After decades of human rights abuses by government, the south-east Asian country of Myanmar has slowly improved and opened up to tourism. Helen Raine looks at how to make a tight budget last for a month out there.

Myanmar (Burma) is a relatively new addition to the must-do travel list of southeast Asia.

Until recently, flagrant human rights violations by the totalitarian government regime discouraged most responsible travellers.

While Myanmar still has a long way to go on the road to democracy, things have improved enough to put the country on the backpacker map.

Surprisingly, accommodation costs more than in neighbouring countries, though food is astonishingly cheap and very tasty. Around €30 per person would be a reasonable amount per day for a budget traveller.

If you go armed with patience and an open mind, the country has some incredible rewards for backpackers.

It’s likely to start changing fast so take a month now to explore a new travel frontier.

Week One

Direct flights to Yangon (Rangoon) can be pricey, so consider buying a flight to Thailand or Singapore and hopping in from there. You can usually bag a ticket for just over €100.

The local currency is the kyat and the exchange rate at the airport goes from really bad to diabolical, so pay the taxi with dollars (it should be less than $10/€7.50) and change in Yangon.

Accommodation-wise, try the downtown May Fair Inn at No. 57, 38th Street or The Grand Hotel 108, 1st Floor, Bo Aung Kyaw Street, which both charge under €25 for a double.

On day one, walk off the jet lag with a visit to the delicate gold leaf pinnacles of the Shwedagon Pagoda. This is a Buddist commemorative monument housing sacred relics. Known as a stupa, it is 100m high. The glittering light reflecting from it changes subtly throughout the day.

Try Bogyoke Market for lunch. It’s packed with stalls selling everything from fabric to fish.

There are plenty of crumbling British colonial architectural treasures, such as the Railway Headquarters and the Immigration Building, which was formerly a swanky store.

At the redbrick Old High Court, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re in London.

One macabre landmark is the Prime Minister’s Office where General Aung San was assassinated in 1947.

When you’re ready to leave the city, head north to the official capital Naypyidaw, if only for a glimpse of regime architecture.

From here, the tourist triangle of Bagan, Lake Inle and Mandalay beckons, but first detour via the Minbu Mud Volcanoes, accessible from Magway by motorcycle for around €4.50.

If you go armed with patience and an open mind, the country has some incredible rewards for backpackers

Essentially, this is a field of bubbling, gurgling, unheated mud formed by the escape of methane gas.

The miniature volcanoes create an otherworldly landscape that the locals consider holy.

Week Two

Take the bus to Mandalay, home to half of all the monks in Burma.

This is a relatively modern city. Created in 1857, it was severely damaged during the war so that many of the finest buildings are recreations. Still, it’s a nice place to wander around.

Head up Mandalay Hill to get your bearings (a motorbike will whisk you up there for €1.50).

At the top, as well as the view, you’ll find young monks ready to exchange a quick English class for information about life in the country. Then rent a motorbike and explore the city.

Try a gold pounders’ workshop, where men with gigantic hammers produce fine gold leaf. The tour is free, but the ‘price’ is to be led through the sales centre.

Then head to the Shwenandaw Monastery, which is built entirely of teak and had the most intricate and fascinating carvings throughout.

The Moustache Brothers will give you a dose of satire at 8.30pm every night on 39th Street.

They’ve been imprisoned numerous times for anti-government skits, and are now allowed to perform only for tourists from their home, at the cost of €6. Any bike taxi will know how to get there.

Outside the city, there are four key sites you shouldn’t miss. First is Amarapura, a tranquil city, home to several monasteries and the 1.2km wooden U Bein Bridge, which crosses Aungthaman Lake.

It’s made of 284 teak posts and has atmospheric views that cry out to be photographed.

On the way, stop at the Maha Gandhayon Kyaung Monastery, which doubles as a school for young monks for some great pictures of be-robed monks queuing to pick up their rations.

Then, there’s Sagaing, which will take a day to see. From the hill there, the view is matchless, with little gold-topped temples in the forested foreground before a broad swathe of the Ayeyarwady River and the mountains behind.

Innwa is another ancient city. Take a boat across the river from Sagaing to get there.

