I'm planning a trip for our family of four, kids ages 7&10, for April, around water festival time, in Myanmar. Our tentative itinerary has us visiting Mandalay, Pyin Oo Lwin, and Hsipaw, including train travel for at least the Pyin Oo Lwin to Hsipaw section of the trip. I know Pyin Oo Lwin will be slightly less hot than much of the rest of Myanmar at this time, and that's part of the draw to this area. Can anyone recommend other slightly less hot destinations within Myanmar that would work for an April trip? We are budget to mid-range travelers.
1
herbie47
Inle lake is also higher altitude and that could be good for your kids. Kalaw also is high. Bagan is very hot so I would avoid. Mandalay will be hot and dusty so I would not stay there long. There is a bus from Hsipaw to Inle although its rather long trip or you could head back to Mandalay then share taxi to Kalw/Inle.
2
rivaltribal
Anywhere higher elevations will be a bit cooler...Hsipaw/Kalaw/Inle/etc...
It also depends a bit on where you want to be during the water splashing, with 2 young-uns. If it were me I'd try and spend the main part of the water splashing days in smaller towns (eg. Hsipaw/Kalaw/Nyaungshwe, etc.) rather than cities like Yangon where it is pretty 'full-on'.
I guess you know bus travel then is very limited/stops...so train and flights...IF travelling in train/taxis keep aware of open windows when going thru towns/villages....
3
naugastyle
Hsipaw, already on your itinerary, is slightly less hot so don't worry about that. My preference is Kyaukme, between Pyin Oo Lwin and Hsipaw...my favorite area, have been 4 times, but I go to trek around from village to village which may not be possible for your kids. I've visited both Kyaukme and POL at the end of March and it was fine.
Was also in Kengtung around that time, and it's significantly cooler than those places as well...was actually sleeping under woolly blankets in March and trekking in the sun while wearing long-sleeve tshirt & jeans. Of course nearly a month later it will be hotter for you, but I don't think it should be too bad. Although I also went to Kengtung for trekking, it's daytime treks in which you have to return back to the town again in the evening so shorter options could be chosen for kids. And there's some villages you can definitely visit by car/tuktuk, plus the town itself is already interesting to wander. It's long haul from where you'll be, but you can fly from Mandalay.
Mandalay is always hot, way hotter than Yangon even in January. Sagaing is supposed to be the "cool" area nearby so I stayed in town to visit the nearby sights like Sagaing Hill and U Bein. This definition of "cooler than Mandalay" should be taken with a HUGE grain of salt in March/April...for me, it was still the kind of weather where you don't even have to move to get drenched in sweat.
4
Thorn Tree
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