A Guest’s Experience: Our Adventures in Myanmar

We always love it when guests write back to us, telling us of their great, once-in-a-lifetime experiences with Journeys Within in Southeast Asia!  Below is an email and photos we received from Janet and Bob Schmuck who just returned from a trip with us to Laos and Myanmar.

Hi Andrea, I just wanted to follow up from the evaluations we did on the trip and give you some general comments.  It was a fabulous, fabulous trip.  I am still thinking about how wonderful the people were in Myanmar.  Our hotels were all good…even the funky one at Pindaya.  I enjoyed the quiet…Bob was sick by then but he made a quick recovery the next day.  We also really liked the Mekong River View Hotel in Luang Prabang.  The manager was delightful as was his staff.  We met many of the other guests at his little wine party.  The guides in Yangon (Simon) and Bagan (Win Bo) were the best.  I know I mentioned Win Bo in my evaluation.  He was such an interesting young man.  Bob and I enjoyed our time with him particularly and would seek him out if we ever go back to Bagan.  What else?  I was not a big fan of the food we had in Myanmar until I got to Pindaya where there was less grease.  I am sure there is really good food to be had…and we did have some good meals….but most were very similar and just so so.  This may not be a valid criticism, however, since I have found as I get older, I don’t need as much food.  We were fed three times a day and that may have been more of the issue.  I need to keep this in mind for future trips and maybe request that we only get two meals a day.  People keep asking me my favorite part of the trip.  I always say Bagan but Inle was right in there.  Mandalay…not so much.  I have to laugh though…the best part of the trip really was the journey up to the Golden Rock. It far exceeded the “Rock” itself.  If you haven’t been, I highly recommend it.

Hope all is well.  Thanks so much for your efforts and making this trip a big success.  We will be in touch.  I am thinking of returning to Indonesia in the next few years and hope you can do something there.  Best to you and your family and please pass along my appreciation to your staff in Truckee and in Luang Prabang.

Janet and Bob

Below are a few of the memories Janet and Bob captured on their trip to Myanmar: