Best of Burmese days Traveller Reviews

we were made very welcome by all involved . greeted with smiles and mingalarbar by all. Our guides drivers and reps were all punctual and patient. The accommodation was as good if not better than many we have had all around the world being in beautiful settings and spotlessly clean. First rate adventure.

Had everything arranged so well . We blinked and our driver and guide were there , never waited once , Although they were patient enough to wait for us and greet us with a mingalarbar and a smile

Fabulous holiday organised beautifully by Eastravel. 2 weeks travelling around by air, hot air balloon, A/C mini buses, bicycles, e-bikes, trekking with very friendly informative and knowledgeable guides seeing and experiencing so much around Myanmar. All plans suggested, advised and discussed before finalising an itinerary.

Eastravel advised, suggested, talked through and put together an itinerary specifically for our party (6 friends) until we were all happy with it. As we went through the process they were happy to change things for different interests or budgets. Helpful, friendly and efficient.

We went to Myanmar and had a full tour organised - Yangon, Mandalay, Began. Inle lake , trecking, Nagpali

We had a very good trip organised by East Travel who used Tour Mandalay in Myanmar. It was a beautifully organised and fascinating trip

My husband and I have just returned from 14days in Myanmar which was organised by Dorothy at Eastravel. We enjoyed a multi centre holiday, using four different guides and very able drivers. Although my husband had been to Asia many years ago, it was my first time. We elected to use Eastravel after recommendation from several sources. I am so glad we did as everything they organised went really well. We have so many happy memories, from the fantastic Bagan temples, washing elephants, a balloon flight over Inle Lake to the hustle and bustle of Manderlay and Yangon and much more.... Would really recommend Myanmar as a destination.

Nothing was too much trouble, we had some suggestions of what we wanted to see and Eastravel gave us more ideas of must sees! We have no hesitation in recommending them as a tour operator. They give the personal touch!

Dear Dorothy I just thought it would be good to get back to you to say how much we enjoyed the holiday and to give you some feedback on Mandalay Travel, the hotels and Burma Boating. Overall assessment We had one of our best holidays. We felt that yourselves, Mandalay Travel (ie guides), SY Dalai boat crew were all very attentive to our desires and very flexible even at the last minute. All the arrangements were seamless and professional with the one exception regarding with how Burma Boating dealt with the net pricing issue. Obviously the problems with the SY Jubilaeum was something that happens, however I hear from the skipper of SY Dalai (not to be quoted) that this boat is over-worked and under-maintained and that this problem is not uncommon. The ballooning, hill trek, Ayerwaddy trip and train trips are definitely worthwhile parts of the itinerary. All was superb. Mandalay Travel Phyu Phyu was a delight to deal with. The guide in Mandalay (Nyeung Thun?) was exceptional and Mo in Yangon very good too. Both had considerably better English than we were expecting. The guide in Inle (Than Zing?) was the weakest. His English was not the best, came across lazy and had an unfortunate smell. Otherwise good. Hotels The Governor’s Residence was the best but was probably the most expensive. Inle Heritage was a very special experience (thanks for the recommendation). The Aureum Palace was good but questionable in terms of the morality of the owner. The weakest property was the Mandalay Hills Resort which showed no character in its rooms, public facilities or cuisine. Difficult to believe that there is not a better property in Mandalay. The luxury of the boat was impassable. Burma Boating Obviously as you know our heart was set on the classic cruising experience. We have had a fibreglass yacht for 15 years and wanted something different and hence were disappointed with the change. That said the experience with SY Dalai could not have been better. The yacht was such a good sailing machine in light winds meaning that we could go under sail everywhere when the more classic yachts would have been under motor. Bruno, the skipper, was such a nice guy with a great story to tell if you were interested, which we were. The chef was second to none, a fact to which you had alluded. The result was still not quite what we had wanted but the result was fantastic and we could not help but recommend this boat and crew. The experience in the Mergui is obviously expensive but a very good addition to the holiday. Conclusion A personal thank you to you for all your hard work. At one point we might have seemed like the clients from hell, particularly when Jill had her operation and then her Aunt seemed on death´s door. Both are recovering well. Thanks for your patience. All the best Colin & Jill

