Le Planteur Restaurant, Yangon

Fine Alsace Wine

We’ve been in Burma for two weeks. While we’ve had some excellent local food in Mandalay and Mrauk U, after two weeks there are some things we yearn for: a fine wine, the perfect baguette, rich dark chocolate. So here we are in Yangon. A good friend from Bangkok recommended Le Planteur and a couple we met in Mrauk U from Singapore also sang its praises. While the prices for the prix fix menu are rather dear, US$68 or $78, we decided to have a decadent lunch there. My experience all over the world has been that superb restaurants are often a (relative) bargain at lunch time. We were not disappointed.

In addition to the regular prix fix menus, Le Planteur also offers a vegetarian selection for US$44 and a Business lunch for a mere US$25. We found a wonderful Alsace Riesling, dry and delicate, to complement our seafood meal.

Amuse Bouche

Jumbo prawns appetizer

Delicious grouper in truffle sauce

We opted for the three course Business lunch. The food was perfectly prepared. In addition to the three courses, there was a group of three appetizers served as we perused the menu, then an amuse bouche, followed by our three chosen courses.

The third course is a selection from the dessert cart, and they encourage you to choose three or four items to sample. The servings are small, just right for a sampler. And after that, the chef brought us Swiss chocolates… the perfect end to a wonderful meal.

Dessert!

Swiss chocolates

Our compliments to the chef!

Contact information:
Le Planteur Restaurant
No. 22B KayarAye Pagoda Road, Yangon
Telephone: 541 997

http://www.leplanteur.net

If have reservations for dinner, they can pick you up in one of these beautiful antique cars, gratis.

Complimentary antique taxis

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U Bein's Bridge

We are here in Mandalay now. It’s early in the morning and I’m afraid I just woke Kathie up by dropping my mouse on the teak floor here. It’s almost time to get up, though. We’ll have a somewhat early breakfast and then meet our driver at 8 am to tour the Ancient cities outside of Mandalay. I’m not sure which one makes the most sense to go to first thing. For picture taking it’s always great to be there at sunrise (which we’ll miss) or sunset (where we cannot be all day long). While traveling, I have to take the pictures while I’m there and it’s not always the best time of day, however, I’d like to chose as well as I can for where we’ll be at sunset. That may be U Bien’s bridge, although it is one of those photographic landmarks that everyone takes pictures of (at sunset) and so there may be a better choice.

We left Bangkok yesterday very early in the morning and flew to Yangon and then to Mandalay. In Yangon we met our tour agent from Santa Maria tours, who gave Kathie all of the vouchers for our hotels and all of the airline tickets we’ll need while we’re here and Kathie gave him a bundle of brand new, crispy US dollars to pay what we still owed. We’d made a down payment earlier in the year with an electronic money transfer to their account in Bangkok.

While Kathie was doing that, I went to the money changer window and changed three hundred dollar bills to kyat. The rate yesterday was 780 kyat to the dollar, which is the best they can offer right now, but sadly the dollar continues to drop!! I walked away from the window with 234,000 kyat. Thankfully, they have 5000 kyat notes now so they didn’t all have to come to me in 1000 kyat notes. I’m not sure how I would have counted that.

Then we needed to walk from the international to domestic terminal. The last time we were here 2 years ago, there were throngs of young men willing to wheel your luggage over and guide the way, but this time we were on our own. We could have gotten a car for 2000 kyat, but thought it was close enough to walk. It was, but it was about a 10 minute walk in traffic. There is a sidewalk, but it’s about a foot off the ground. Kathie hoisted her luggage up onto the first one, but had a helluva time getting it down, so we both walked in the street after that. We finally made it and then sat in a dank terminal for about an hour waiting to board our plane.

The plane was an ATR 72/210, which is a small turbo prop plane made in Toulouse, France. It’s probably at least 20 years old and the interior shows it, it’s fairly beat up, but comfortable enough for such a short flight. It took an hour and 10 minutes from Yangon to Heho with a 10 minute stopover to drop off and pick up passengers and then another 25 minutes to Mandalay.

I know that people talk about seeing patchwork landscapes from the airplane, but flying into Heho (near Inle Lake), which was our plane’s first stop before Mandalay, the patchwork colors ranging from yellow/orange to green, was exceptionally beautiful. I took a few pictures, of course!

Once we got to Mandalay, a representative from Santa Maria met us and we were brought out to our taxi waiting for us. The drive from the airport to our hotel, Rupar Mandalar, took about an hour. From the airport to the main drag, it’s just a long straight road with barely any traffic. All along the road are banana sellers and we saw a few farmers with their oxen carts or herding a couple of white bony cows down the road.

