Jack fruit - strange tasting but I like it :)

Market stalls. Plenty of fruit here but try to bargain hard because it not that cheap & prices can be doubled or more for tourists. Pineapple K500-700, bananas K200-300 for 6-10 small, Japanese pear K500 each large, watermelon 1/4 K3000 or K1000/slic

Nice & cheap food restaurants on the 19th str. Go along the whole road to check out all options. K1000 for a chicken soup that filled up my stomach & tastes good.

Streets cricket.

Sunset by a shipyard on the way to the 19th street.

Post colonisation architecture. There is plenty of buildings like this one along the riverside & some in the centre. A sign of colonisation & booming economy/trading now falling apart due to lack of maintenance.

That was on the other side of street. There is a very high contrast that can be find pretty much across the downtown/centre.

Streets of Yangon.

Amazing boats on the lake. Unfortunately no zoom in iPhone. Will swap this picture with a close up later.

Kan Daw Gyi lake. We managed to avoid paying $2 pp by going through an expansive restaurant nearby. Pizza was nice but small & cost K7500 (incl. 10% service & 10% government charge). Coffee cost a whopping K3000!

Maha Wizaya pagoda. Free & better looking from the outside.

Reclining Buddha.

Shwe Dagon pagoda. Worth going there to see magnificent architecture. Cost $5 pp which go to gov :(

My favourite Buddha - K6000 negotiable!

Bogyoke market stuff - we wish we were able to buy some cool stuff but no space in our backpacks.

Back to civilisation. Last minute shopping at Bogyoke market.

This chap, on the other hand, was sorting out anything else we asked for. Very good service.

Our personal waiter who was looking after us in terms of food during our stay.

A view from our Shwe Hi Tha guest house & hotel's restaurant.

Nothing better than relaxing on a beach in shade ;)

Shwe Hi Tha hotel beach view. They serve nice food but make sure you check the menus that list prices as they tend to increase "by mistake" when paying bill.

Cycling along the beach (low-tide) towards north. Be prepared for blisters, sore internal organs and bum. Occasionally a long walk as getting your "city-type" tyre punctured is often a matter of time. After about two hours river crossing's required.

Custom Tri-Cycles available for hire. Beach prices are ridiculously high eg from 1500/hour or 4k/day. We got from our hotel @ discounted rate 1500/day. Riding on these roads is another story as there is little to no roads & only rocks forming paths.

Ada having her first crab meal.

Locals find white people interesting and want to have pictures taken with them.

A cut from rock during snookering. Watch out for sharp shels in reefs. Still it was well worth it.

Rocks on an island nearby. Beautiful & good place to snorkel but be careful - see next image.

A boat trip to an island. We were to do some spear fishing but a guy mislead us. Once we got there he'd asked money for catching fish which was then to be cooked at friend's restaurant & paid full meal price again. We snoorkled. Boat cost K3000 pp.

Sunset on a way back to our hotel. We found a rock with a pagoda on top 30 mins (walk) away from our hostel towards north which gives shade until sunset & is perfect for spending a quiet day on a beach away from people very close to shore.

Crab hunting is not easy. They run fast to hide in holes in the sand. We dug up one that was about 15cm deep and chased for 10 mins before taking this picture.

Beach

Amazing cave. About size of a typical football pitch. Slippery & dark, bats present but pleasant ;) At the end is a very beautiful lake. Bring with a torch or pay 4 turning on lights. 1.5 hours drive from Hpa An. Cost 21000/shared 6 ppl for 3 caves.

2nd cave. About 1 hour from Hpa An. We decided not to go because it looked like Gov's tourist money maker & cost about 3000/pp which we were not told about before paying for Tuk Tuk. Decision's up to you.

Nice & quick. You'll get to see monks, chimpanzee & Buddhas figures. Some ponds with very hot water. It's free & an hour drive from Hpa An.

Street market. Water melon K500, pineapple K800

Golden Sky hotel. $8/$10 per dbl room without/with ensuite bathroom.

