Not a full review, as others have already written about the 2 previous JY trips but just some points about things we have all been asking about and some of my impressions.
First of all, loved Burma. So glad I went and wanted to go now before it became too touristy.
The hotels were all really very good standard, even excellent in some cases, I was prepared for much more basic as I know tourism is new but really they were terrific and all the staff we encountered were super helpful. At the hotel in Yangon and the one for the add-on the staff were very well trained but its a bit work in progress for staff training at the others, but they tried very hard.
Our TM was Stephen Taylor who had done one of the tours earlier in the year, I think he said that we had 3 different hotels from that tour - they certainly changed from the original documentation. Our hotels were Sedona Yangon hotel, Yandanarpon Dynasty in Mandalay, Shwee Yee Pwint Hotel in Bagan, Dream Mountain Resort in Kalaw, Inle Garden Hotel on Lake Inle and the Eskala Ngwe Saung for the add-on. (I think I liked the hotel in Kalaw the best but then .....).
All hotels had in-room safes, kettles (and tea and coffee) and hairdryers.
All hotels had wifi. However, it was only really a useful standard at the hotel in Yangon and at the add-on hotel. All the other hotels did have wifi, but it was excruciatingly slow to the point of often being useless and the hotel in Bagan was particularly annoying as every 5 minutes or so you'd lose the connection. (And I did try on all my devices, using safari, chrome, edge, explorer but often got nowhere.) My mobile seemed to work everywhere, except in Bagan where I had no signal - don't know if others also had this.
I did do the trishaw ride in Mandalay, most of us did. I'm glad I did it, but cant say it was a particular highlight.
We had a terrific local Burmese guide who was with us for the whole trip. The first time he has worked for JY - he is also going to do the 28 November tour. He's called Nyi Nyi Thun.
Money. Take dollars. Euros and sterling useless. In fact a lot of the time the charges are quoted in dollars and you could probably use them for just about the whole trip. Most of us changed some dollars at the arrival hall in Yangon airport. I changed $100 - if you change large bills ($50 and $20) you get a better rate than if you change small bills. Because I paid for stuff in dollars, towards the end of the trip I had to make an effort to pay in local currency to make sure I'd spent it all. One very useful thing was the TM suggested we all put some dollars into a kitty and he would then use it to deal with all the tips to the various bus drivers, assistants, boatmen, etc - which got rid of the problem of having the right change to deal with all this (was also used for Nyi Nyi's tip.)
As so many of the meals are included you really don't need much, just something for the drinks which aren't included, but which are very reasonably priced. Unless, of course, you are a big collector of souvenirs. I did buy a few things, more than usual - am particularly happy with some lacquerware I bought, also some skirts. But there are a few - what was I thinking of items as well ..............
My highlights were mostly the boat trips - and I HATE boats (and yes Bob, this predates Mexico or was it Guatemala?) U Bein Bridge sunset boat trip - fabulous. All the boat trips on Inle Lake - wow.
One thing not on the JY programme that we did, and that I think should be included, was on the morning of Day 8. We were in Kalaw and didn't leave for Inle Lake until lunchtime, so it was suggested that we could go to a cave to see some Buddhas. I was in two minds about going, but so glad I did. It was a five minute drive away from the hotel on the coach and we went into this cave, which was dripping with water and walked through the tunnels where there were 850 golden buddhas. Extraordinary.
The add-on was pretty much a beach holiday, albeit a terrific beach. But you had a 5 hour trip over awful roads to get there. (I was car sick on the way back .........yes, TMI.)
Any further questions will try to answer. If I think of anything else after I get over the jetlag will add on.
Katy