Once we turned left from that road, the traffic increased, but we weren’t slowed down terribly. We made it to our hotel, the Rupar Mandalar in about an hour. Now that we’ve been here for a couple of days, we hear from everyone that this is the best hotel in Mandalay and I can see why. The rooms are completely built of teak wood as is all of the furniture. The dining chairs are very heavy to move away from the table to sit down, and quite comfortable. The food is prepared well, mostly Chinese dishes, but also Italian and Thai. The breakfasts are really wonderful, all of the juice is freshly squeezed and the buffet includes noodle dishes to traditional American breakfasts with someone cooking eggs to order and a very tasty Chinese noodle soup with beef and watercress.

The next day we had a driver arranged to take us around to the ancient cities, including Amarapura, Ava and Sagaing. We both enjoyed Sagaing the best. We ended the day taking pictures at sunset at U Bein’s Bridge. The sunset was one of the most spectacular I’ve ever seen and I think I got a few good shots from the 407 I took!

Yesterday we went on a day trip to the old colonial hill station Pyin U Lwin. We walked through a market and then went to a place called Pacific Curio where we each bought something, Kathie bought an old Naga weaving for her friend Bobbie and I bought a 150 year old reclining Buddha made with iron wood. The shop is owned by Soe Moe, who is renowned for finding tribal handicrafts. He was there with his son and grandson. He told me he taught 2nd grade for 18 years but then decided to do this and this shop in Pyin U Lwin is filled floor to ceiling with his purchases. Our driver said he also has a shop in Mandalay.

After lunch we spent about an hour and a half at the National Kandawgyi Gardens, which was established in 1915 (according to the Lonely Planet guide) by an English botanist named Alex Rogers. The sign says is was established in 1924. As it was Sunday, the park was filled with families from Mandalay enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. Kathie and I spent most of our time there in the orchid garden, where I took pictures.

It’s a 1.5 hour drive to and from Pyin U Lwin (pronounced Pin oo lin) and we got back to the hotel before dark. Today we are going to spend a relaxing day at the hotel, probably going swimming in the large pool in the afternoon and catch up on reading before heading to Bagan early tomorrow morning.

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Chao Praya River with no boat traffic after the flooding

We arrived in Bangkok late last night after what seemed like even longer flights than usual, even though they were the same. We’re both unhappy that United still hasn’t retrofitted all of their 777s business class with the full lay down seats and that since they have begun the retrofit project, we’re not longer getting 747s between Seattle and Narita. All of those have been completed. Luck of the draw, I guess. Hopefully next year! Sleeping through those flights would make a world of difference.

When we got here, after walking forever to the immigration stations, we got through very quickly and our AAC limo driver was there to greet us. As we drove to the Royal Orchid Sheraton, we saw dozens (hundreds, really) of cars along the side of the expressway, parked there by people to protect their cars from the recent flooding. Right now, the city center of Bangkok remains dry. Our driver said his home town of Ayuttahya got terrible flooding (3 meters) and his mother went to a temple to eat and sleep. He said they were without food and water for a week and people were sleeping out on the sidewalks. I sure everyone is glad to have the worst past them, I hope that rebuilding goes well for most people.

Last night on the plane, in the Bangkok Post, I read an article about 5 monks who started a protest in Mandalay demanding the release of all political prisoners. We’ll be there the day after tomorrow. We would all love to see Burma restored to democracy. Kathie and I are both looking forward to seeing any changes since the last time we were there 2 years ago.

Today is shopping in Bangkok day. I’ll go pick out a new pair of glasses and we agreed to buy an MP5 player for Min thu in Bagan. We should be able to do both of those things in Siam Paragon. After breakfast in the Towers, we’ll get the Sheraton boat to the sky train and buy a pass to give us enough rides for today and then the 4 days when we get back here after our travels in Burma. That’s when I’ll pick up my new glasses!

And now, as I look behind me through the window from my room on the 27th floor, I see it’s gotten light out and I see a single foot ferry boat crossing the Chao Phraya River next to the hotel. The river looks a little higher than normal, but that may not even be so. It doesn’t look like we’ll have any trouble at all getting from here to the sky train later this morning. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful day here in Bangkok.

Update: As it turned out, the Sheraton boat was not running, in fact, other than the foot ferries crossing the river there was no river traffic at all. The picture at the top of this post shows a very unusual scene, indeed. Normally, the river is teeming with traffic, especially the regular river taxis going both ways and plenty of barges carrying goods.

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In the city, the bank-run exchanges have recently had the best rates, about 10 kyat per dollar more than the black market rates. So far, such bank-run exchanges only exist in Yangon. There have been long lines of locals trying to exchange dollars for kyat. Recent exchange rates have been around 800 kyat to the dollar. Typically, exchanges set their rates twice a day.

