Jump to content

Photo review of our journey through Myanmar (Burma)


soccerref
 Share

Recommended Posts

Minglabar again from very cold Stoke,

I glad that you are finding the information helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask if there is anything else……..

 

We wore casual clothes the whole time although we did change for dinner each day. My husband wore slacks and a short-sleeved shirt, no tie or jacket, and I wore either a nice sun dress or trousers and a pretty top (sparkly on occasions!). I did take a pashmina into the dining room as the AC was very efficient and sometimes it felt a bit chilly.

Several ladies bought beautiful silk tops and longyis that they wore in the evenings.

32432203581_c841914cc2_c.jpgIMG_6355 by isabel Rushton, on Flickr

This is my DH and I with our charming dinner companions. Carol is wearing a longyi and silk blouse that she bought in one of the markets for a very reasonable price.

 

During excursions, I always wore ‘capri pants’ and a top with short sleeves. I carried a very lightweight cardigan just in case I needed to have my arms covered in the temple complexes. I found the 'capris' to be good as the bottoms didn’t get muddy.

My husband wore a ‘polo’ shirt and trousers with the bits that unzip if we went to temples. Otherwise he wore ordinary shorts. The cruise director will give guidance for appropriate dress during his evening briefing about the next day’s programme.

 

Minglabar from Isabel (it’s the only Burmese word that I learned too!!!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Minglabar from a much better day in Saltash. Still cold (41F) but dry with a little sun and no wind - long may it last.

 

Many thanks yet again. It is always so useful to get information from someone who has actually been on the same ship. We are so looking forward to our cruise but am also getting a little panicky as it is less than 5 weeks away.

 

Janet

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hello Isabel

 

Thank you so much for a wonderful review of your trip. Your photos are amazing and I only hope I manage to capture similar images when we travel to Burma next Christmas for our Irrawaddy cruise on the Princess Panhwar from Mandalay to Yangon.

 

Hilary

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Hilary,

Thank you. I'm glad that you found the review useful and I really hope you enjoy your journey as much as we enjoyed ours. I think it would be very difficult not to get great photos as everywhere is so photogenic and the people were happy to be photographed. We took over 2,000 between us........how different photography is now with unlimited digital pictures. I well remember cameras with films and the excitement of getting the developed ones back from the chemist's. We always had a few duds along side the good ones.....but I digress....

 

Happy cruising

Isabel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thankyou so much for this most informative review and lovely photos of your Myanmar trip. We are counting down the days to our cruise with APT on RV Samatha next month. Cruising from Yangon to Mandalay. We are getting very excited.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much for this very detailed review, Isabel. Your pictures are brilliant.

 

If VOD had not gone down we would currently be on Voyager with lots of port days in Vietnam and would have had two days docked centrally in Yangon in early March. They are two countries that are now on the cards for land trips by us as the larger cruise ship itineraries do not have the same appeal, though we may just splash out on a river cruise as a one off thing, for one or both of those countries. We have been to HCMC and Da Nang previously, but really want to see more than that in Vietnam. Being in the out of town port in Yangon has much more limitations as well, yet even Fred Olsen's ships are too big to dock centrally there.

 

Anyway, thanks again and look forward to meeting you on Boudicca next Oct/Nov.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Tring,

it appears that you are as keen to see places around the world as I am and I hope we can compare notes on the Boudicca voyage.

 

It must have been very disappointing for you when VOD ceased trading. Their itineraries always looked interesting. I would, however, recommend a river cruise in Myanmar. The infrastructure for roads outside the cities of Yangon and Mandalay is extremely poor and accommodation of a reasonable 'western' standard is hard to find away from the 2 cities.

 

Our first trip with APT (Australian Pacific Touring) was a land and river tour, taking in Vietnam (Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, Halong Bay, HCMC), Laos (Luang Pradang) and Cambodia (Siem Reap and a 7 night Mekong cruise which took us to Phnom Penh and many other riverside areas). it was amazing and we saw so much.

 

We are presently getting ready for a P&O cruise up to Northern Norway in hope of seeing 'the lights' and then I can begin researching for the Liverpool - Mauritius voyage.

