I think 120,000 was all we had left cuz it was our last day there and we offered the guy 100,000 for all of them. I bought a lot of things that have a value to it, not painted beads or fake glass kind of stuff. So later that night we took a walk after dinner and visited a few sand painting shops located in Nyaung U. I’m interested in the certified jeweler who made your ring. Mont lat kout ( the bracelet snack) Hnan kat kyaw (the sesame snack) Pal kat Kyaw (the chickpea snack) Ingredients are Sticky rice […] This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. Put the gourd melon cut into pieces and bean sprouts dipped with sauce into the fry pan to fry. Bagan and Inle /Mandalay have similar items, so if you are going to visit one before the other just ask how much…..then figure out what it’s really worth to you. Perhaps don’t wander around markets if you don’t want to buy things and politely decline when asked in the street. Congrats to her, she was not tempted! Although there are a number of traditional snacks, the most popular is Mohinga or rice noodle served with fish gravy. I also didn’t want to be scammed so she arranged for a certified jeweler to come to the house and we had a custom made ring made. We walked around slowly, it was quite hectic mostly because most of the tourist boats headed to the market first so it was very busy. Four-wheeled wooden carts are especially designed for showcasing snacks and storing utensils, ready to serve up a dish for the hungry passerby. (They have both kinds, different price and different way to make.) I don’t think that I would like to know you. And indeed, this country does not fail people but surprise people, especially concerns the foods. There were barely any tourists at Bogyoke Market, where we had to change money on the black market (no ATM’s at the time!). I’m sorry you feel this way Paul. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Just goes to show how little luggage you need , We bought a few souvenirs in Bagan. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. They are light weight, dry quickly and they are the traditional wear in Myanmar. Fried Shrimps. I ended up buying a more expensive sand painting, but even as I was buying it I had a strong feeling that it was probably not created by hand by their family like the stall person said. Heartless maybe, but over 1 week into our Myanmar trip, we really began to feel like walking money bags. Myanmar, or Burma as it was previously known, is a land of golden pagodas, mighty rivers and generous deltas. The tattoo pen seems like a rare souvenir. By and large, most of the seasoningsare hot. At every popular temple, you will find vendors selling longyi’s, postcards, wind-chimes, lacquer-wear and the famous sand paintings. 3. Generally, there should be chili oil on tables. How to Choose Transportation during Cambodia Myanmar and Laos Tour? Best Seller in Myanmar Travel Guides. You can buy them from as little at 1000 Kyats ($1) and they are one of the best things to wear in Myanmar. The only joy we took from it was that we probably fed a small child or family somewhere that day and that the funds may contribute to the young girls school tutition as she spoke to us in great length about her desire to be a qualified tour guide one day so she could share her love of her country with tourists. Souvenirs are the same for me but I hate being lied to. I’m in Myanmar now, and really enjoying it. But they weren’t the landscapes, they were buddhas. Myanmar’s population in 2019 was 54 million people, resulting in an average $350 in exported goods per resident. I try and buy one item from each place we visit so that we can look back and reminisce. I love markets and enjoy the haggling even more so. I’m going to Myanmar, can you recommend a broker so I may get the same high-quality ring? Great read! I thought the exact same thing! Kachin people of Myanmar like to eat meat and they are used to bake the meat and then sprinkle some salt around the roasted meat. How can I contact him/her? I don’t think it’s good either for the seller or the buyer to have a dishonest transaction. You can find many kinds of snacks on the street or in tea shops. Do be wary of the shoe guardians, friendship tour scam, restaurants without set prices, coin collectors, fake entrance tickets, pickpocketing, snatch thefts and many more! Any awareness raising on these issues can only be a good thing. . But when you come to Myanmar you will find the original Burmese also like to eat curry, especially in Bagan, where very traditional dishes are made with curry, for instance, curry meat, curry vegetables and curry fish and so on. I very rarely buy souvenirs, but when I do I enjoy the experience… I love your article. Where did you buy your painting? . We also visited numerous monasteries during our trip and we made a hefty donation to one of the local monasteries that our Burmese family attend to ensure that the building of a school block for young girls who needed shelter from poverty would be built and we continue to support it. Nyaung U. I very rarely buy souvenirs, but when I do I enjoy the experience – even if I know they are selling it to me at an inflated price (of course, I have more money than they do). We were complimented on wearing them everywhere we went as most tourists don’t wear them. We noticed again how everything looked