These bank-run exchanges will exchange not only dollars, but also Euros and Singapore dollars. 
 However, this has not eliminated the need for crisp, unmarked US dollars. You still need US dollars to pay for hotels, flights, and admission fees.

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We found Inle to be just magical. Out every morning at dawn on the lake, the mist softened everything and photos looked as if they were taken in black and white. With the mist softening the sounds and obscuring things, it felt like we were the only boat on the lake – until we came upon a fisherman setting a bamboo fish trap.

I was surprised to hear Inle described by some at Lonely Planet’s Thorntree Forum as “touristy.” I couldn’t imagine what they were talking about. Then I learned that many people hire a boat for 4-6 people at a low per person price and are taken on the “tourist circuit” on the lake. Climb into a boat with a bunch of people for a “standard” tour of Inle and you will get the impression it is touristy, as most of the stops are workshops – basically shopping opportunities. But start early in the morning and go to places you want to see, and you will see very few tourists and will have a glimpse of a unique way of life as it has been for centuries there.

I don’t recommend doing the tourist circuit, so what do I recommend you see at Inle?

1. If you can, take the full day trip to the southern lake, Sankar. This lake is in Pa-O country, so you will have to pay a fee to the Pa-O and also hire a Pa-O guide. It’s a nice, long ride to the southern part of the lake. I loved all of our time on the water. The boats are pretty comfortable; you sit low and have armrests. I loves watching the fishermen, seeing the children going to school via boat, and seeing goods transported from village to village. Sankar, with its partially submerged stupas is incredibly atmospheric. There is another pagoda with stupas on the southern lake, Takhaung Mwetaw Pagoda that is also well worth a visit.
2. In a village on the main part of the lake, there is a pagoda and a stupa forest at InDien. You walk though the village, and then up the covered stairs to the pagoda. The stupas lower on the hill are in a picturesque state of decay, the ones higher up have been rebuilt and painted. Along the walkway, vendors set up their stall, with the nest array of quality crafts we saw at Inle.
3. The 5 day market – unless it is at the floating market. The 5-day market rotates among sites. It’s a wonderful opportunity to mingle with the locals, to see the beautiful array of local produce. I find the floating market – even on an off day – to be an absolute circus.
4. Phaung Daw Oo Paya – also known as the Golden Boat is a pagoda in the lake that holds the holiest Buddha images in the area. The images are taken out on the beautiful golden boats during festival time. The boats themselves are works of art.
5. The Jumping Cat Monastery is on the tourist circuit. We went, not for the cats, but for the lovely collection of old Buddha images. We also had the opportunity to talk at length with a monk about politics. If you arrive early, you can miss the groups of visitors.
6. One place we didn’t know about, but would love to visit next time is http://intharheritagehouse.com/catcafe.html This is a project to re-introduce the Burmese cat to Burma. There is also a café at the cattery, and it gets good reviews.
7. The one workshop we visited is the silk and lotus-weaving workshop at In Phaw Khone. I am very interested in indigenous textiles. This is the only place in SE Asia where I have seen the extraction and weaving of lotus fiber.

No doubt there are worthwhile stops we missed. But these are the stops we made. We seldom ran into other visitors, both because of the choices we made and because we started each morning about 6:30 am.

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Recently, there have been changes in the banking laws in Burma, and banks are being allowed to open currency exchanges. So far, there is a report on Thorntree of one open in Yangon. The currency exchange does exchange at rates similar to the black market rate, not the official rate. (Will this mean they will eventually do away with the “official rate”?)
 Note that you still cannot exchange money at banks, but the banks are opening separate currency exchanges.

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It took two and a half weeks this year to get our visas back from Washington, DC. When we went in 2009, it took a week to get our visas back.



Burma is expecting the largest number of visitors ever this year. So expect your visa to take longer than usual. The visa is good for 90 days from the date of issue, meaning that you have to enter Burma by that date. Once you enter Burma, it is good for 28 days. No extensions are allowed.

The visa cost is US$20. The application requires a lot of information, including flights into Burma, itinerary, and a job history.

The visa form is available here: Applying for tourist Visa

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Malarone is the newest of the antimalarial medications. It has the advantage of having the fewest reported side effects as well as the shortest period of time you have to take it to provide protection. You start taking it one day prior to entering the malarial risk area and continue it for seven days after leaving the risk area. It is currently effective against all strains of malaria and in all malarial risk regions.

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There is a dual currency system: US dollars are used for paying hotels, flights, and entrance fees and the local currency, kyat (pronounced “chat”) is used to pay for taxis, meals in non-hotel restaurants, purchases from markets, etc.

