Not the best ending to our time in Myanmar, we didn’t really enjoy Yangon that much (pagoda fatigue?? and the heat) and Inle was rather blighted with illness – I guess travellers gut was inevitable at some point. Still, the Lake is pretty, and we found a crazy cave monastery to explore so it wasn’t all bad!
We had four days to explore this massive site, home to over 2,000 pagodas. Perhaps the momst famous of Myanmar’s sites, the area was more touristy than we had been used to, but with our e-bikes we escaped most of it and had some of our best days in Myanmar here.
We don’t love cities, so only planned to spend a couple of days here in the capital. There’s a lot to see here though, with three old capitals and the main one all displaying ancient pagodas, surrounded by monasteries and with the amazing Ubein bridge to explore.
After hearing about the ‘most beautiful train ride in the world, which also includes a massive metal viaduct 700m long and 100m tall crossing a valley we knew we had to go. We had planned to travel from Pyin Oo Lwin to Hsipaw by train both there and back, with a few days spent exploring the mountains and local Shan villages of Hsipaw in between. Things rarely go to plan though…
After arriving into Mandalay airport, we hopped straight in a taxi to the mountain town of Pyin Oo Lwin. A charming town, and a great introduction to the Burmese culture. All in a beautiful setting with a chance to explore stunning waterfalls and forested hills.