TAILOR MADE TRIPS
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MANDALAY – COOKING CLASS AND BIKING

FULL DAY
A day devoted to discovering the culture of Mandalay and meeting its inhabitants. After shopping for fresh ingredients at the local market, you will have the opportunity to try your hands at cooking traditional Burmese food. In the afternoon, you will take a short bike ride to visit the surrounding village. You will end the day by watching the golden sunset at Yan Kin Hill.

MANDALAY – COOKING CLASS AND BIKING

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IN CONSTRUCTION

HIGHLIGHTS

– Discovering the culture and meeting the inhabitants of Mandalay.
– Shopping at the local market
– Cooking traditional Burmese food
– Short bike ride in the afternoon to visit the village
– Sunset watching at Yan Kin Hill

A day dedicated to discovering the culture of Mandalay and meeting its inhabitants.

The day starts with a shopping trip to the local market, an opportunity to discover all the seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs often used in Burmese cuisine.

Then, you’ll visit a Burmese Tea Room, a very popular meeting place among the Burmese people. It’s where friends and family hang out around a fresh herbal drink.

Pedaling to a local village, you will take part in a cooking class where you’ll learn to make famous traditional Burmese dishes. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty! The bonus point is that you’ll actually be eating the dishes you have prepared for lunch.

After relaxing in a traditional house, it’s time to get back on your bike to ride around the village’s surroundings and observe the daily life of the locals for a complete immersion experience.

End this beautiful day at Yan Kin Hill, a place far from the tourist crowds, to admire a breathtaking sunset on the golden land. This long ride of discoveries and encounters will come to an end around 18:00 when it would be time to return to your hotel.

Useful Information
Full day
English Speaking Guide

Q&A

Q&A

Official Language: Burmese
Capital: Nay Pyi Daw
Economic Capital: Rangoun
Surface: 678 528 km2
Population: 51 million
Currency: Kyat (MMK)
Telephone code: +95

The local currency is KYAT (pronounced “Chatt”). You can exchange USD in the main cities of the country. Banknotes must be new and unfolded. Cash withdrawals are possible in most cities, with a credit card (Visa, American Express, or Mastercard). Payments are also possible in some hotels, luxury shops, or restaurants. We recommend that you carry cash to cover your personal expenses throughout the trip. Currencies are exchanged in exchange offices for Kyats.
The country is above all agricultural. It is one of the world’s leading rice producers. The development of the industry mainly concerns the processing of agricultural products (rice, sugar, cereals) and wood (sawmills, plywood), textiles (cotton spinning mills), cement and oil refining. Natural gas and petroleum.
Classic Burmese cuisine is a surprising mix of Burmese, Môn, Indian and Chinese influences. Rice, the basis of all meals, is served with a variety of curry dishes, fish, chicken, prawns or, most often, sheep. Burmese curries are the sweetest in Asia. Almost all dishes are seasoned with n’gapi, a salty paste made from dried and fermented shrimp or fish. Meals often end with thok lephet, a kind of salad of moistened and pressed green tea leaves, mixed with sesame seeds, fried peas, dried shrimps, fried garlic, peanuts, coconut and other crisp and flavored ingredients.
Myanmar, whose capital is Nay Pyi Taw, has a surface area of 678,578 km² and is rather compact in shape, extending southwards to a long and narrow strip of land. The country extends over 1,900 km from north to south and 900 km from east to west. It is crossed by the Irrawaddy River, which is navigable for 1,500km and whose vast delta is located west of Yangon. The country is located between Laos and Thailand in the East, Bangladesh in the West and China and India in the North. A horseshoe-shaped mountain system surrounds Myanmar with peaks of more than 5,000 metres (Hkakabo Razi) at the eastern end of the Himalayan range in the north of the country. We also discover green landscapes composed of a great diversity of fauna and flora, because the forest covers a large part of the territory (more than half).
Myanmar has been under the influence of Buddhism for nearly 10 centuries. Almost 90% of the population is Buddhist. However, this does not prevent them from believing in the spirits, known locally as “nat”. The other inhabitants are divided between Christians (5%), Muslims (4%), animists (1.2%), Hindus (0.5%). In Myanmar the main public holidays depend on the lunar calendar. Independence Day, January 4 in YANGON. The rice harvest festival takes place on the first full moon of the year. In April-May, the day of the full moon, we celebrate the feast of the birth of the Buddha. By mid-April, it’s the water festival from 13 to 17 April, marking the beginning of the new year. In October-November, we celebrate the Festival of Lights on a full moon. Karen New Year is celebrated during the full moon of December-January.

