Dear Shwe Yee and Klaus-Dieter,
“Lucky! Thats how we feel! Lucky that we found your travel agency (Shwe Yoo Travel & Tours). Normally we travel in Asia independently, however for our first trip to Myanmar we decided to use a travel agent. We booked “last minute” by e-mail and managed to transfer money to you without a problem. Our trip started after we had been in Yangon for 3 days. We took the train to Mandalay (sleeper car) and can say that this, despite being bumpy and not too clean, was one of our highlights of our journey! We spent one day in Mandalay by ourselves and the 2nd day we toured Amanapura/Sagiang/Awa with our guide Joe-Joe (Kyaw Kyaw Win). What a lovely man, excellent english and a great sense of humour! From Mandalay we travelled by boat to Bagan, arriving on New Years Eve. The boat ride with Malikla River Cruise was very comfortable. We had an wonderful room in the Thande Bagan Hotel – and the New Years Buffet was delicious! Again here we had one day alone and one day accompanied by U Kyaw Saw, who was able to give us a very in-depth insight into the history of the pagodas. We flew to Heho, and were met there by Htay (Than Zaw Htay), who was our guide for the next 3 days. Thay proved to be an excellent guide, with his knowledge of plants and farming, of the region and the people, with his humour, his gentle ways, a lovely laugh and his openess!!! The drive to Pindaya (recommended by yourselves) was another of our highlights! Fantastic scenery, we loved the bumpy roads and the country life, vistiing the 5-day market in Aung Ban, and of course the caves in Pindaya, with all the Buddha statues ….absolutly amazing!!! Taking time to mediatate there in one of the niches was a spiritual experience. The manager of the Pindaya Inle Inn was exceptionally kind and upgraded us to a deluxe room with fireplace …which we so enjoyed in the evening, as well as our hot water bottles in the bed (one recommendation, take a woolly hat with you)!! Here the staff were so kind and friendly! The next day we headed back to Heho and onto the Inle Lake. The views around the lake are amazing, with the hills, lake roses, the floating gardens, villages on stilts, and our visit on the 2nd day to Sangka (also with our Pa-O guide Ms. Nway Nway) far south was the other highlight and recommended! We loved visiting the village there, with the cheeky children and the rice-wine making!! Sad to leave, we flew back from Heho to Yangon, where we had one night at the very lovely Savoy Hotel. Our guide for our transfers in Yangon was Bonny-Oo, who had a great laugh and was so open & friendly! Thank you too for the organisation of our flight out of Myanmar, from Yangon-Dawei-Myeik- Kawthaung, transfer from the airport to Kawthaung pier and the border crossing into Thailand, as well as the taxi into Ranong! The ladies assisting us in Kawthaung were also very lovey! Many thanks also go to our drivers throughout the tour, who always had a smile, provided water & fresh wipes and were complete gentlemen in opening doors! We were delighted with the whole service provided and found it to be of excellent value!
Thank you again for everything and we hope to travel with you one day soon again! We shall certainly recommend you to our friends!”
Kind regards from Switzerland
Lisa & Erich Brüggemann
(28 Dec 08 – 07 Jan 09)