The Journey to Burma #2

This post would mainly summarize the hostel that I stayed over my travel in Myanmar and also the bus that I took in Myanmar.

Hostel:
Yangon - When I was in Yangon, I stayed at this hostel named, Space Boutique Hostel [https://www.facebook.com/spacehostelygn/] which located at the downtown area. The Bogyoke Market is within 5-10 minutes walking distance and the famous Shwedagon Pagoda is within 20-30 minutes walking distance.

The charges per night in a dorm was, USD 19 which is the average price per night in Yangon. This hostel is kind of new and not much visitors yet, so it was not a good suggestions if you would like to meet up with lots of other solo traveler. Apart from that, the staff do speak good english and the hostel is quite clean.

They do provide the airport transfer also, if you pay to the hostel directly they will charge you USD 10 but if you pay to the driver they will take you 8000 kyat only. But of course, for budget wise, you could actually grab a cab at around 5000 kyats outside the airport if you have time to bargain and say "NO" when they charge more.
To be hassle free, I asked for airport pick up from this hostel and they charge me USD 10 for that. But when I return, I pay the airport transfer to the driver directly and he took me 8000 kyats only. So lesson learnt was, do not ask for airport transfer from the hostel if your time of arrival permit you to get a cab safely.

Note: The hostel arrange me a 4-person dorm for my stay (last night of my trip) and well there is no one in the dorm except me. So again, basically I own the dorm privately though I paid for the charges for a dorm bed only.

Oh ya, I arranged the stay thru email. They usually respond me within 24 hours.


Bagan - I stayed here, Ostello Bello Bagan [http://www.ostellobello.com/#ob_bagan]. Basically this hostel is famous among travelers and they usually run out of rooms during peak season for walk-in travelers. Thus, book your room ahead. They do provide a few types of dorm and private rooms too.
This hostel is run by foreigner and the entire styling is so so so nice~ Their staff speak English well too, so no worry on the communication.

The only down side that I had with them was the bed I slept having bed-bugs and they do not change the room for me on the first night and saying that my itchiness was because of my skin allergic. Until the next day morning, they do promise to clean my bed. But again, anyone who experienced bed bugs before should know that changing the bed linen does not help. A thoroughly cleansing is needed to kick away the bugs. Therefore, I got bite again on the second night and after I made complaints again the staff find another empty bed in other dorm for me to take rest till the morning.

The charges for the dorm was USD 19 which is similar to Yangon. And I found that, Yangon and Bagan are the most expensive cities in Myanmar. Others are charging me nothing more than USD 10 for a dorm.


Hsi Paw - I came here purposely for the trekking and also taking the train thru the Goteik Viaduct. I stayed in Mr. Charles Guesthouse [http://www.mrcharleshotel.com/] in Hsi Paw. They do charge only USD 7 for a dorm bed and surprisingly they only have 6 beds in the dorm with only 1 dorm in this hostel.

On the other side, they do provide single rooms as well at USD 7. So it would be depends on your own preference. For the same price, you may choose to sleep in the dorm or the private single room.
But, only the dorm have air conditioner. The private room only come with fan, and of course the weather is cool in Hsi Paw so air conditioner is not a necessary like Yangon / Bagan.

Why I am staying here is because they do offer the trekking package and they are good at it.


Mandalay - Staying in Mandalay was not in my initial plan, but I came here after took the train and spend only 1 night here then take the bus to Yangon without doing any sight seeing. This hostel is belong to a SG friend's sister-in-law's auntie who I met in Hsi Paw. Ok, I know is kind of long relationship. xD

They charge only USD 10 for a night in dorm and they only receive reservation thru email and FB [https://www.facebook.com/Yoe-Yoe-Lay-Homestay-122408557948266/timeline]

The owner do speak mandarin if you are Chinese, she is Chinese whose ancestor from China. According to her, Mandalay have lots more Chinese compare with other cities in Myanmar.

Overall, the stay in Yoe Yoe Lay Homestay was pleasant and feel warm with the welcome drinks and fruit.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I bought 80% of my bus travel ticket in advance thru the Myanmar bus ticket website, http://myanmarbusticket.com/

There are few choices for those road and if you are taking an overnight bus, do take the VIP bus is budget is allowed. The space for the normal bus would really squeeze and uncomfortable. Also, the bus would be slightly old for those normal bus and the chances of getting breakdown during the trip is higher. ^^

If your schedule are tight and no delay is allow, it is better to book the ticket in advance but yeah, it would cost more as they charge an additional service charges if bought online.

