Myanmar is a country that has fascinated me for years, although this particular journey isn’t mine. It comes from Margaret Moulton, who travelled through the country on a 10-day adventure and returned with stories of golden pagodas, monasteries, markets, traditional crafts, extraordinary landscapes and some memorable encounters along the way.
When Margaret originally sent me this article, I’ll admit that I had to remind myself exactly where Myanmar was and that this was, of course, the country many of us grew up knowing as Burma. What immediately appealed to me about her story was that it wasn’t simply another list of places to visit. It was about what she saw, the people she met and those small moments that make travelling somewhere unfamiliar so rewarding.
Myanmar’s circumstances have changed considerably since Margaret made this journey, so this article should now be read as a personal account of her travels at that time rather than a current recommendation to follow the same route. For up-to-date destination information and important travel advice, take a look at my main Myanmar Travel Guide.
With that said, I’m handing you over to Margaret for her journey through a country she found both magical and mysterious.
Discovering Myanmar
“Where is it you’re going again?”
“Burma… Myanmar.”
“Where is that again?”
That was the reaction from quite a few people when I told them where my next adventure was taking me.
Myanmar sits in Southeast Asia, sharing borders with Thailand, China, Laos, India and Bangladesh. I was intrigued by a country with such a distinctive culture, complicated history and strong Buddhist traditions, and it wasn’t long after arriving that the golden pagodas, monasteries and everyday street life began to reveal a place quite unlike anywhere I had previously travelled.
My adventure would take me from Yangon to Mandalay, Amarapura, Sagaing and Inle Lake, combining cities and temples with markets, monasteries and some wonderfully memorable encounters with local people. It was only ten days, but there was a great deal to fit in.
First Stop – Yangon
My journey began with a flight via Dubai into Yangon, the city many will still remember by its former name of Rangoon.
I stayed at the Sule Shangri-La in downtown Yangon, which at the time proved a very comfortable base for exploring the city. The rooms were large, the beds wonderfully comfortable and breakfast offered an enormous choice, but it was the central location that really worked for me.
One of my first experiences was simply heading out and exploring the street markets on foot. Walking through the Chinese and Indian quarters provided an immediate introduction to the smells, sounds and flavours of Yangon, with food being prepared on the streets and stalls selling just about everything imaginable.
And I do mean everything. If you happened to be in the market for a pair of Manchester United underpants, Yangon could apparently sort you out!
Football was enormously popular, but it was the architecture, markets and religious buildings that made the strongest first impression on me. Myanmar’s colonial past could still be seen in parts of the city, while a rickshaw ride through some of the narrow streets provided a rather more exhilarating way of getting around.
Nothing, however, quite prepared me for Shwedagon Pagoda.
The Golden Shwedagon Pagoda
The magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda became one of the highlights of my entire time in Yangon.
The great golden stupa dominates the complex, surrounded by shrines, prayer halls and smaller structures, but it was the atmosphere that stayed with me rather than simply its scale. This is not a monument preserved purely for tourists. It is an important place of worship, and watching people praying and making offerings gave the visit a very different feeling from simply touring another historic building.
I visited as the day was drawing towards evening, when the changing light seemed to make the gold glow even more intensely. There are places where photographs never quite capture how somewhere felt at the time, and for me Shwedagon was one of them.
On to Mandalay
From Yangon I continued to Mandalay, the last royal capital of Burma and a city with a strong connection to Myanmar’s cultural and Buddhist heritage.
One of the first things that struck me was the traditional craftsmanship. I visited a gold-leaf workshop where I watched the painstaking process of beating gold before it was rolled and prepared into the incredibly thin sheets used to decorate Buddha images and religious buildings.
Mandalay was also a wonderful place to see traditional longyi, the wraparound garments worn by both men and women throughout Myanmar. Different patterns and styles could be associated with particular regions and communities, turning something worn every day into another glimpse of the country’s cultural diversity.
Then there was Kuthodaw Pagoda, famous for what is often described as the world’s largest book. Rather than pages bound together in the conventional sense, hundreds of stone slabs inscribed with Buddhist scripture are housed individually within small white shrines surrounding the central golden pagoda.
It is the kind of place that makes you stop and appreciate just how deeply Buddhism is woven into Myanmar’s history and everyday life.
A Birthday at Shwe Kyin Monastery
Of all my experiences around Mandalay, one of the most memorable happened at Shwe Kyin Monastery, near the foot of Mandalay Hill.
It happened to be my birthday, but coincidentally it was also the birthday of a local Buddhist donor who was providing food and drink for the monks. We were fortunate enough to observe the monks gathering in procession before chanting and heading towards their shrine for prayers.
There was no elaborate performance being staged for visitors; this was part of the spiritual rhythm of everyday life at the monastery, and being allowed to quietly observe it felt like a genuine privilege. Travel often produces its best moments when circumstances line up in a way you could never have planned, and celebrating my birthday while witnessing this ceremony was one of those occasions.
At the time I stayed at the Hotel Bagan King in Mandalay, a small boutique-style property with a rooftop restaurant and bar. The team even produced a birthday cake, which rounded off an already rather special day.