the same, the bracelets all looked identical and while we were walking around I decided since a bracelet was a small item I would buy myself one and one as a guft as I can’t imagine they would be very much. I don’t usually buy much souvenir-wise for myself but I like to pick up gifts to stick away for birthdays/Christmas for friends and family so tips like these are always welcome and appreciated! Thanks! This article really made me smile. For example, they would cut mango into pieces, and then mix with soy flour, shrimp meat, shrimp sauce, onion and fried pepper seeds, which will taste acid, salty, spicy, and fresh. Updated 2019: I do not discourage you to purchase souvenirs here, just be sure you know what you are buying. Our best wishes to the most enterprising family. Deep-fried stuff Myanmar has many popular fried foods. And the price is not very expensive, so you can eat as much as you want. My dad told me that there were so many blood while having a tattoo with that tattoo pen. Last but bot least, the sand they use are all stones from the river, not any kind of gemstone! We were conned into buying two pieces of jade jewelry at The Shwezigon Pagoda in Bagan. I know this is partly my naivety that leaves me disappointed but souvenirs in Myanmar are not cheap unlike other Asian countries so when your spending $100 on a sand painting you want to know its hand painted not printed…but otherwise I agree souvenir shopping can be fun. One thing that surprised me was the mass amounts of jewels that were being sold. Welcome to Mum's House Burmese and oriental foods supermarket : Myanmar Burmese food palace, restaurant : Myanmar, myanmar, Burma, burma, Burmese, burmese, mumhouse, Mumhouse, Myanmar Community, food, Ready to eat, Pickled Tea Leaf, pickled tea leaf, Fish Dishes, Prawn Dishes, Beef Dishes, Chicken Dishes, Pork Dishes, Pickled, Ready to eat, VCD, Books, FOOD, burmese food, myanmar food, myanmar … Hardcover $22.09 $ 22. Thanks for the comment! So I approached a stall and found one I liked and asked the lady how much? CAREFULLY however as you can quickly draw a crowd. Tattoo was the sign of braveness a long time ago. Fun article to read! I love markets and buying souvenirs and sometimes I don’t really mind if they are fake or manufactured in a factory. Welcome to my travel blog! The Burmese people are some of the kindest and humble people we have ever met on our travels so we didn’t second guest her kindness. These cookies do not store any personal information. After a couple of days of wear I noticed that the beads weren’t stone at all put painted plastic as the coating began to wear away and the silver began to turn gray and leave a green mark on my skin. Don’t hard sell to another SEAsian tourist- you will fail miserably. And they also tend to wait until all people sit down well together to start the meal. Hello, Fake or not, it’s always very tempting to buy souvenirs from the countries where we travel, especially if they are trinket jewellery! So please use this post to understand what kind of souvenirs are available and to help with your purchasing decisions. So here are a few tips on what not to buy in Myanmar and the better alternatives that you can buy that are genuine and ethical. Copyright 2021 © The Wandering Wanderluster | All Rights Reserved |. Hey Thomas! Thanks for the comment. no MSG, no preservative, 100% Natural. Again we were a bit skeptical. Downtown Yangon is especially famous with a number of stalls specializing in Mohinga variants. #1 of 5 Shopping in Nyaung U. When considering the eating habit, the custom is that each person will be armed with a spoon and a soup plate, for they are not used to use the bowl. . Welcome to Made in Myanmar Web Portal (www.madeinmyanmar.asia) which is Myanmar's First Online Web Portal with the collection of Myanmar (Burmese) Manufacturers and Products / Items solely Made in Myanmar. While I wanted a jewel to take back with me I wanted to make sure it wasn’t mined through slave labor jewel like so many of the jewels that come from Mogok are. Suggested Read: Shopping In Myanmar: 10 Best Things To Buy On Your Next Excursion. FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. lol. Hi Samantha, this is a very good article and helped me a lot I rarely buy souvenirs at all, but I love to go to markeds and to “window-shop”! So there were five useless souvenirs. When we took the day trip out to the lake it was a completely different story. 5. He convinced us so much that the painting was genuine that we almost purchased one. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Just now reading this blog post (since cannot travel now) and I agree with what you said entirely. While the beauty of its countryside has long been famous, Myanmar's cuisine has been something of a secret up until now. I am simply trying to advise fellow travelers to be smart about their purchases and avoid being ripped off and disappointed. I really don’t understand why we were given such conflicting stories. 7 years ago. but now, its just for a style XD. I say useless mostly because they were poor in quality and a complete waste of money! *Facepalms herself!