Dear Dorothy I just thought it would be good to get back to you to say how much we enjoyed the holiday and to give you some feedback on Mandalay Travel, the hotels and Burma Boating. Overall assessment We had one of our best holidays. We felt that yourselves, Mandalay Travel (ie guides), SY Dalai boat crew were all very attentive to our desires and very flexible even at the last minute. All the arrangements were seamless and professional with the one exception regarding with how Burma Boating dealt with the net pricing issue. Obviously the problems with the SY Jubilaeum was something that happens, however I hear from the skipper of SY Dalai (not to be quoted) that this boat is over-worked and under-maintained and that this problem is not uncommon. The ballooning, hill trek, Ayerwaddy trip and train trips are definitely worthwhile parts of the itinerary. All was superb. Mandalay Travel Phyu Phyu was a delight to deal with. The guide in Mandalay (Nyeung Thun?) was exceptional and Mo in Yangon very good too. Both had considerably better English than we were expecting. The guide in Inle (Than Zing?) was the weakest. His English was not the best, came across lazy and had an unfortunate smell. Otherwise good. Hotels The Governor’s Residence was the best but was probably the most expensive. Inle Heritage was a very special experience (thanks for the recommendation). The Aureum Palace was good but questionable in terms of the morality of the owner. The weakest property was the Mandalay Hills Resort which showed no character in its rooms, public facilities or cuisine. Difficult to believe that there is not a better property in Mandalay. The luxury of the boat was impassable. Burma Boating Obviously as you know our heart was set on the classic cruising experience. We have had a fibreglass yacht for 15 years and wanted something different and hence were disappointed with the change. That said the experience with SY Dalai could not have been better. The yacht was such a good sailing machine in light winds meaning that we could go under sail everywhere when the more classic yachts would have been under motor. Bruno, the skipper, was such a nice guy with a great story to tell if you were interested, which we were. The chef was second to none, a fact to which you had alluded. The result was still not quite what we had wanted but the result was fantastic and we could not help but recommend this boat and crew. The experience in the Mergui is obviously expensive but a very good addition to the holiday. Conclusion A personal thank you to you for all your hard work. At one point we might have seemed like the clients from hell, particularly when Jill had her operation and then her Aunt seemed on death´s door. Both are recovering well. Thanks for your patience. All the best Colin & Jill

We really enjoyed it. All the guides were fantastic. The organisation was superb.unfortunately we can find Nothing to complain about! and would recommend the holiday t anyone. Every flight we took and every hotel we took knew we sew vebgetarian. How did they all know this on the other side of the world?

Cathy was really helpful and put up with changes in our plans

For the first week we travelled through the south of Myanmar, based at Moulmein and Hpa-An, getting between the two places by boat up the Salween river. Then back to Yangon and an internal flight to Bagan, then up the Ayerawaddy to Mandalay. Side excursions from both these bases included Mount Popa and Pyin Oo Lwin. A flight to Heho and a night at Kalaw was followed by a two day trek ending at Inle Lake, Then a flight to Thandwe and four nights at Ngapali Beach. As well as learning so much about the country, and finding people very easy to talk with, we explored by water and on foot, snorkelled, caved, and most memorably ate a lot of wonderful Burmese food. We didn't know what to expect - it is a relaxed, friendly and safe place, exotic and unspoiled.

Lots of consultation ensured that our personal tastes for accommodation and programme were met. We knew next to nothing about Myanmar when we planned the holiday, and when we arrived we realised how well Dorothy had done in her choices for us. The local tour operator was obviously an excellent choice as our guides were a lot more informative and capable than those with other travellers. It was a complicated itinerary but it was all arranged very efficiently. The only slight hitch, where one item of our luggage didn't arrive, was speedily resolved without our having to do anything. Full marks to Eastravel.