A ride on a cow-cart is a must; the drivers will hassle you if you don’t anyway, so it’s easier to give in quickly.

There are some truly spectacular, crumbling stupas here. Innwa is home to the Mal Nu Temple, Bargayar Monastery and Innwa Museum.

Lastly, hit Mingun, 10km from Mandalay by boat and boasting the huge Mingun Pahtodawgyi Pagoda, left unfinished after an astrologer prophesised the death of the king upon its completion.

It’s cracked from several earthquakes, but still impressive. The icing sugar-white Hsinbyume Pagoda is also stunning, like an outsized wedding cake.

Week Three

To get off the backpacker route at this point, head north to Hsipaw on the train.

The journey itself is an experience, a bone-breaker of a track through stunning mountain scenery.

A first class ticket will cost around €6 from Mandalay. Highlights once you arrive include listening to the hypnotic chants of the monks, seeing the remote Shan monastery and taking a river cruise.

If you’re really feeling adventurous, you could head even further north to Putao where the national park has only recently been opened to the public and remains virtually unexplored.

As you return to Mandalay, stop off at Maymyo, a hill village popular with eloping couples.

The draws here are Kandawgyi Lake and the National Botanical Gardens in the town centre, plenty of colonial architecture, the thundering Pwe Kauk Waterfalls, and the Buddhist shrine-cave of Peik Chin Myaung.

Aung Htu Kan Tha Pagoda is also worth a visit. A 17-ton marble Buddha fell off a truck there in 1997 and proved impossible to lift back on.

Miniature volcanoes create an otherworldly landscape that the locals consider holy

So instead of heading off to China, Buddha stayed put and the locals built the temple over him.

Next stop Bagan was formerly called ‘the City of the Enemy Crusher’. The only crushing here of late has been of the historical buildings by dodgy restoration.

The Military Junta also created a watchtower, golf course and a road within what ought to be a Unesco heritage site. That said, it’s still ridiculously lovely.

Start with the Taung Kalat Temple on volcanic Mount Popa and walk the 777 steps barefoot, running the gauntlet of impudent monkeys as you go.

If you can afford it, lunch at the resort afterwards before taking a horse and cart out to one of the temples to watch the sunset.

Some people choose to take a balloon flight over the thousands of temples on the plain. It’s an amazing trip, but unfortunately, so is the price of €230.

If you can’t stretch to that, climb one of one of the larger temples such as the Shwegugyi and you’ll get a similarly panoramic view (sort of).

Spend a day bicycling to the more remote ancient monuments that most people miss.

Week Four

When you get off the bus in Inle, delights await. Lie down for a traditional massage and then sink into one of the hot springs that well up below the nearby mountains.

Take a longtail boat to explore the shoreline for a few hours and you’ll see villages on stilts, temple boats and floating veg gardens where the Shan tribe grow their tomatoes.

There are plenty of places to hike and you can visit Kalaw, a hill station where you’ll find traditional houses and tea plantations.

On the final leg of your trip, go south to Kyaiktiyo, aka The Golden Rock. This is a gigantic boulder, defying gravity on the edge of a mountainside, entirely covered in gold leaf by countless pilgrims.

Apparently, a strand of Buddha’s hair is all that’s stopping it from plummeting into the abyss, despite the erection of a pagoda on its very top. Getting here is quite a trek.

From Kinpun base camp, you can either jump on a truck for an hour and do the last bit on foot, or take the five-hour hike.

Pilgrims do it barefoot but fortuitously, you won’t have to. You can stay at a guesthouse when you get there to experience the spectacular sunrise.

And if you can squeeze it in, finish off with the Myeik archipelago of 800 plus islands in the very south of the country. The vegetation is lush and there are lots of powdery white sand beaches with almost no tourists on them.

The area remains very much unexplored despite access being permitted in 1997. The nomadic Moken sea-tribe live here in wooden boats and stilt-houses, free diving for mother-of-pearl and oysters and barter their excess catch.

The peninsula has National Park status so bring your snorkel to explore mangroves and reefs.

All that remains is to return to Yangon for your outward flight. But don’t come straight home.

Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Bangladash, Bhutan and China are all on the doorstep; it would be rude not to drop in.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.