Itinerary headache

Hi,
My wife and I are planning to spend 2 weeks in Burma in second part of November.
We do not enough time to do everything what we would like , we are not under illusion that we can even scratch the surface of Burma.
We came up with this:
Yangoon-3days
Bagan- 3 days
Inle-3days
Ngwe Saung-3days
2days for travel.
However i have second thoughts about Inle. Im afraid that it is too touristy although Ive read that it is possible to get away from crowds hiking and riding bicycle or going to Sampar.
So I was thinking if Hpa an or Mawlamyine would be better option ( more local feeling )but we are not that keen on caves and it is a bit out of way .Any suggestions for hiking there?
Another option is to go to Mrauk U by bus from Kyaukpadaung. Downside is that this journey takes 20 hours and having only 2 weeks it seems like a bit too much ( I know that Mu will be worth doing that) .
Finally I think about Mindat ( 2 days travel from Bagan via Pakokku and 2 days in Mindat ) mainly hiking, visiting villages.
I would really appreciate any comments ,tips, suggestions.

Thank you very much.

I think Mrauk U is too far, really with that bus ride each way you need at least 4-5 days. I planned to go to Mindat but did not get there in the end, it can be cold in November. Hpa-An and Mawlamyine also you will need some time.

You could fly into or out of Mandalay that will save some time. How are you getting around?

Yes Inle is touristy now. You could probably shave 1 day off Yangon.

I would have recommended Kyaukme for trekking but there has been trouble there recently.

Well, there is no need to be in Yangon(If only Yangon) for 3 days,Just a fullday is enough for the highlight. Inle will be touristy but attractive(2 days there is Ok). Mindet can be extended from Bagan(minimum 3days 2nights excursion), and Hpa-An And Mawlamyine is 4days 3nights extension from Yangon(not very touristy).
So Lets says ,Fly to Mandalay (not 2 times in one destination,save some times)
2days in Mandalay(may including arrival day)
boat to Bagan and 5days in Bagan(including 3 days to Mindet)
Bagan to Inle,(fly or overnight bus),2days in Inle
Inle to Yangon,(fly or overnight bus), 1 day in Yangon
4days or 3days to Mawlamyine & Hpa-An,or Ngwe Saung.
(Can also make trekking from Kalaw to Inle,2days1night, but touristy)

one day is not enough for Yangon...2 or 3 days can be easily spent there. if it your first time to Myanmar then you can spend the first day just getting the feel of the place....then 2nd and 3rd day checking some sites (plus Bogyoke market/circle train ride....wander back streets/lanes).
Yes Inle is 'touristy' (maybe for a reason...?) but relatively, compared to what...? But then so is Bagan, and Yangon and Mandalay get plenty of tourists...so if you want to avoid tourists you might as well skip all 4.
Mindat - is not worth it as a 3 day trip....you loose best part of a day for travel each way, and it is expensive for car and driver, and guide, so not worth it unless you spend at least 2 days up there, preferably 3...
If you are not keen on caves then maybe skip Hpa'an.....it's a nicesmall town, but main attraction is the caves.
Bagan - you can see plenty of temples in even just 1 full day, so 2 days there is adequate.
You could consider Mrauk-U but as fly/boat one direction (via Sittwe) then bus out...still requires at least 4 days to be worthwhile.

Curious is Bagan is worth seeing now post quake. I am glad there does not seem to be a high human casualty.

"If" not "is" for first sentence

there are soooooo many temples at Bagan that it would still be okay...sounds like only a 'handful' got damaged...and they could use that expensive zone entry fee more than ever (not that much of it likely actually gets to maintaining the temples)

Hi,
I am sorry that i have not responded earlier but been away with limited access to internet.
Thank you all for great tips,suggestions. I think that we would stack to Bagan and Inle. I know that it is strange that i want to avoid tourists when i am one of them. I would like to call myself a traveller but because of working commitments i cannot take more than 2 weeks holiday at the time. I have been trying to convincemy wife to leave everything and travel for a year or 2 but i quess she is more down to earth then me.
I think that we can find some places in Bagan and Inle which are a bit off the beaten track.
I realise that it would make more senwe to fly to Mandalay but fkights from Manchester UK are very long 35 hours with 2stops. We can fly to Yangoon with emirates in 17 hours.
I know that Bagan is not going to be asgood asbefore quake but most importent there were notmany casualities. I think that it is also importent that tourists will not stop coming
now as locals need support.
Once again thank for your help

I usually fly to Bangkok then take Air Asia to Mandalay or Yangon, often cheaper than booking through flight. Flight to BKK are about £350 at moment. AA to Yangon about £35 in October.

Yes easy to get away from tourists esp. at Bagan just hire cycle and go around. Inle I can recommend an agent who can arrange trips away from tourists such as boat/ walk to more remote markets. Also you can cycle around the countryside there also, it is really good, love it when its foggy in the early morning. Or you can do trekking at Inle. Actually Bagan could be more interesting as you will see it at a fairly unique time, maybe the quake has undone some of poor restoration that was done after the last major quake?

Interesting point, Herbie....a few websites I have seen said that tourism/architectural/historical preservation people are going to use the quake to undo the poor restoration.

Kind of makes you wonder what it was like pre 1975 and what we are actually looking at in 2016.

Yes big quake in 1975 although most of the restoration was done much later in the 1990s. I often prefer unrestored buildings.

Hi,
thanks for flight tips herbie47, I looked them up and it is possible as you mentioned to fly to Mandalay via Bangkok but i think we will stuck to Yangon.
Also as you suggested I was thinking about hiking,riding around Inle. Maybe a hike to Maing Thauk.
Could you suggest other few hours hikes?
I was thinking about asking one of boat owners for a trip to Sampar. We would rather go on our own.
so our plan is:
day 1 Yangon
2-early flight or night bus to Bagan
3-5 Bagan, night bus to Nyaungshwe
6-8 Inle Lake, night bus to Yangon
9-Yangon
10-Yango bus to Ngwe Saung
11-13 ngwe Saung
14-15 yangon
We prefer travel slow so i think it suits us well.

You can also do the bicycle trip to Maing Thauk and then take a boat across the lake and do a full loop. It takes about 4 hours, more here: http://bytelife.altervista.org/inlelake.htm

Re Inle treks, best to talk to agent at Inle about what is available and where the markets are each day, they have a 5 day market schedule, it goes on a 5 day cycle. I would recommend Thu Thu Aung at Nyaungshwe, she has shop near market, is in LP guide but maybe moved a short distance from the location shown on map. You can rent bikes from her as well. I went to Maing Thauk and then took the boat back to town. There are some longer trek up into the hills, also the area south west of Inle would be interesting but you would have to take a boat to In Dein first then trek. You can go to Sankar lake but you will need guide and permit, it will cost quite a bit, I did not go as no one else was going and it was too expensive just on my own.

Hi,
Thanks for another tips guys.
Great info in that link bytelife, very useful.
However it seems that there are contradicting information about permit and guide to Sankar.
According to info in this link permit is not needed anymore.
Are you sure herbie47 that permit still necessary ?
herbie 47 do you think that we could hike on our own without the guide?
Thanks,

Maybe the permit has changed but it was not very expensive and inc. in boat price. Pao guide was required for $10 plus $5 fee (permit), seems that has changed now then.

You can hike some places without guide yes, if you go east of Nyaungshwe you can do hiking in the hills there. Guides are better if you want to visit villages and go to areas where you may get lost.

Thanks herbie47
would you suggest any particular villages near Nyaungshwe?
i was thinking about a few 6-7 hours hike on first day then trip to Sankar on seconed, and bicycle ride on
third

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