3 weeks Myanmar itinerary

Traveling to Myanmar is one of the best decision you can make. Being in this spectacular country almost feels like being inside a big movie set. Is this stuff real? Most of the country is still very untouched and since they just recently opened its doors to tourism, you will find yourself walking around ancient ruins with no other tourists around. It is a great feeling.   

I get a lot of questions about where to go in Myanmar, how long to stay and if is it safe? For my 3 weeks in the country I only meet people who smiled, wanted to help out or just wanted a picture. With that being said, there are a conflict going on in the country and I advice you to keep yourself updated on the situation.  

Before traveling to Myanmar you need to apply for a visa. This can be done here.(50$)

Traveling from one destination to the next is easy in Myanmar since they have busses running every day. The busses normally take everything from 3 hours to 15 hours depending on where you are going. I preferred taking night busses as I found them in general quite comfortable and it saved me a lot of time. I have to say that some of the buss rides was the worst EVER, so bring motion-sickness pills just in case. They are also quite cold cause of aircon so make sure to bring extra clothing and/or a blanket. 

3 weeks Myanmar itinerary

This is the destinations I will cover in this guide:

Yangon 

Golden Rock

Hpa-An

Inle Lake  

Bagan  

Mandalay  

Hsipaw. 

Day 1 & 2 Yangon

Depending on what time of day you arrive in Yangon, you will probably have time to see some of what this city has to offer. Yangon is the largest city in Myanmar with a population of 6 million and was the capital until Nay Pyi Taw took over some year ago. The city has still some impressive old buildings from the British Colonial.  Just walking on the street here is an experience worth having. 

A must do when in Yangon is to see the Shwedagon Pagoda. This 99 meter high pagoda is completely covered in gold and is visible from al over the city. It is a spectacular site. Make sure to bring proper clothing to cover legs and shoulders. (same rules for ALL religious sites in Myanmar) 

Another thing I highly recommend is the circular train. With open doors and windows, this train ride will really get you up and close with some of the locals. The entire trip takes around 3 hours.

Make sure to book your buss for the next day. Your hotel or hostel will have a list over the buss schedule so make sure you take a look at that.

Day 3 GOLDEN ROCK

Day 4 & 5 Hpa-An

Hpa-An ended up being my favorite place in Myanmar. Full of cool mountain hikes with incredible views, large caves, and ancient pagodas. I just loved it there. I highly recommend renting a scooter to make the most out of your time here.   

I also highly recommend getting up for sunrise both mornings. The sunrises here in Hpa-An is just out of this world. One morning should be spent watching the sunrise from the north-west side overlooking the lake and bridge. 

After watching the sunrise you then have a full day to explore Hpa-An and its surrounding. 

- Sadan Cave is located around 45 min drive from the town and is a massive cave system with golden statues, wall carvings, pagodas and a reclining Buddha inside. After a 20 min walk you reach opposite side of the cave where there is a small lake filled with boats. Here you can take the boat back, which goes underneath the mountain.

Sadan Cave

- Next stop:

Kyauk Kalat Pagoda.

This is a very interesting site. The Kyauk Kalat is a rock formation with a golden stupa on the top located in the middle of a lake filled with hungry fish. Unique and different from everything else you will ever see. 

- One of the coolest thing you can do in Hpa-An is to visit the bat cave. At sunset all the bats come flying out of the cave. We are talking about an endless stream of  millions of bats. Totally feels like watching National Geographic. 

Sunrise at Taung Wine Mountain.

Get up at 4:30am in the morning and drive to the foot of the Taung Wine Mountain. The drive takes around 30 min and is a bit challenging since you are driving in total darkness. Make sure you drive all the way to the white bridge. If you cant see the bridge, you are at the wrong spot. 

The sunrise is around 6am which gives you 1 hour to reach the summit. Makes sure to bring a light as it is pitch black walking up. Closing in at the summit they built steps which kind of reminds me of the Stairway to Heaven in Hawaii. At the top you are rewarded with the most epic view ever!!! just have a look at the video below : 

From Hpa-An there is nightbusses to Inle Lake. The bus was quite comfortable took around 14 hours. Arriving in Inle Lake around 7am in the morning. 

Day 6,7 & 8 Inle Lake

Inle lake is one of the most famous freshwater lakes in Myanmar. It has a beautiful charm to it which makes it into a must see spot. Located on and around the lake is a number of great thing to see and do. In town you will be approached by a number of boatmen who are willing to drive you around the lake.

Spend the next days exploring the lake. 

Must see and do destinations around the lake: 

- See the traditional Fishermen. 

- Shwe Indein Pagoda. A beautiful complex of ancient stupas that lies on the shore of Inle Lake. You will easily spend a couple of hours here. 

- Visit one of the many handcraft workshop. Local people producing everything from gold and silver to boats. 

- Floating Markets. Visit the famous five-day market. 

