10 TIPS TO TRAVELLERS:
1. Bring enough cash. Credit cards are not accepted.
2. Bring only fresh, unspoiled US$ bills…or you risk ending up with useless cash.
3. Airports generally tend to have the best exchange rates…surprisingly.
4. Travel by air where possible. Rough land transport conditions.
5. Myanmar is very dusty so be prepared to have a load of dirt at the back of your throat
6. Plan and book travel & accommodation in advance. We used http://myanmar-center.com/
7. Mandalay is way overratedf (as opposed to other places in Myanmar, and that’s my opinion).
8. If I knew better, Inle Lake would be my last stop and I would spend at least 2 nights there.
9. Invest in a backpack and a Lonely Planet.
10. Bring warm clothes as it gets cold at night, especially Kyaiktiyo and Inle Lake.

Travel route:
1. Yangon – Kyaiktiyo (Taxi, Coach, Truck, Trek)

2. Kyaiktiyo – Yangon (Trek, Truck, Coach, Taxi)

3. Yangon – Mandalay (Train)

4. Mandalay – Bagan (Taxi, Plane)

5. Bagan – Heho (Plane)

6. Heho – Inle Lake via Nyaung Shwe (Taxi, Ferry)

7. Inle Lake – Heho via Nyaung Shwe (Taxi, Ferry)

8. Heho – Yangon (Plane)

Bagan
Yangon
Kyaiktiyo
Mandalay
Inle Lake

• TAXI from downtown Yangon to Aung Mingalar bus terminal at 7,000 kyat/pax. Be careful because traffic is really bad and the ride can take up to 1.5 hours.
• COACH from Aung Mingalar bus terminal to Kinpun at 12,000 kyat/pax which took slightly over 4 hours with one stop in between for lunch. We left at 10:30am. Our tickets were booked on the same day at about 8.00am from a gentleman by the name of John who approached us at the train terminal in downtown Yangon. At the train station, you are highly likely to be approached by people who will offer help for any form of transport you require. Otherwise, you can walk across the train station and wait until one of the travel agency stalls open at 9:00am. It is strongly recommended that you book your ticket back from Kinpun to Yangon at the same time. I need to note that the coach was very different from what I’ve experienced across most other cities around Southeast Asia. Ours was without air-conditioning so never assume. The route to Kinpun was also very rough but with interesting scenery. Have your camera at the ready by the window seat.
• TRUCK from Kinpun to base of Mount Kyaiktiyo at 1,500 kyat/pax which took roughly 1 hour. The departure location is walking distance (approx. 2 min) from where the coach will stop you. The company name is Yoe Yoe Lay and they also provide Yangon-Kinpun coach services. The truck will only depart when it is packed to the brim with 35 people. It is lined with 7 benches at the back and seats 5 per bench. Yes, it’s uncomfortable and yes, it can be a very frustrating wait of up to 1 hour. Climb first and worry about paying the driver later. Try to sit on the sides so that you can hang on to the rail during the ride up. The ride is very bumpy and goes through an infinite number of hairpin turns. If you have motion sickness, good luck.
• TREK from base of Mount Kyaiktiyo to the Golden Rock for about 1 hour. It’s free unless you want one of the many people in blue around who offer to carry your bags for 1,000 kyat. You can also be ferried up like royalty – or shamefully – in a palanquin by four guys. The cost if I heard correctly was 7,500 kyat/pax. I would lie if I said the trek up was not tough. I had to stop 4 times along the way but in my defense I was carrying some heavy bags. It gets cold at night so bring some warm clothes.

• TREK down to the base of Mount Kyaiktiyo for about an hour following the same path as you would have come up. We left at 7:30am. Palanquins and carriers are available for the same price as the trip up. This trek down is definitely less painful than coming up.
• TRUCK from base of Mount Kyaiktiyo to Kinpun at 1,500 kyat/pax which took roughly an hour. Now, here where it gets tricky. To come up, trucks take at most an hour to fill up the 35 people. To go down however, a number of trucks are chartered by group tours. A chartered truck takes only 25 people. That however means that you need to wait for a truck that is not chartered and it seemed impossible at the time we were there. What we did was speak with a guide who was charting a truck for a few groups and plead with him to let us go with them. He was kind enough to let us, but we were almost giving up hope to go down on time to catch our coach.
• COACH from Kinpun to Aung Mingalar bus station in Yangon at 12,000 kyat/pax which took about 4 hours with a stop in between for lunch. All the bus services are close-by to where the truck alights you.
• TAXI from Aung Mingalar bus station to downtown Yangon at 8,000 kyat/pax which took about 1 hour.

3. Yangon – Mandalay (BY TRAIN!)

• PLANE from Ngyaung Oo airport in Bagan to Heho Airport at US$74/pax which took about 25 min. We took a morning flight on Yangon Airlines which was booked through our agent. Heho is only a gateway to Inle Lake via air since it is the closest airport.

• TAXI to Nyaung Shwe at 25,000kyat which took about 1 hour. It’s a very scenic ride with view of the lake from a mountain. The taxi can be booked right outside of the airport compound. We had to change some US$ to Kyat and our cabby led us to someone near the jetty to Inle Lake at Nyaung Shwe.
• BOAT from Nyaung Shwe jetty to Inle Lake (Sky Lake Inle resort) at 25,000 kyat including a full day tourof Inle Lake. Otherwise a one-way trip to your hotel on Inle Lake is 10,000 kyat and it takes roughly 30 min to get to where the main resorts are.

• BOAT from Inle Lake (whichever resort you are at) to Ngaung Shwe jetty at 8,000 kyat which took about 30 min. Your resort should be able to provide their own boat for this. Apparently some transfers can be booked in advance, which we didn’t know prior.
• TAXI from Ngaung Shwe to Heho Airport at 18,000 kyat which took about 1 hour. A taxi can be booked at the jetty or at your hotel if you are staying the night in Ngaung Shwe.

8. Heho – Yangon

• PLANE from Heho Airport to Yangon International Airport at US$99/pax which took about 1 hour.