The Journey to Burma #1

It is my first time on writing a travel blog. Wonder if I wanted to do this, but... the information available online is too little for Burma, so I guess, I might can contribute a little bit to it to make it more informative. But first of all, yeah, I am not a professional solo traveler yet. So please accept my apologize beforehand if there is anything you found inappropriate. :)

Basically, I spent 11 days in Burma back in November 2015. I bought the return flight ticket about 2 weeks before I travel, so it was a little bit costly. The return flight ticket cost me around MYR 610++ from AirAsia to fly in to and out from Yangon, Myanmar.

Note: Yangon is no longer the capital of Myanmar, but it still the biggest city in Myanmar which operates most of the international flight. You may opt to fly in and out thru Mandalay (another big city in Myanmar) if you are going from Bangkok, Thailand.

So, this post would briefly introduce my itinerary and the travel information for this trip and I shall post again on the details of the trip next :)

For Malaysian, we going to need tourist visa to enter Myanmar. Yes, holding Malaysian passport, we need visa to enter Myanmar, a SEA country! Well, this was my first time gotta need a visa to enter a country and surprisingly the visa was not apply thru the embassy of Myanmar but was thru an agent named, Ever Fine Services which located nearby the Masjid Jamek LRT station.

Ever Fine Services: http://www.everfineservices.com.my/
The price was about MYR 141++ and the service is fast as you go in the morning, get your visa ready by evening of the same day. So, I went there at around 9am in the morning and there is less than 2 people in the queue and submit the documents needed, make payment all done by 10am. Then, I went back again at around 3pm to get my visa.

You can find them easily as they located on the second floor (kind of) of a hotel. You may follow the direction on their website to reach their office. It was not hard to find at all.
Basically, the way they work are like they collect the visa application and send it to the embassy around noon and get the visa back for the applicant in afternoon at the same day. If you are going there in the afternoon, do expect to get your visa on the next working day. And if not mistaken, they operates during Saturday too. But for sure, you could not get your visa ready on the same day.

But, do make sure you have your passport with at least 6 months validity, fill in the form (which can be downloaded from their website), and a visa passport sized photo beforehand. (also, not forget about the money $$)

So, got the flight ticket, got the visa, then what else?

Accommodation and itinerary is next!!

Since I will be taking some night bus to travel around the city, the accommodation is not necessary for each of every night when I am there. So, it will be good to done the with itinerary first before book your accommodation.

Day 1: Arrived in Yangon, travel to Bagan at night.
Day 2: Arrived in Bagan
Day 3: Bagan
Day 4: Bagan, travel to Inlay Lake at night
Day 5: Arrived in Inlay Lake, travel to Hsipaw at night
Day 6: Arrived in Hsipaw, start the 3 days 2 nights trekking
Day 7: Trekking
Day 8: End the trekking around noon, and spend a night in Hsi paw
Day 9: Took the Train from Hsi paw to Pyin Oo Lwin, then travel to Mandalay from there
Day 10: Took the bus from Mandalay to Yangon, arrived in Yangon at evening
Day 11: Leave Yangon

For accommodation, I have only spent 2 nights in Bagan, 1 night in Hsi Paw, 1 night in Mandalay and 1 night in Yangon out of the 10 nights in my trip. Other than that, I spent 2 nights in the local village during my trekking in Hsi Paw and 3 nights in the bus.

Also, the trip was twisted from my initial planning after I reached in Hsi Paw. The one listed above was my final itinerary. ^^

Stay tune for more information on the accommodation & bus ticket purchase!

Month of November

又来到十一月了

这一个，属于我的月份

最近，自己的情绪很不稳定

经常会掉进胡思乱想的状态

也越来越负面了

运动量，少了

跑步，几乎停止了

旅行，今年完全没有

一直质疑为什么自己变得如此的恐怖

对， 可以用恐怖来形容自己

无论大小事，重要与否

第一个想法永远是负面的

而且也越来越冲动了

所以，无形中花了许多不该花的钱

过几天就是自己的生日了

应该高兴的，不是吗？

不知怎得，就是开心不起来

总觉得，四周围的人都有在欺骗自己的可能

在这样的构想活着，很累

身边的人，没有可以相信的

每天都活在这个勾心斗角，你死我活的世界

唯有自己可以相信自己

就算自己以为最亲的人，也有背叛的可能

Eyes Nose Lips