We travelled to Bangkok and Myanmar. Within Myanmar, Eastravel arranged a perfect itinerary for us. The hotels were very centrally located and allowed us easy access to the places we were visiting. We like to travel independently and not feel restricted and in this respect we were utterly delighted. The hotels were comfortable and often boutique in style which suited us perfectly. The places Eastravel recommended for us to visit were excellent and provide a fine balance between days spent indulging in culture and history with relaxation whether that was in the form of a meander through markets or a lazy day on the beach.

We have built an excellent relationship with Eastravel over the years and always turn to them for help whenever we are planning to travel East from the UK. They understand our requirements and offer a tailored solution. We work together to form a trip that goes way beyond the packages that most other operators offer. What's more, whenever I've needed to call on Eastravel's support whilst I've been away, they have been absolutely amazing in their response. I highly recommend their service.

Dear Dorothy, Just to let you know that we are back from our wonderful holiday. Everything seemed to work very well and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and Myanmar lived up to expectations. The first two days in Yangong were very interesting but the crowds at the Shewdagon Pagoda were unbelievable. It was however very impressive. We enjoyed our trishaw ride on the second day and it was interesting to see the other side of the river on a very crowded local ferry. Our guide in Yangon was probably the best we had and she was delightful. Bagan was very impressive but we had to change the arrangements to travel by minibus instead of bicycle. There was no way that we were all going to be able to manage this! My only complaint was the food in the hotel which was not good. However the rest of them did not agree with me! It was a beautiful hotel but very pretentious in my view - possibly because Obama was due to visit! The excursion to Mount Popa was very interesting and also a chance to see the countryside and the manufacture of all the products from the palm tree. We did not consider the balloon flight when we planned the holiday. I am sure this would have been good but very expensive! The cruise to Mandalay was truly magnificent and was one of the main highlights of the holiday. The service and food were impeccable and it was very relaxing to watch the world go by. We were actually on the Paukan 1947, which is a beautifully renovated boat built by Yarrow Shipbuilders in Scotland,and not Paukan 2007. I think we had the better deal! Mandalay was very interesting. We had an initial problem with the hotel with the room allocated to us which was was in a dark corner. However they were very helpful and changed this without question. They also found a missing empty canvas bag which we could not find when we left the hotel and got it back to us in Heho through ICS - very impressive service! The visits were interesting but I did not enjoy the visit to the monastery to see hundreds of monks being fed. The river trip to Mingun was interesting and the site very impressive. Pyin o Lwin was something of a time-warp from the colonial era but the market was very vibrant. The botanical gardens were quite spectacular. Lake Inle was a wonderful experience with a fantastic hotel but we did not have a lake view as promised but the rooms were fine. We thoroughly enjoyed the boat trips and also the day of leisure which Angie and I used for a visit to the Red Mountain vineyard on bicycles. We collectively drank more of their Sauvignon Blanc than you can possibly imagine during our holiday and found it to be very good value. The last three days at Ngapali were most enjoyable and restful. It is a beautiful place and excellent hotel. We did however have to get our room changed as they put us right at the back of the hotel a long way from the sea in a very poor room (number 041) to start with. The italian manager was most helpful but ICS should be made aware that the initial room was not satisfactory and not ‘deluxe’ in our view. All internal flights in Myanmar were quite good but the terminals are chaotic and they are strict on size of hand luggage. This is smaller than on international flights. We fell foul of this on the Yangong to Bagan flight Thankyou very much for the lunch in Yangon on our way to Bangkok. It was a very special place. Bangkok was OK and a charming boutique hotel which is vegetarian and run by a rather eccentric englishman who was very interesting. The Bridge on the River Kwai was very atmospheric as was the war cemetery. The museum was also very interesting. The traffic in Thailand has to be seen to be believed and it took us nearly two hours to get across town to the Oriental for dinner on the last evening. However the banquet was very special and the dancing very impressive. It all seems rather drab and dreary now that we are home but we have some very happy memories and lots of pictures!!!. Best wishes Will

The holiday was arranged by Dorothy Heng at East Travel in Ipswich (www.eastravel.co.uk). They were excellent. Local services in Myanmar were provided by Indochina Services ICS. They were very good with excellent/good guides. Asia World Travel in Bangkok were satisfactory.