The kyat, like currencies of many small countries, is not a convertible currency. You can’t order it from your bank or buy it in other countries, and outside of Burma, it is worthless. This is also true of the VN dong, the Laos kip and the Cambodian riel. But the kyat has additional complications.

There is an “official” exchange rate of about 6 kyat to the US dollar. However, the “real” exchange rate is varies widely, in the last year ranging from about 650 to 850 kyat to the dollar. In 2009, we got 1000 kyat to the dollar. As a traveler, you exchange money on the “black market” (jewelry stores, travel agents, hotels, etc). Indeed, in the past if you asked to exchange money at the airport exchange counter, they would tell you not to exchange money there because they had to use the official exchange rate. Recently, an exchange has opened at the airport that gives reasonable rates, not as good as you would get in Yangon, but only 40-50 kyat per dollar less. It is illegal for a foreigner to exchange money at a bank.

Worldwide, you get the best exchange rates for $100 bills. The difference in exchange rates for $100 bills versus lesser denominations is more marked in Myanmar than other places I’ve been.

You will want to take $100 bills to exchange for kyat and $100 bills to pay your agent for hotels and airfares, but take a variety of smaller bills so you can pay exact amounts as you settle bills for meals and incidentals at your hotels, pay admission fees, etc. You cannot guarantee that places will have good bills to give you change.

The best exchange rates are in Yangon. In Yangon, the best rates are at Scott’s Market. The farther from Yangon you get, the lower the exchange rates will be. In Mandalay, expect rated to be perhaps 40-60 kyat per dollar less, at Inle, they are even lower, perhaps 100 kyat to the dollar less. So it makes sense to exchange what you’ll need in Yangon.

US dollars, whether to spend or exchange, must be pristine. Bills that are wrinkled or worn, with ink marks or scuffs are not acceptable and cannot be exchanged or spent in Burma. I have known people who ironed their dollars to make them acceptable. If possible, order new currency from your bank for your trip. If that is not possible, ask them to save to the best-looking bills for you.

The national bank has a policy of not accepting bills that have even the tiniest tears or are dirty or have ink on them. Thus, places that accept dollars such as hotels and travel agencies are very particular about the currency they accept, as if the central bank won’t accept a bill, it cannot be exchanged. Their only recourse is to find a visitor who will exchange an unacceptable bill for an acceptable one.

Technically, private citizens in Burma are not allowed to possess foreign currency. Even those private citizens who are allowed to accept foreign currency (such as taxi drivers from the Rangoon airport or horse cart drivers in Bagan) are often hassled by government officials as they try to exchange dollars. For small vendors, exchanging dollars is a problem. If/when they can exchange them for kyat, they may be harassed and they will not get a good rate. Vendors often ask tourists to trade them kyat for the dollars they have previously accepted. Do the vendors a favor and only use kyat when you purchase. If you have extra kyat, do trade them kyat for dollars.

Because of the sanctions placed on Burma by most of the world, Burmese companies cannot accept credit cards. You will find some places (typically high-end hotels) that will accept credit cards to pay your bill with a 5-15% surcharge, as they use Thai or Singapore companies to process the charges. No American Express cards can be accepted anywhere. 
 If you find yourself really in trouble – out of money – there are a few hotels that will advance you money by charging your credit card, but you’ll pay about a 20% premium for this. So when you figure out how much money to take to Myanmar (Burma), add a good margin of safety. It’s not like the rest of the world where you can just find an ATM if you need to replenish your money supply.

By the way, if you are headed there via Bangkok, there is an ATM airside at the Bangkok Airport that dispenses US dollars.

What about other currencies? You may be able to find people who will exchange Euro, Baht, Indian Rupees, Pounds Sterling or RMB in Yangon, but the rates won’t be as good as for US dollars.

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We also used our agent to book at boat for us between Sittwe and Mrauk U. There is a public (government) boat that runs several days a week, but is not practical if you have a schedule to keep. There are a number of different kinds of boats one can take – a speedboat that is both very loud and rather dangerous (like other speedboats on rivers in SE Asia), tiny uncovered boats, and fancier, covered boats. Because we are staying at the Princess, we decided to splurge on the Princess boat.

On our first trip to Burma, we found that the agent could get us better prices for Balloons over Bagan.

Of course, travel agents can also arrange guides for you. We opt not to do that, as we seldom use guides, and when we do we’d rather hire one on the spot after we’ve had a chance to interact a bit.

Also on our first trip to Burma we arrived in Yangon on a national holiday, so Scott’s Market, the recommended place to exchange money was closed. Our agent changed money for us at a rate equal to that available at Scott’s Market.

Because we are heading to Mandalay soon after we land in Yangon from Bangkok, we may ask the agent to exchange money for us when they meet us at the airport to give us our tickets and vouchers and to get paid.

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