A useful map with marked tourist stuff & places. No 15 serves best Shan noodles. Cheap. Water K1000/6x1l @ warehouses.

Pagodas on hills & mountains

Local girl selling delicious apples & limes.

Petrol sold in whiskey bottles

Food storage. We saw monks living here & their daily routines.

Pagodas & monks visit

Visiting local village on the way to Hpa An. Some pagodas on the left hand side & a nice restaurant about 15-20 mins walk.

Taking boat to Hpa An. There is only private boats & we paid K5800 per person 10 ppl max. Shuttle K500 pp.

Pagoda placed on three rocks and balanced on Buddhas hair (at least what the story tells).

Catching a pick up to Nwa-La-Bo. Nice climb up to see rocks. Cost KS2000/pp return paid in the middle of the journey so make sure you have cash on you or else expect a long trekking in scorching sun rays.

Their music or rather mix of different types of musical instruments is weird but interesting. We loved the show after cause it had surprisingly funky tunes. Check out a quick video @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PftTOafYaQ

Newly built & unfinished prayers area.

Going to Sham Poo. Still not certain about name of this island but check out GPS coords & google (will try to confirm later).

Fish market stalls

Streets of Mawlamyine. Some markets, warehouses with cheap water and guesthouses along the river. Not much to see in the town but a good place to crash in order to see Nwa-La-Bo pagoda on three rocks.

This is how these people travel long distances in Myanmar the "cheap way".

Back to Yangon awaiting bus to Mawlamyine in the south. Cost K6000 p/seat in a semi air-conditioned bus. Initial price was K10000 so don't let them fool ya. Locals pay K5000 for air or non air-conditioned.

Bagan to Yangon bus trip quick stop 2 hours away from destination. They stop @ restaurants/shops & probably get commission or free engine/breaks water cooling in exchange. Cost K15000 per person or $21.Go aircon bus if you can't handle hot days well.

Back to our favourite restaurant SanThiDar. First is a Tamarind juice which taste is hard to describe. It's a bit like chewing gum and quite sweet. In the background avocado with some sugar added. Pineapple & papaya are also nice.

Cattle on a road to pagodas

Dhammayan-gyi pagoda

Buddhas inside Htilominlo pagoda

Htilominlo pagoda. It's massive.

Market nuts that apparently get you high or prevent sleeping when combined/glued with special leaves. Majority of locals tend to chew or keep it all the time in their mouths hence red teeth & spit stains on the streets.

Local market stuff

Abeyadana Patho pagoda inside.

In short - cheapest, largest portions and delicious food. We even got presies & free coffee! SANTHIDAR, south of Old Bagan, Main Road, Myingbar, Myanmar.

Some pagoda on our way to the south

Bupaya pagoda - the oldest from 850 year fully restored after 1975 earthquake. Cylindrical shape

Thatbyinnyu Pahto pagoda

Ananda Phaya pagoda. We think it's the biggest one in Bagan. Free of charge.

Haven't seen this note for ages! 10000 polish zlotych.

On the road to pagodas in Old Bagan

Hiring bicycles. 1000 per person / per day

Restaurant by market. Home made food & nice atmosphere. Average meal price 2500KS.

On a train from Mandaley to Bagan. You wouldn't believe how jumpy & swinging train ride can be but it made us laugh. We got lower class tickets. People slept almost in every possible space in cars even under legs including mice! Cost $4 per person.

A view feom Sagaing pagoda

Bein's bridge. It's the world's longest bridge made of tek wood.

On our way to Amarapura to see Bein's wooden bridge made of tek wood. We met a local monk who tout us some birmanese. They are the most reliable source of information & often try to help but other people put pressure not to tell true prices.

Breakfast. Cheap & delicious banana pancakes 400KS each.

Buying tickets for train can put you through existing bureaucratic system. We don't advocate but wanted to check out railways.

Monks homes

Wooden monks monastery.

