Planning Myanmar in May with my 65 year old father...help?

'recently opened to tourism,' - initial comment....forget that notion....even the first time I went around a decade ago it was getting quite a few tourists...

well I wasn't trying to suggest that no tourists have ever been to Myanmar ha, more so, I understand it, the doors have opened wider. in any event, I am looking for some constructive feedback, if you have anything you'd like to offer that would certainly be appreciated.

Your father is not old! 60 is the new 40, etc.

May is outside the tourist season. The good thing is that you won't have a problem finding accommodation and room charges will be down. On the other hand, expect to find more limited transport schedules. Also check the weather conditions. It will be very hot, with little relief unless the wet season starts early.

I have no experience of beaches in Myanmar, but I know that only a few are set up as resorts to host foreigners. These are distant from the most popular centres and will require a long bus ride or a flight (if flights are operating on those routes in May). But I will say that there are no beaches anywhere in SE Asia that compare favourably with a Pacific Ocean beach, so adjust your expectations. On the other hand, there are riverside resorts in such places as Bagan where you can sit with a long drink and watch a dramatic sunset over the water and distant hills.

Reconsider any overnight rail journeys. These offer an unforgettable experience, but not in a good way. The trains move slowly but buck and sway with great vigour. You will spend the entire night clinging to your bunks. Instead, look into a daytime journey to give you that experience. A number of scenic routes exist, perhaps none more spectacular than the journey over the Gokteik viaduct. You can take this train from Mandalay, but you may prefer to find your way to Pyin Oo Lwin to join the train there and travel to Kyaukme or Hsipaw (or journey from one of these in the reverse direction). Apart from the gorge crossing, the train weaves slowly through the highlands and makes lengthy stops at small stations where you can wander along the platform to buy food and trinkets from local hawkers. Take care with window seats as you will be lashed by foliage as the train plunges through it. Have the means to strap your bags to the overhead shelves or they will roll off. Allow for delayed arrival at your destination, and there is also a real prospect that service will be cancelled without notice for a variety of reasons including derailments.

Hostels in Kyaukme and Hispaw can organise daytime treks, and even overnight village stays.

May is too late for ballooning. The season ends by mid-April. Look up Mount Popa (do this as a half-day side trip from Bagan, engaging a local driver) and Inle Lake, which sits somewhere on the route between Mandalay and Bagan or Bagan and Yangon, depending on how you travel.

Have fun.

I don't recall OP saying his father was old. I know a lot if people, some years younger who don't like to step outside their comfort zone.

I think rivaltribal's point might be that there are definitely people who go in with very romantic ideas about being the first "explorers" in Myanmar. In my opinion, it tends to come across a little patronizing, believing that all the locals have been "untouched" or something--they really haven't ever been that isolated. On my most recent trip, I met a guy who had visited in the 70s and there used to be a lot of frequent posters on this very forum that would reminisce about the 70s/80s as well.

Reconsider any overnight rail journeys. These offer an unforgettable experience, but not in a good way. The trains move slowly but buck and sway with great vigour.

Agreed. Not smooth not like trains in India, or Thailand (or obviously, Japan). You can't even really read books in the daytime because the rocking is so rough, and plus they're extremely slow. Although if you read some recent posts here, the specific route emmeff mentions over the Gokteik acqueduct has recently received a huge uptick in traffic and is no longer faster by bus. And I think most people would recommend giving the Circle Train in Yangon a try. It goes to the outskirts taking about 3 hours to make a loop. Very local experience, you can find a lot of blogs about it.

It is a little hard to get off-the-beaten track in 2 weeks without skipping out on the more famous sights completely. Do you want to do that? On my first trip, I had 2.5 weeks, and visited Inle Lake, Kyaukme (5 day trek to rural villages), and Mrauk U (this is back when flying there was the only option, thus very few independent tourists). This meant I saw Yangon for about 18 hrs, and Mandalay and Bagan for zero hours. Didn't have the slightest regret, but not everyone would feel that way. I've had the good fortune of later moving nearby and visiting frequently, and after 5 trips I still haven't seen Bagan. Again, no regrets, it will still be there, while places like Kyaukme have changed a lot. (still very worthwhile, but much less spontaneous, free-roaming or cheap these days). Anyway, my point is I think it is possible to have off-the-beaten track experiences if you're willing to cut the famous stuff.

The beaches aren't really that nice, I can't think of any "jungle", and I think most of the swimmable rivers are either in northern Shan State (near Kyaukme, but would take long hikes to get to) or Chin State (your time is too short).

For food: I think most Burmese food in general qualifies as adventurous. There is a lot of Chinese-influenced dishes, some Indian-influenced dishes, and a few Thai-influenced dishes--mostly delicious! But the dishes that have the least outsider influence are stinky, sour, very salty and oily, and often chock-full of chilis but not always melded in as well as Thai chilis are. I quite enjoy it but have had years to get used to it :). I don't know how it is in Vancouver, but Burmese food is extremely popular in San Francisco, with some places getting hour-long waits for a table. I haven't been, but when I look at the menus of these places online, they're nearly unrecognizable as "true" Burmese food.

Bear in mind it will be very, very, very hot in May.

Thank you everyone that's responded, I really appreciate the insight. Clearly you guys know what you're talking about. To just quell any concerns over my 'recently opened to tourism' comment, it was not intended to be patronizing, meant more so with respect to perhaps the tourist infrastructure has been solidified more recently, for example I understand they have an expedited online visa application process now. In any event it was not intended to come across as an ignorant comment. Interesting about the trains because I was basing my expectation on trains in India and rural China but it seems that myanmars trains are less desirable than I expected for aforementioned reasons. Anyhow I will continue to look into this further and the above has been very helpful. Likely will have a few more queries as I get into this a bit more. oh and lastly, I agree 60s is not old ! Merely, my dad has more of an appreciation for comfort and concrete itinerary than myself ha.

for example I understand they have an expedited online visa application process now.

Yes, it's pretty impressive! When I did it last December, it took the advertised 3 days. Already there are reports of getting the approval in less than 24 hours!

I think I read somewhere that the train tracks and train cars in Myanmar were made for different purposes, haha. Like, they rock & rattle because it's not a proper fit.

My parents are around the same age and while they travel loads, they really wouldn't like off-the-beaten-track Myanmar. But it's definitely possible to make plans rather than just wing it, and find reasonably nice hotels. Many bus routes have VIP versions now, 3 seats in a row (so you could both sit singly) for pretty cheap. This change in bus quality happened fast, just like the cheapness of SIM cards did.

We visited Burma the first time about 1978 and the last time in 2007. Good grief, there was one poster (Kenjoy) who served in the Australian armed forces in WW2 and married the daughter of a plantation manager from those days. He returned several times, most recently 5 or 6 years ago in his 80s.

What Ken noted and I certainly agree is that for older travelers in tropical Asia in the hot season it is supremely important to drink a lot of water and to pace oneself. Moulmein in May was unbelievably hot.

Lucky you and your Dad!