Myanmar 2016

Source: AMAWaterways

It's about time for another international trip. Early next year, we're returning to Southeast Asia, specifically to Myanmar (formerly Burma) and to Viet Nam. Why Myanmar? The beautiful temples and pagodas, welcoming people, rustic villages and affordability all helped move this destination to the top of our bucket list. Several friends have encouraged us to visit to Myanmar before tourism soars. Although accurate counts of international visits are hard to confirm, it seems that about 2-3 million annual visitors arrive in Myanmar, compared to about 7 to 10 million annual visitors to Vietnam. Of course, the visitor infrastructure in Myanmar is still being developed.

Our plan is to visit Yangon for a few days and then embark on an excursion up the Irrawaddy (aka Ayeyarwaddy) River from Yangon to Mandalay. Along the Irrawaddy River, we'll make daily stops at local villages, schools, pagodas and temples. Reaching Mandalay, we'll return to Yangon by air and catch a flight to Saigon for an overnight stay. From Saigon we're off to Da Nang. After spending a few days in Da Nang, we'll move on to Hue and Hoi An. We visited Viet Nam and Cambodia in 2011, but ran out of time to visit the area that was referred to as "China Beach" but now "Non Nuoc." We're particularly interested in seeing the Imperial City in Hue, the Marble Mountains in Da Nang and Hoi An's Ancient Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As only the Irrawaddy River trip is being handled by a travel agency, we've been spending quite a bit of time deciding airline itineraries, selecting hotels, reading restaurant recommendations, getting tourist visas and arranging private guides and automobile transportation. During our previous trip to Viet Nam in 2011, we realized that short-term traveling can be done on your own in Southeast Asia but its often much more convenient and time saving by seeking local assistance.

For those wondering about the hotel accommodations in Southeast Asia, there's a wide range of places to stay - from homestays to small family run hotels to very modern full service hotels. We're no longer youngsters and we often plan our stays at more western oriented facilities that are near the sites we plan to visit. That said, use of western style hotels does not always translate into higher costs. One of our Viet Nam hotel stays will cost about $60USD per night - which is pretty reasonable given that a recent San Francisco hotel I stayed at wanted $60 per night just for parking. Prior to making a hotel booking, my primary hotel review sources are Tripadvisor.com and Hotels.com. I particularly seek guidance from contributors with high review counts. The below photos are examples of some of the hotels we will be staying on this trip.

Source: Sule Shangri-La Hotel, Yangon

Source: Hyatt Regency, Da Nang

Source: Eldora Hotel, Hue

Anantara Hotel, Hoi An
©Leonardo Worldwide Group