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Transport for Mandalay-Bagan in August
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| Express Boat from Bagan to Mandalay ... By grak88 on 19 Mar 2012 | 1 | 1121 | 30 Mar 2012 |
reublim
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Hello,
I'm planning a 9 or 10 day trip to Mandalay and Bagan via Yangon. I intend to go to these places as these would be the driest during August. I have some questions.
1. From Mandalay to Bagan, I hope to take a river boat. I'm partial to the slow ferry, but wouldn't like it's uncertainty and likelihood of breaking down. What are the options available in July, and which would you recommend?
2. Depending on what is my exit strategy, I will either travel from Bagan to:
a) Yangon by bus? Is this advisable during the rainy season, safety, prices, night buses?
b) Mandalay by bus?
c) Mandalay by flight? I'm trying to reduce the number of internal flights as they are quite costly.
Thanks in advance for your comments and help!
#1 Posted: 5/1/2013 - 23:24
steviej
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Hi Reublim,
Not sure where you're from but Air Asia do flights to Yangon and Mandalay from/to Bangkok so ideally you could fly into Mandalay and depart from Yangon or vice versa.
Malikha is a company that do the Mandalay to Bagan/Bagan to Mandalay river cruise and as far as I'm aware run all year but it would probably be better to travel downstream during the rainy season.
As for moving on from Bagan, you could probably get a flight to Yangon for something in the region of US$100.
A rough itinerary could look like this:
Air Asia flight: Bangkok-Mandalay
3 Days Mandalay
Boat to Bagan
4 Days Bagan
Flight to Yangon
2 Days Yangon
Flight to Bangkok.
#2 Posted: 6/1/2013 - 11:50
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reublim
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Thanks steviej!
That looks about how my current itinerary is. Yes, I know that there are flights for Bagan to Yangon, but the price is pretty steep, and the local carriers don't have their schedules out yet. That was why I wanted some cheaper form of transport. Would Yangon be fine to visit that period of the year?
#3 Posted: 6/1/2013 - 16:04
steviej
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Just realised your from Malaysia.
Mmm, according to one website, there's just over 500mm of rain for August so you may need a 'brolly'.
I suppose you could concentrate on Bagan and the Mandalay Area and skip Yangon.
Bagan to Mandalay by road/rail would take some 7 to 8 hrs. A flight would be around US$65 but as you say there's no schedule as yet.
#4 Posted: 6/1/2013 - 16:29
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reublim
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Yup, but am now based in Singapore. So considering Singapore-Bangkok-Mandalay flight and Yangon-Singapore. It's just getting from Bagan to Yangon in August that I'm worried about as Lonely Planet says "The southwest monsoon starts between mid-May and mid-June, bringing frequent rains that dunk the country through till October, peaking from July to September. The dry zone (between Mandalay and Pyay) gets the least rain, though roads anywhere (and particularly in the delta region) can become impassable.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/myanmar-burma/weather#ixzz2HFG6Q3o3".
Thanks for your help!
#5 Posted: 6/1/2013 - 18:31
travelwithme
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Well lonelyplanet have all the destination details and it provides really good info.
#6 Posted: 9/1/2013 - 04:14
reublim
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Yes but it doesn't have the information I need about traveling from Bagan to Yangon during the rainy season.
#7 Posted: 9/1/2013 - 05:39