No vaccination is required. However, it is recommended to protect yourself against hepatitis A and B (ask your doctor for advice). We advise you to bring your own:

of a broad-spectrum antibiotic;
of your usual medications if you are undergoing treatment;
an anti-diarrheal and an intestinal antiseptic (Intetrix, Immodium…);
a protective cream against mosquitoes;
moisturizing sunscreen, lip stick;
a healing ointment and a local antiseptic.

Water is not drinkable in Southeast Asia. Avoid tap water, require bottled water. It is harmless and safe to brush your teeth, but do not drink it.
In 1989, the military junta decided to definitively sever ties with the colonial past by replacing the name “Union of Burma”, of English origin, with the “Union of Myanmar”.

Burmese is a monosyllabic tonal language of the Tibeto-Burmese group, of Sino-Tibetan origin. It is spoken by 80% of the population. English remains the administrative language.

MINI GLOSSARY

Hello : mingala ba
Goodbye : ta ta
Thank You : tjay zu tim ba deh
Pay the Bill: beh lauk tja thaleh
How much it cost ? : da beh laulleh
I don’t understand : namalebabu
My name is : tjanaw nammeh
Where are the toilets ? : ein tha be hma leh ?
I don’t understand Burma : bama lo na maleh ba bu
Do you speak English ? : khin mya Pyinthit lo pyaw dat thalah ?
Market : zei
Museum : pyadai
Hotel : hotel

Recently, Myanmar’s mobile phone network operators have entered into agreements with foreign operators. So you can use your mobile phone in Burma. Most tourist sites are equipped, and hotels have WiFi. If you wish, you can acquire a sim card upon arrival. For about 1500 kyats, you will have the possibility to phone all over the country and surf the internet thanks to the 4G network, which is often of much higher quality than the WIFI offered in hotels. Refills with credit ranging from 1000 to 10,000 Kyats are available in all grocery stores in the country and from operators (MPT, Ooredoo, Telenor).
Throughout your trip you will find a wide range of artificially crafted items: clothing, lacquerware, gold, silver and carved wood. You can find beautiful hand-woven silks in the Inle Lake area and all kinds of cotton and linen fabrics. Bagan is renowned for its lacquer manufacturing know-how. Myanmar also produces the finest rubies in the world, as well as sapphires.
Tipping is not mandatory but is commonly practiced (between 10 and 15% of the price). As an indication we recommend 5$ per day and per person for the guide and 3$ per day and per person for the drivers for small groups of less than 10 people. For groups of more than 10 people we recommend $3 per day per person for the guide and $2 per day per person for the driver.

For digital cameras, provide sufficient memory cards, a spare battery and your charger. Voltage 220V with several types of plugs possible: two flat plugs, two round plugs or three plugs. Plan to bring a universal adapter. A UV filter will be an effective protection for your purpose.

Concerning drones in Myanmar:

To date, it is forbidden to import a drone into the country itself for recreational use.

Travelers can have their device confiscated at the entrance of the country. They will be returned out of the
country (leaving the same airport on arrival).

220 V with several possible socket types: two flat plugs, two round plugs or three plugs. Plan to bring a universal adapter. Power cuts are frequent, but most hotels have their own generators.
On your way, you will often have the opportunity to meet local people. Wherever you are, be discreet and humble. The multiplicity of cultures and traditions means that certain attitudes are perceived differently in different countries. To avoid being disrespectful, take the time to understand the people you meet, take the time to make connections. There too, listen to the advice of your guide! He knows better than anyone the behaviors to avoid or adopt. For example, if you want to take a picture of someone, always ask them for permission. The best way for acceptance is to have established a prior contact. Similarly, do not distribute gifts at all … This often encourages children to beg, to avoid this kind of drift, it is better to refer to the local structures competent (donate to school, hospital, village chief etc.). Finally, be careful not to wear too light clothing (short shorts, cleavage …) and avoid exuberant behavior.