Amarapura and U Bein Bridge
From Mandalay I travelled to Amarapura, another of Myanmar’s former royal capitals.
At Mahagandayon Monastery, I learned more about monastic life and the tradition of local Buddhist donors providing meals for monks. Spending time around Myanmar’s monasteries gave me a much greater appreciation of the role Buddhism plays in the country beyond the temples and golden pagodas that visitors naturally photograph.
Amarapura is also home to one of Myanmar’s most famous sights, U Bein Bridge, which stretches across Taungthaman Lake. The long wooden bridge is used by local people as part of everyday life, while boats move across the water beneath it. As sunset approaches, the bridge becomes particularly atmospheric, with the people crossing above silhouetted against the changing sky.
It is undoubtedly photogenic, but I found the everyday activity around the bridge every bit as interesting as the sunset itself.
The Spiritual Landscape of Sagaing
I also visited Sagaing, one of Myanmar’s important centres of Buddhist study and monastic life.
The hills are dotted with pagodas and monasteries, and the whole area seemed to have a calmer pace about it. Throughout my journey I became increasingly aware that monasteries weren’t isolated visitor attractions but living parts of communities and an important part of life for many people.
Spending time in places such as Sagaing helped me understand that side of Myanmar a little better. It is very easy when travelling to concentrate on the spectacular sights, particularly in a country filled with golden stupas and temples, but some of the experiences that stayed with me most came from simply observing everyday traditions.
Life on Inle Lake
After the cities and monasteries, Inle Lake provided another change of scenery altogether.
Here, life is closely connected to the water. Homes stand on stilts, boats replace roads in many places and communities have adapted to living not simply beside the lake but very much as part of it.
One of the most distinctive sights was watching the traditional Intha fishermen, famous for rowing their boats using one leg wrapped around the oar. Seeing the technique in photographs is one thing; watching someone apparently glide across the lake while balancing and working at the same time is quite another.
After a busy few days of travelling, Inle Lake also provided an opportunity to slow down. Travelling across the water, watching everyday life from the boat and eventually arriving at a comfortable spa hotel for a massage was not a bad way to end the day.
Myanmar had already shown me busy markets, golden pagodas and monasteries. Inle Lake revealed a quieter and very different side of the country.
Discovering the Food of Myanmar
The food was another revelation.
Myanmar sits between several countries with enormously influential cuisines, and I found elements that reminded me of both Thailand and India while still feeling distinctly Burmese. One of the most unusual dishes I tried was tea-leaf salad, or laphet thoke. Fermented tea leaves are combined with other ingredients to create something unlike anything I had previously associated with tea, and it became one of those dishes I was very glad somebody persuaded me to try.
Street food and markets also formed an important part of the experience, particularly in Yangon, where watching dishes being prepared was almost as enjoyable as eating them. As is so often the case when travelling, some of the most interesting food wasn’t found in an elaborate restaurant but while simply wandering around and seeing what local people were eating.
Things I Learned Along the Way
Travelling through Myanmar taught me fairly quickly that visiting Buddhist sites requires a little thought and respect. Shoes and socks need to be removed at many religious sites, so footwear that can easily be taken on and off makes life considerably simpler. Clothing should be respectful, particularly when entering pagodas and monasteries, and covering shoulders and knees is sensible.
The heat and humidity can also be considerable, so lightweight clothing and plenty of water were essential during my journey. I also learned to be conscious of how I sat around religious sites and people’s homes. Pointing the soles of your feet towards somebody or towards a Buddha image is considered disrespectful, and these small cultural details are worth understanding before travelling.
Perhaps my biggest lesson, though, was simply to remain curious. Myanmar was unfamiliar to me before I arrived, and that was precisely what made the journey so interesting.
Looking Back at Magical Myanmar
When I think back to Myanmar, it isn’t one individual landmark that defines the journey. I remember the golden glow of Shwedagon Pagoda as evening approached, watching craftsmen working with gold leaf in Mandalay and spending my birthday quietly observing monks at Shwe Kyin Monastery. I remember the silhouettes on U Bein Bridge, the calm of Sagaing and boats gliding across Inle Lake.
I remember street markets, food I’d never tasted before and those moments when something completely ordinary to a local person seemed fascinating to me simply because I was seeing it for the first time.
Myanmar also had a complicated history when I travelled there, and the country has subsequently entered an extremely difficult period. That means some of the practical details of my journey should now be viewed as a record of how I travelled at that time rather than advice for somebody planning the same trip today.
But that doesn’t diminish the memories or the cultural richness of the places I experienced. Travel stories don’t have to become irrelevant simply because circumstances change. Sometimes they become a record of a country at a particular moment in its history.
For me, Myanmar remains exactly what the title of this story suggests: magical, mysterious and unforgettable.
This guest article was written from the travel experiences of Margaret Moulton. Circumstances in Myanmar have changed significantly since her journey. For current destination information and important travel guidance, please visit my main Myanmar Travel Guide and consult the latest official government travel advice before considering a trip.