Pagodas building

Pagoda

Meeting local anti-gov Moustache Brothers cabaret. Chat, difficult life, gen joke & jail sentence, rejoin, illegal shows $10 pp

Buddha monks & streets

Having st food. It's quite spicy and various tasting. Min acceptable level of hig but very nice & kind people.

Street spices

Busy streets of Mandaley. Flies, mixture of horrible smells and filth but still worth the experience. You'll value way of life @ home even more after this & won't complain at restaurants again.

Pagoda at night by A.D. 1 hotel we stay at. $5 pp/pn double. Nice roof dining area, ok-ish bathrooms, decent beds.

Restaurant food from Lonely Planet guide. Had to remind about side dishes that we paid for conveniently forgotten by waiters. Good food.

Mandaley street food. Kind people offer freebies local snacks. Different & delicious

Catching a bus to Mandaley.
Pickup from hotel to Nyaung Shwe cost K1300/pp, 11000ks pp bus to Mandaley.

Buddha festival, fire balloons, 10th nov full moon, hell pickup ride 1000bhs pp, almost impossible return late evening due to this event, very hospitable locals help by offering meals, tea and homemade sweets then sorted out a taxi for $40 for 6 ppl.

Prayers at pagoda. Last stop before blacksmith. Apparently monks living at this place have trained cats to jump through rings. We didn't get to see the show.

Tomato plantations on the river. These plantations are literally growing on ground that are floating on the Inle lake waters and can be moved/rearranged. One could easily steal a piece of plantation. Around 90% of Myanmar tomatoes come from here.

Blacksmiths making nice stuff while you are watching.

Pagoda with three golden rocks. Women not allowed to get close to them - sorry.

Going back from pagodas and on our way to other attractions

Long neck women making materials. These women are quite famous and you can see their faces in almost every brochure or travel guides. Wish I could have a word with them to find out more about their work and lives.

Inn Dein. About 1200 pagodas scattered in fields.

Inle lake boat trip. Worth 35000 paid for 6 people. You'll see family factories such as blacksmith, knitting, fishery, silver jewels makers & more.

Having food at a street restaurant in Nyaung Shwe. Nice pancakes for 1000-1200. Order then pay because they tend to forget about your food.

Bicycle trip to spa & pagodas. Lovely places along the route. 3 hrs with stops & 1.5 hrs back on bicycles. All attractions free of charge.

We will never forget this journey. 6 hours, packed like sardines & driving through mountains on quite bad roads. I will never complain about public transport in EU again! If you like adventures & exploring in extreme then this one is for you.

Back on the road rejunited with the rest of the pack ie Inga & Konrad

A quick stop on our bus journey to Mandaley although we get off at Mektila because there was no busses to Bago so we skipped it & going further north. Cost 7500 khat per person. Make sure you book at least one day in advance.

At a bus station. There is plenty of misunderstanding when you ask for things eg took 3 hrs to get directions/here by public bus & sort out tickets. Be persistent, patient & repeat your questions & requests as many times as needed. Ask other people.

Our first meal at a local restaurant. Apart from finding a dead fly in food very tasty served by nice people. 2 hours after still feeling ok. Streets offer plenty of home made food but make sure what your eyes see is acceptable for your stomach.

Few dollars give you this! Forget your wallet and bring backpacks with free space for cash. Rate is $100 = 75000. Very picky about notes and see things on them you wouldn't so make sure you get brand new travel notes else you loose on av 15-30%

Here we are. $8 for 4 people from
The airport. Friendly chaps and give plenty of valuable local info. Are for hire 200-250 Euros per person for two weeks. Will drive and show around cities etc. Prices can be negotiated.

Flying over Myanmar. Looking at the ground gives a flattened impression. A bit weird but very exciting and fascinating. The plane's similar to low cost Ryanair but slightly more comfortable. Flights from BKK take about an hour. No problems with immig

Take off to Myanmar. As on the pic some areas are a bit flooded.