The Paperback Diary

Locals that we've met in the market and us! :)

Our well maintained bikes provided by Grasshopper Adventures

Barely having enough any sleep after a crazy world cup match  (Brazil vs Germany) that happened at 2am, local time, we were up and out to the airport before sunrise to catch our flight to Mandalay.

Clean and modern airport

While keeping my expectations low, the domestic flight airport actually turned out to be better than I thought. Flight from Yangon to Mandalay was about an hour and the hotel driver that we booked didn't turn up! A Burmese lady, who was waiting for guests to arrive, saw us wondering around came to our rescue and contacted the hotel to ask for our driver's location. After multiple phone calls between the hotel and driver, she told us to take a taxi from the hotel as this driver seems suspicious. This whole incident actually took 30 mins! We took her advise and went with the taxi at the airport.

View from Taw Win Myanmar Hotel

The taxi fares listed in the airport was the same as what I've research online. It cost us 15,000 kyats with aircon. Carry your own luggage if you do not want to tip the guys. We sat in a F1 taxi and the whole ride took us less than an hour. Followed with a quick check-in to our hotel (Taw Win Myanmar Hotel), we rested for a while before heading out for our next adventure (U Bein Bridge Sunset Ride, with Grasshopper Adventures).

The famous U-Bein Bridge

Our guides and us at the watch tower

Our guide picked us up from our hotel, along with 2 other tourist, who turned out to be Singaporeans! It is very comforting to meet people from your home country in a foreign land. Singlish flowed out naturally after that too. We rode for half a day and that was the bumpiest ride I ever had! My butt hurt so bad halfway but I'm glad that I've persevered through. We explored small roads and visited the homes of the locals to understand what they do for livelihood. The tour was very enjoyable and our guide, Nay, was knowledgeable.

Mini Bagan in Mandalay

Local food for dinner

Breakfast at Golden Guest Inn

It was our very first breakfast in Myanmar and we were in for a good meal! Of all the French toast I had so far, I've found my best in Golden Guest Inn. French toasts that I had are usually only coated on the outside and dry in the middle. This toast was entirely infused with the flavour and moist, very lovely. The only regret I had was leaving this place the second day without any breakfast.

Kamayaut Station (Nearby the guest inn)

Handwritten train tickets

We walked to the nearest Circular train station, Kamayaut and there we purchased our handwritten train tickets. I realised that this information isn't readily available online so I'll like to share this with you. The circular train goes bi-directional (2-ways) and you can pretty much buy your tickets at any station now. Timing of the trains are not accurate, so do buffer another 30 mins of waiting time on top of the time the station master tells you. Don't expect a seat immediately and depending on the time of the ride, it can be pretty packed. Journey time from Kamayaut to Yangon Central station was about an hour. During the one hour ride, we pretty much had a glimpse of how the locals live on a daily basis.

Inside the train

I thought the ride was rather soothing as it rocks a little from side to side when it moves. Accompanied with the slight breeze, it was comfortable enough for a short nap. We pretty much just enjoyed the slow ride and people watched. I was just observing this cute Burmese granny, who was sitting across me, just enjoying her ride. She pretty much just gazed out of the window peacefully with occasional fluttering of eyelids, trying to keep herself awake. I really enjoy seeing how the locals live their lives in what we could call the "kampong style".

Inside Shwedagon Pagoda

Upon alighting at Yangon Central Station, we walked out of the station and took a taxi down to Shwedagon Pagoda. I believe it was about a 15 minutes ride from the station. Be prepared for a long climb up to the temple (about 5 flights of stairs). Please wear pant/skirt that cover your knees, else they would want you to purchase a wrap around for 5USD each. Entrance fees has also risen up to 9USD per person. The area is quite huge and they would provide you with a map to walk around. They have unofficial tour guides too which you can try to bargain. One guy offered to take 3 of us at 10USD but due to the short time we have there, we turned him down and went on our own. We couldn't get a very good photo as there was some restoration work done while we were there. I would say the real gold coated buildings against the white paint is pretty impressive. Also, I liked a building that was covered entirely with small pieces of mirror, I can imagine it sparkling when the sun shines on it. As you walk around barefooted in the huge compound, you'll also be amazed that it has been well-kept. We left the area about an hour later and the rest of the evening was just hiding in our guest house due to a heavy downpour.

At Inya Lake

Myanmar not being one of the top holiday destinations in Singapore was one of the main reasons why we've decided to head there. We thought that it would be a backwards country in terms of development and we were in for a pleasant surprise. It was actually like Malaysia or Batam, not as backwards as we initially thought to be.

Golden Guest Inn

Our contact recommended us to stay in Golden Guest Inn while we were in Yangon. This guest inn is a family-run business, they have built an extension at the back of their house to allow more rooms for guest and the family would stay in the main building. This guest inn is more like staying in a chalet. As I'm not a hotel staying person, this guest house provided me what I needed. It was homely and comfortable. They had wifi, hot water, a small fridge, TV with international channels, air-con, clean towels and some basic soaps.

During our short stay, Tat and his family were really friendly and helpful. They would recommend places to eat and places to visit. Tat is fluent in English while his parents are fluent in Mandarin. So communication was not a problem for us at all. From Yangon airport, it would take about 15 mins by taxi to the guest inn. To the city (downtown) area, it would take another 15 mins from the guest inn. Depending on the time of the day, do expect peak hours traffic jam.

Inya Lake

We arrived early in the afternoon, and with our limited time, we visited Inya lake and just strolled around the area. Inya lake was well maintained and you could tell the cleanliness difference by just looking across the main road. It's not uncommon to find piles of food waste at random corners of the streets, uneven side walks, very little traffic lights and bi-direction one way roads. Compared to Mandalay, I felt that Yangon was messier.


In the evening, we met our contact for some volunteer work. We visited families who lived in the squatters and interacted with them for a couple of hours before we left.  The contrast between the rich and the poor is obvious in Yangon. On one end of the street, you could see concrete houses where the rich lives and on another, the poor are just living off with what they make do with, building their homes with what you can see above.

The little ones are adorable. They were really curious about us (I guess it's not common for them to have visitors) and I was reliving my childhood again when I played their favourite game. Volunteering has always been a humbling experience and trust me when I say that Singapore is good place. As much as we're finding our identity as Singaporeans, in terms of development and welfare, we're considerably better off compared to our neighbouring countries. It's just finding the balance of appreciating what I have currently and being contented with it.