- Visit the Long neck tribe. ( I don't recommend this as it felt staged just for tourism )  

- Walk on on of the many floating gardens.

- Watch the sunset on the lake. 

- Visit the Cat Monastery.

Bus from Inle Lake to Bagan is around 8 hours.

Day 9, 10, 11 & 12 Bagan

One of the most unique places in Myanmar is Bagan. You simply cannot go to Myanmar without stopping by this place. Once there, you rent electrical scooters and go exploring on your own. With more than 2200+ temples spread out over an incredible landscape you are sure to have a great time. 

The best decisions you can make is to get up for sunrise and watch the balloons fly over the landscape of temples. It was such a good experience I ended up doing every morning for my time there. fI recommend finding a spot the day before as it is pitch black driving out in the night. 

You can also spend one morning flying the Hot Air Balloons. 

Busses from Bagan to Mandalay leaves multiple times a day. It takes around 5 hours. 

Day 13,14 & 15 Mandalay

Mandalay is the second biggest city in Myanmar. Many people tend to skip this place but I found it to be very interesting hosting one of my favorite spots in all of Myanmar. The Dee Dote waterfalls. I will also call this the Instagram city of Myanmar haha:) Once in Myanmar I recommend renting motorbikes to get the most out of your time. There is also possible to get a driver to drive you around if you are not comfortable riding a bike in the city. 

The Dee Dote waterfall :

This ended up being one of my favorite spots in Myanmar. This waterfall is located around 1h 30min drive from the city. Once there I would recommend hiking to the top of the falls(20min). What I loved about this place was the color of the water. Just unreal blue!!! Another thing was that there was no people around. We literally had the pools to ourself for the whole day. 

U Bein Bridge for sunset:

- After spending the day at the waterfall I headed to the U Bein Bridge for sunset. The drive will take you around 1h 30 min. The U Bein Bridge was built in 1850 and is believed to be the oldest and longest teakwood bridge in the world. This is a popular spot for both sunset and sunrise so don't expect to be alone. 

The next moring jump on the boat to Mingun.

The boat ONLY leave once a day at 9pm, so don't be late. Once in Mingun there are multiple temples to see. I recommend walking straight to the "end" starting with the white temple which is located the furthest away. That way you avoid the crowds and will have the temple all alone. 

What to do in Mingun: 

- Hsinbyume Pagoda ( The famous white temple ) 

- The Mingun Bell ( The second largest ring bell in the world. 90 tons of bronze) 

- Mingun Pahtodawhyi ( This ancient monument is one of the more stunning sites in Mandalay, it essentially looks like a big pile of bricks. It is actually said to hold the record for the biggest pile of bricks in the world. The massive monument got hit by a big earthquake in 1839, and as a result caused big cracks on the buildings facades. 

There are more things to do in Mandalay. 

- Climb the Mandalay hill. 

- Sandamuni Pagoda. 

- Kuthodaw Pagoda.

- Royal Mandalay Palace. 

Day 16, Slow Train to Hsipaw

The slow train from Mandalay to Hsipaw leaves at 4am in the morning at takes around 13 hours. This train is a experience where you get up close with the local people as well as you get to see some of the spectacular landscapes Myanmar has to offer. You also get to to ride over the famous Gokteik Viaduck. Back in the day this was the biggest railway trestle in the world. Still acknowledged as a great engineering achievement. The whole scenery is great, to bad it only lasted for 5 minutes.  

I recommend booking the upper class since sitting for 13+ hours will definitely hurt your ass on those wooden benches. 

Make sure you check the current safety recommendations before heading to Hsipaw.

Gokteik Viaduck

Day 17, 18 & 19 Hsipaw

Hsipaw is a cool city in the north of Myanmar. The town felt completely empty of other tourists which was somewhat nice after visiting Mandalay.  A lot of people come here to do a 3 or 5 day guided hike. I decided to rent a bike and explore the nearby area on my own and I totally loved it. The scenery around Hsipaw is stunning with waterfall, rice fields, rivers and hills. 

A few things to do in Hsipaw: 

- Visit the stunning Nam Tok waterfall. Located a 10 min drive and a 30 min hike, this waterfall is absolutely stunning. Drive to the graveyard and walk from there. 

- Visit the romantic waterfall. Nam Hu New. I wont reveal what that means hahaha

- Walk around town and visit Little Bagan and also see the famous Tree inside a pagoda. 

- Take your bike on a drive along the river and eat at MR. WOK overlooking the beautiful river. 

- Climb the sunset hill. 

Trekking outside of the main areas without a guide is not recommended cause of safety reasons. 

Now it is time to head back to Mandalay. The bus back takes around 6 hours and it will probably be the worst ride in your life haha:) So bring your motion sickness pills and enjoy the ride:) Scroll down to see video from the whole trip:)

The Romantic waterfall - Nam Hu Nwe

Hsipaw

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