 

Very best wishes

Isabel

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have always been put off river cruises in the Far East because of the cost, though are now thinking that it does give quite a reasonable value for money considering the amount of places seen/visited and there are no extra costs for trips, which can add up to a lot on Ocean ships (Independent or via the ship).

 

We are off to Sri Lanka within a couple of weeks as we had a post cruise tour/stay booked after we were due to leave Voyager. So we have extended that and re booked flights ourselves. It was a case of having to make our own flight arrangements to keep this one that has made us realise how much better travel is if you can add other stays to a cruise. The realisation that it is easy to split flights with hotel stays, so not have to travel through the night, has increased our wish to book our own arrangements as well.

 

Enjoy Norway - we did that on Oriana and saw them as well as the solar eclipse a couple of years ago. So good luck, but you will love Norway in the winter anyway. We did the trip to the Sami Village from Alta, which was very good.

 

Cheers,

 

Barbara

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Hello travellers,

 

Thanks for writing your trip reports about Myanmar (Burma) which is my country. I am very proud of it. I live in Yangon (Rangoon) and I am local Burmese. Also thanks for writing such a long reports and I appreciate your time for typing such a long trip report with photos which can make more visitors come to our country. May be our government need to make better tourism infrastructure in future for the benefit of future comers to Myanmar. If anyone find this message and need more information about Myanmar I can volunteer my time in answering questions.

 

Welcome to Myanmar, a land of thousand pagodas.

 

Happy and safe travel!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I am curious about your overall thoughts on your mobility problems. Were steps provided to get onto carts/ tuc-tucs? Getting on and off the boat a problem?

I have a condition with muscle weakness and use a cane for balance and strength. Walking long distances is not a problem, but steps are more difficult, especially without handrails

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We went in the dry season so the river level was very low. This meant a long climb up the bank at some locations; sometimes there was a rail but mostly we were reliant on the very helpful staff who formed a line to help you but we found it quite tiring.

 

There were also lots of steps to the various temples and monasteries, but a lot of them had hand rails. There were steps to get into the tuk tuks and horse carts but they were quite high and, being short, I was glad of the drivers helping hand.

 

However, we thoroughly enjoyed the trip but found it very tiring and not good for our aching joints. I don't want to put you off, but you should consider very carefully whether you will be able to cope.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

TravelDreamer75

I agree wholeheartedly with Oldgables. We did the trip with Vantage and there were a number of tumbles some more serious than others. Getting on/off the ship and some of the small villages only have dirt roads that can be uneven. When we were there you must also take on/off shoes&socks to enter the temples....easier for some than others. Also is your muscle condition aggravated by high temps and humidity. This was my favorite Asian cruise but I was very tired by the time we got home....we were 65 and in fair shape and very active!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you soccerref for your wonderful and detailed postings/pics. We were considering adding a land tour of Myanmar in January when we would be in southeast Asia but have decided to save it for another year and more likely will go with a river cruise on the Irrawaddy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

Dear Isobel and Janet

 

I'm not sure if you will see this post as it's a long while since there were any messages on this thread. However, I just wanted to thank you both for the information you posted about your cruises. We had a fantastic time in Myanmar; I think it's probably one of the best holidays we have ever had. Unfortunately, we returned with bad colds which are taking a long time to go away but it doesn't diminish our holiday experience in the slightest. I took so many photos but I do wonder how long it will be before the Burmese people turn away when you ask to take photos. I feel privileged to have gone whilst tourism is still in its infancy. I'm hoping to get around to doing a review fairly soon so you may be interested to read that in due course.

 

Hilary

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be docking into Yangon this April off the cruise ship Nautica. Flying to Bagan for an overnight stay. Does the government take extra precautions with tourists traveling around?

 

Sent from my SM-J320V using Forums mobile app

 

We didn't observe any special arrangements for tourists but at no time did we feel insecure or intimidated. We were normally with our guides but we did walk around a little on our own and felt safe. Of course, you have to be sensible as you would visiting anywhere in the world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...