Myanmar - probably the most untouristic country I've visited so far.
It's beauty and people, food and landscape and the thousands of pagodas totally fascinated me.

The culture in Myanmar is unique and I have to say, I never met more friendly people on one of my other trips. Tourism is still pretty new for Myanmars population. They are excited for it, hungry for knowledge and experiences and love listening to every story from the world.

I started my tour in Yangon, with more than 5 Mio inhabitants the biggest city in the country - not the capital though. Yangon is busy, full of people and food on each corner. It's the religious center of the nation as the Shwedagon-Pagode can be found here.
Further I traveled to Bago and paid a quick visit to the Golden Rock, one of the holy places in Myanmar. I got on the top of the mountain in a truck together with more than 30 monks which was an adventure itself. Being on top of this mountain for one night was an experiece I'd never want to miss - the sunset, the people, almost no tourists at all.

My next stop was Hpa-an with its beautiful rice fields and caves including pagodas. I would recommend this stop to everybody, as Hpa-an has its very own charme and the landscape is simply amazing. I visited a cave, took a boat ride with locals, drove around by moped, did a hike in the middle of the night to the top of mount Zwekabin to see the sunrise there...
So many great memories!

My trip took me then further north to Bagan, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was the ancient capital of the kingdom. For most people it is the highlight of Myanmar and I got to say, I really enjoyed my time there as well.
There are still around 2,000 ruined and relatively intact temples, stupas and pagodas to be seen in Bagan.
I also took a cooking class there, which was more a cultural tour than anything else. I learned about the markets, people, history, the tea culture, food and preparation in this course.

Next I went to Mandalay where I learned a lot about the handicraft of Myanmar. Mandalay is colorful and modern (well... compared to the other cities in Myanmar).
My next stop was the Inle lake. I've never seen a place like this before. The lake is huge, there are complete villages built on stilts in the middle of the lake. The swimming gardens were my highlight. People grow tomatoes here directly on the lake. Everybody moves around in boats and sometimes you can still see those fishermen, fishing with the baskets (caution cause some of them are tourist attractions and just ask for money).

The last stop of this amazing country was Ngapali beach.
Endless beaches, without people - where else can this be found in our world? Life here is rather slow and relaxed.
It was the perfect ending to a really interesting vacation.