – we could spend a few hours resting in the hotel, because it was too hot outside and we were feeling exhausted after waking up that early. After a short nap we asked at the reception for a new e-bike, because the one from the morning was not going to survive more than an hour. We then headed to Nyaung U to pay for our bus tickets to Inle Lake we had booked via mail. More about transportation from Bagan to Inle you can read here: http://lessthan10days.com/2016/03/12/travel-from-bagan-to-inle-lake/

After that we drove back to Tharaba Gate to check another restaurant which was recommended in our guidebook – Yar Pui. The food there was not bad at all, it was just that in comparison to The Moon it was not worth it 🙂

After lunch we started checking the temples which were situated on both sides of the road between Tharabha Gate and New Bagan.

For the sunset we went to South/North Guni – a big temple which was packed with people by the time we arrived there and its smaller sibling right next to it. Apparently, this was a very popular destination for the sunset.

We went for dinner at The Moon with the e-bike battery dying. The distance between our hotel and the restaurant was about 5km. When we finished dinner we drove with 5km/h the first 2-3 km and then Ivo left me on the e-bike to drive it up the hill. He was walking after me. It was ridiculous. The bike was heavier than I expected and I was zigzagging on the road with my phone’s flash turned on which I was holding in front of me, since the lights of the e-bike were going to exhaust the battery and I had turned them off. It was a warm evening, the sky was star-studded and apart from the few car horn sounds, it was so quiet and peaceful. In one hour we were in our room.

 

On the next day we woke up earlier and decided to take the same road as yesterday and look for a temple where we could climb up and see the sunrise. We passed by the golden pagoda from yesterday and continued on the road until we reached a dead end. Then we decided to go to a small temple we saw on our way where one e-bike was parked. It turned out there was one local guy selling paintings and three tourists (of course Germans) in the temple. We could see the balloons this time in front of us. The view was similar, but we had other temples closer to us and it was much more peaceful since there were these few people around us. You could make a 360° circle around the temple while on its terrace. We spent more than 1:30h there, enjoying the view, meditating and taking pictures. For me this was a very relaxing and magical experience I will remember for a long time. I chatted a bit with the local man who told me the name of the temple was Gutta. I am not sure if this is how it is spelled, but more information about it I, unfortunately, cannot find.

 

 

 

 

From there we could see the viewing tower which we unsuccessfully tried to reach the previous day. We managed to find it this time – it turned out the tower was part of a very expensive resort and we had to pay $5 entrance fee. It is higher than any temple in Bagan, but I was not impressed by its view. It didn’t feel genuine.  We didn’t spend much time there and left for the temples on the riverbank. We went to Bupaya pagoda. It was dirty and full with tourists there and in five minutes we had no desire to stay there anymore. We wanted to look for hidden places with more authentic atmosphere and found a very beautiful part of old Bagan which was unknown to the tourists and there were only local people there with temples literally in their backyard.

 

On our way back to the hotel we came across a group wedding with many children being brides and grooms. It was all very beautiful and colorful, there was a truck taking care of the music, only the kids looked extremely miserable. I tried to learn more about the ritual at the reception of the hotel, but the lady there either didn’t understand me or didn’t want to talk with me on the matter. Anyways, we took our backpacks and got on a minivan which picked us up from the hotel and drove us to the bus station where we were going to catch the evening bus to Inle Lake (this was part of the bus company service).

 

 

 

Travel from Mandalay to Bagan

Flight from Mandalay to Bagan

There are different options to travel from Mandalay to one of Myanmar’s touristic highlights – Bagan. The fastest one would be to catch a flight with one of the airlines with domestic offers:

http://www.yangonair.com/index.php/en/

http://www.airbagan.com/

http://www.gmairlines.com/

http://www.airmyanmar.com/index.php

Bus from Mandalay to Bagan

There are several bus companies who travel daily between Mandalay and Bagan. Here you can find more information about their schedule, price etc: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g295408-i11091-k6155520-o20-Bus_from_Mandalay_to_Bagan-Mandalay_Mandalay_Region.html This will most probably be the cheapest option.

Boat from Mandalay to Bagan

What we chose was a boat trip which I highly recommend. Some people don’t consider this option as the journey takes about 9-10 hours. It, however, is totally worth it. We booked with Malikha online here: http://www.malikha-rivercruises.com/ The price of the ticket was $42 per person. Remember to arrive there around 6 a.m. because the good seats are taken very fast and if you are late you will have to sit on a plastic chair at the back side of the boat. You will definitely need a hat and sun protection cream. I would also advise to buy some snack. You can buy cold drinks on the boat and they will give you breakfast and lunch. A wind stopper would protect you from the strong wind early in the morning.

If you are now trying to plan your Myanmar trip and are wondering how you could get from Bagan to Inle Lake you could consider two options depending on your budget – book a flight ticket or one for a bus.

Flight from Bagan to Inle Lake (Flight from Nyaung U to Heho)

There are four airlines offering domestic flights in Myanmar. Below you can check their websites:

http://www.yangonair.com/index.php/en/

http://www.airbagan.com/

http://www.gmairlines.com/

http://www.airmyanmar.com/index.php

When you look for a flight you need to consider that the closest airport to Bagan is the one in Nyaung U . The closest airport to Inle Lake is Heho – a one hour journey with a taxi from Nyaung Shwe where you most probably will be staying while visiting Inle.

How to book a taxi from and to Heho airport (Inle Lake)

I can recommend a taxi company for the journey from Heho airport to Nyaung Shwe – Mr. A tun Travel Agency. We found it while cycling in the city one evening and booked a taxi for our flight from Heho to Mandalay at a reasonable price – most probably better than the one they will offer you in the place where you will be staying. This is the e-mail address of the company: nanmyasein1985@gmail.com They also have a facebook page – mukyinanmyasein and can be reached by phone on 428354066.

Bus from Bagan to Inle Lake (Bus from Nyaung U to Nyaung Shwe)

How to book a bus ticket from Bagan to Inle Lake in advance

As we were travelling on a budget we decided to take the bus. There is one leaving at 7 p.m. and another one leaving at 9 p.m. We reserved our tickets with Ever Sky Information a few months in advance by sending them an e-mail at everskynanda@gmail.com. They will ask you to confirm your journey one week prior to departure and go pick your tickets and pay for them in their office in Nyaung U. When you rent an e-bike to explore the temples in Bagan you can go to Nyaung U and easily find their office by looking for the old bus station. Once you find it (when coming from old Bagan it will be on your left handside) you need to take the street crossing the main road on your right and then make another right turn. The price of a single ticket is 11000 Kyat which is around $10. They come and pick you up from your hotel (even if you are staying in New Bagan). The journey to Nyaung Shwe takes about 9-10 hours. If you decide to go for the bus take some warm clothes because the air conditioning is on most of the time and you might get cold. It is also advisable to take some food with you if you don’t want to eat at a very dirty restaurant on the road. You might also want to check the distance between the bus station at Nyaung Shwe and your hotel in order to be able to bargain for your transport on arrival. The drivers will ask for 5000 Kyat per person for a distance of 2 km which is too expensive. We paid 2000 Kyat per person.

Hope this will help you plan your trip!