*. Yet we thought since Hsipaw doesn’t get anywhere near the number of visitors as Yangon, Bagan or Mandalay there would be a heavier presence of people trying to make money from the tourists that were there, but this wasn’t the case. The best thing to buy at Bogyoke Aung San Market is Longyi’s! During my travels in the country it saddened me as to just how poor they are. Latest travel advice for Myanmar, including how coronavirus (COVID-19) is affecting travel and entry requirements at this time as well as safety and security and local laws and customs Address: East D, Bogyoke AungSan Market, 11141, Pabedan, Township, Yangon 11141, Myanmar . 7 years ago. But in there, the curry is different, where is no heavy taste. Spirits are daily necessities, and at any ritual, people will use spirit to cheer the atmosphere up. This is the only contact I have for the lady that made my ring: Ms. Kyi Kyi Win – Email kyiMog@gmail.com Phone Number: 959 799751854 (She has Viber so you may be able to communicate in this way first!). There were some souvenir stalls but we didn’t buy anything, I had been previously warned that most souvenirs were fake. But we hesitated and decided that we would look around in town to compare prices as the young man told us one of his paintings would set us back almost 100,000 Kyats (Almost 70 EURO). I saw many tourists push their way past vendors and children because they were tired of being hassled 24/7 to buy stuff. We just returned from Myanmar… amazing country, Yangon is wonderful! I have even studied it and I have a Diploma in it. She didn’t really have an answer and she just smiled. But the food mentioned above are something you should never miss up. Our first stop was to the floating but not floating market. In the end, the people selling them need the money more than us regardless of how they are made. This was still far too much for a bracelet so I began to walk away. Myanmar salad has no salad dressing, but instead, people use fragrant tea to add flavor. Myanmar is on my list and I’ll be sure to keep these tips in mind when I’m there. It took 2 weeks! When I started travelling, I would often buy way too many souvenirs. But like always we always came home with more than we wanted to buy, and we “wasted” a considerable amount of money on fake souvenirs. . To make the Tea leaf salad, slightly bitter leaves are mixed by hand with shredded – small cabbage, cherry tomatoes, crispily fried beans, nuts and peas, oil and garlic, sliced filets, spicy pepper, an… We were complimented on wearing them everywhere we went as most tourists don’t wear them. Besides the local snacks mentioned above, there are many other foods that you can find. Its a hectic but beautiful city…try and make it up to Mandalay Hill for sunset…just don’t go by scooter…half of them never make it up the steep hill! I would love the info for your jeweler! I love the ring you had made! The “tool” to eat is the right hand, which is very smart and easy to use when comes to picking food. But our longyi’s are by far the best thing we got! Myanmar is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. One girl around the age of 16 was kind enough to show us around one temple. I can try and find out where she is based in Yangon if you want to get something that is made and sourced ethically. In most of the Burma and Chinese restaurants of Yangon and other cities, crabs, shrimp, lobster and other shellfish are very popular dishes. You were lucky . Lol. 4.8 out of 5 stars 209. I’m interested in your sand painting experience, since I actually just bought two medium-big landscapes for 27,000 total. We throughly enjoyed walking around the temples and the markets and making conversations with the locals. Street food is the best in Myanmar ,especially every street food you can get in China town is the best Reply. HI Gabi, not sure if you’ve already gone to Myanmar! You were right, there were sellers in Mingun that hover you around like a gadfly pestering you with a sale. Myanmar traditional snacks are various and very delicious too. Although I am dying to return to Myanmar so I can wear it again! It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. It is said that Indians like to eat curry. I take my role as a travel blogger very seriously and after traveling to numerous poor countries I understand the full effect I have on tourism and the livelihoods in these countries. We asked MoMo where the best place to buy genuine jewels was. And thanks I love my ring its probably the only souvenir I got in Myanmar that means anything to me! If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. We decided enough was enough with souvenirs by the time we got to Mandalay. Part of the fun of going abroad to new destinations is bringing back a souvenir to remind you of your trip. I should have read this before going to Mandalay last week. Bogyoke Market. It was no different in Vietnam, Cambodia, or India or a beach in Cabo. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. It has been operating for over 90 years and in the new era serves as Yangon’s premier tourist trap. Buy all means buy souvenirs, just be smart on what you purchase is all this post was about. How to Have a Discovery Tour in Phnom Penh? Our first encounter in Nyaungshwe Market was a good one. Sometimes it’s tough to know when you’re getting scammed. I think if anyone wants to buy them they should. People outside Myanmar may believe that Burmese are new to snacks. Haha i laughed every time you mentioned useless souvenir. Shopping in SE Asia is always quite an experience. Like many tourists that visit Yangon most will head to the Bogyoke Aung San Market, a bazaar of stalls and shops selling everything from chickpea snacks, to hats, wooden bowls, custom made clothing and shoes to jewels and gold. When they eat, they tear down the meat by hands. There are some condiments such as chili oil and chili sauce stored on dining table. Hope this helps . All … Lovely pictures! Great tips! “OK final offer 6000!” To which point I thought OK it didn’t seem unreasonable for a “silver plated” bracelet with red stone beads and the tiny elephants were kind of cute so I accepted. They are the best sandwiches we’ve ever had! There were loads of jewelry stands selling silverware and we were told that there was a silver jeweler on the lake too which was an optional stop we decided not to take, so we imagined most of the items made came from there. It is beautiful! Myanmar people generally eat Western-style food for the breakfast, and Chinese food for lunch and dinner. While they were certainly beautiful, we did not want to spend money on a factory printed picture and since we couldn’t tell the difference between acrylics, sand or factory-made etc we came back empty handed. So my bitterness turned into something more positive And I love my longyi too! Thanks for sharing! Don’t buy expensive souvenirs because they probably aren’t genuine and indeed they are half the price a few stalls down. Your email address will not be published. I’m working in Myanmar as a Chef for the last year, Inle, Bagan,Ngapali, always do your homework before leaving your country and BRING YOUR BRAINS ALSO. I’d love to get something like that if it’s affordable and I know it’s ethical and real , Hey Sarah – I don’t know what the deal is with the sand paintings. If you venture just out of Bagan you’ll see exactly how the locals live and you will see the poverty these people live in. Each vendor we met and spoke with told us that everything on their stalls was hand made by their family and that if they didn’t sell anything they would go hungry. No one likes to be ripped off when buying anything, and I’d happily have paid 6000 kyat or more for the same bracelet had I known it was plastic and tin. Tart leaves are kinds of Myanmar food that eaten by their own way, usually as dessert, but they also served as Lephet Thoke – a salad of pickled tea leaves. She proceeded to pull out a chart with numbers on in increments of 500 Kyats. However, on our departure, we were blackmailed into buying something from their stall in exchange for our shoes back. I loved Myanmar, its people and culture but felt sad when lied to about something I was buying when as you said I would have bought it anyway even if it was plated metal instead of silver. Great article, thanks for the tips! Ha ha. I think the key here is to shop around more before making your decision, and remember that souvenirs are supposed to be a bit of fun. It is so easy to get scammed abroad! This was a great read! Starting from the Maha Bandoola Park right beside the iconic Sule Pagoda, we took on a street snack tour with local guides who showed us some of the top 9 local favourites on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar. And it is sad that clearly you did not read any other posts I had written about Myanmar as you would have seen that I wrote about it with joy and would recommend the country to everyone and in no way does it persuade people not to go. And the main materials are parsley, onions, lemon, tamarind fruit, ginger, garlic and so on. This post may contain affiliate links. A set include 7 ounce Spicy Tea Leaves oil, 2 ounce Pickled Tea Leaves, 9 ounce of Salad Topping (crunchy assorted beans) . This is such a great post. For good priced longyi and other foodstuffs, head to the supermarket as these would be in line with local prices and good quality too. (or anywhere), Beautiful pictures and very informative post! Not. In the local large-scale activities, the hostess also use fish soup noodle to entertain guests. So my haggling skills must have been super bad! That is merely a ploy to get you to buy more, it just didn’t work that time. Ready to add for your favorite greens, cut cherry tomatoes, lemon juice and salt. Thanks for the tip! These dishes, as most of the … . Must. I used to buy a souvenir for every member of my family in the past, but it quickly became an expensive exercise and required valuable space in our suitcases. I wish I’d found it before arriving I currently have two sand paintings in my bag! We had a good rapport with her so when she took us to her stall I politely asked why everything looks the same and why everyone in the entire city sells the same things? Hi Samantha…great article. I have a few questions, as it will be my first time in Asia: is it possible to indicate us a guide or were them your frinds (that wasn’t quite clear to me) and also the personalized jewel- is it possible to be indicated so I could ask our hotel to reach him? We just chose not to purchase one because we would rather invest our money in something that was truly hand-made. Myanmar is also rich in seafood. This post was purely written to tell people what souvenirs we found to be of poor quality and to help people with purchasing decisions. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. For me a souvenir doesn’t have to be expensive, genuine or handmade, it’s more about having something that reminds me of a place so when I look around my apartment at home all those happy travel memories come flooding back. We deal with both fresh chilled and frozen. It is always important to not only watch out for scams but also unethical purchases too. “ Myanmar is complex for a foreigner, with so much diverse culture, history and cuisine, making their tours the best way to see and understand Myanmar if you only have a short time. So, although it’s always a good thing to avoid spending extra money on trips on the things you dpn’t actually want, but I guess sand paintings should not be on the don’t-buy list. What to buy in Myanmar: Paper Umbrella Avoid scammers and fake souvenirs and spend your money on souvenirs that won’t leave you disappointed. She said to point to the price we deemed reasonable so I pointed to 2000. The former will be very refreshing; while the bean sprouts will taste very brittle. The latter part of that is probably true. While some are manufactured and are not genuine items the purchasing of souvenirs do help out the locals. To our surprise almost all of the artists gave us a different story of how the paintings were made, all having different materials, all claiming to of painted them themselves and all claiming their method of painting was the traditional way and all other paintings were fake. If they were kind enough to show you around a temple and tell you a great spot for watching the sunset then I’d say that was fair payment Enjoy Mandalay! So here we are going to recommend some Myanmar local snacks that you should never miss out for your Myanmar tour. We casually walked around the market where they sold souvenirs (although it was another local market) but we weren’t asked to stop and look at their stalls or followed around by children. For sure Myanmar was a fantastic experience for us but we did experience pushy salespeople in many of the places we visited even with a local guide (perhaps not on the same scale as Vietnam but still) and if you are an experienced traveler you’d know everyone’s experiences are different. With glutinous rice as the main ingredient and mature banana and coconut as stuffing, the zongzi smells so good and tastes so well. She didn’t “take” anything from anybody. Good article. Bountiful Myanmar. I’m sure I’ve walked away with more than one fake souvenir on one of my trips. We also weren’t bothered by anyone here either, in fact we probably enjoyed walking around Hsipaw more because we weren’t hassled. We were simply allowed to walk around at our leisure, people smiled, children played and it was an enjoyable experience. We found them quite abundantly on the streets and in front of temples in Bagan. Myanmar is one awesome country! he was very stubborn up until that. Hsipaw was one the only place we didn’t see mass amounts of souvenirs being sold or stalls. Myanmar people are very fond of snacks either breakfast items, as fast food or as at tea-times. I know they have to make a living and its very poor there – the poorest country I have been to so far but all it will do is deter tourists from purchasing anything. Where to find Mohinga in Myanmar? I do not condone the purchasing of souvenirs here, I only wish to enlighten you with what you are actually buying. Still, its fun isn’t it. 6. Besides, the fish-rice noodle made of rice and fish soup and coconut milk made of coconut and chicken curry and noodles are also their favorite breakfast and also luncheonette foods. Thanks! Tinier percentages went to Africa (1.2%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (0.2%) then Oceania led by Australia (0.1%). Yes its a shame so many are fake because it is always nice to bring something back. So I began collecting postcards since they were relatively small, lightweight and could be pressed within the pages of my guide book to keep safe until my return home. Required fields are marked *. Cambodia Transportation: Get to and around Cambodia, Vietnam Restaurants: delicious Vietnamese food, Vietnam Travel Tips: Vietnam Currency, Vietnam Visa…, Cambodia Shopping: what to buy & where to shop, Cambodia Weather: Wet Season and Dry Season. Hii, could you indicate where you were able to see the sand paint workshop? But do spend money on cheap trinkets just to contribute to those at the bottom. The second time I was in Bagan, I visited the workshop and home of a local family that has been creating sand paintings for long time. Sounds like you are experts now though. How to Have a Relaxing Tour in Can Tho Vietnam? I am never the buyer kind during travel, and I don’t like to spend money on the things I don’t need or don’t want, but I really appreciate the works they make (you can see sand paintings everywhere in Bagan with various prices, but if you look into them, they are with different styles or different basic colours.). Mandalay next! Have a great time! They took us to the market twice, once at the beginning of the trip and once at the end. Great tips! Thanks for the refresher as I’ll be in Myanmar next month. I felt sad the local vendor felt the need to cheat and lie about the quality of a product when I would have purchased it anyway even if I had known it was plastic.
Magnetic Screen Singapore, Celebration Cinema Coupon, How To Use Amazon Gift Card In Flipkart, National Nothing Day Uk, In Case Of Emergency Uk, Mai Airport Code,
