[Yangon + Mandalay + Bagan] Buses in Burma (Photos + Video)

Bus-fanning in Burma is a truly unique experience unmatched by any other cities I have visited and fanned in the past: the entire country, especially within the "downtown" core area of Yangon (largest city in Burma, former capital city), is a real-life vintage Japanese and Korean bus museum in action. Almost any Japanese / Korean buses built since the 1980s share a fair chance of popping up in revenue service, no matter how deteriorated the conditions may be, the Burmese does a fantastic job in keeping the wheels rolling!
Burma is the first country I have ever visited in which right-hand-drive vehicles driven on the right side of the road is the normative practice. Confronted by limited availability of resources, all of these retired Japanese and Korean buses are deployed into revenue service while retaining their original liveries, therefore enriching the streets of Burma with a very refreshing blend of every imaginable colour. There is no such thing as "fleet standardization", it is a simple matter of what comes off the ship from Japan. As such, bus-fanning in Myanmar is like cracking open Kinder Eggs: you will never know what to expect while standing on the street!

For the most part, I felt perfectly safe while bus-fanning in Myanmar, and I had to go through the entire trip on my own too! The Burmese people are extremely genuine, friendly and helpful. After enduring a repressive military dictatorship for the past 50 years, the Burmese people are slowly exploring the values of democratic freedom, while also remaining consciously alert about keeping in lines with the law.....after all, old habits won't disappear overnight! If you have always been interested in visiting Myanmar (or become inspired after reading this post), stop thinking and DO IT!

Starting with Yangon (or Rangoon), Sule Paya is the heart of the city centre.....instead of asking for "downtown", I normally just ask for "Sule Paya" when riding buses in Yangon!



Two Hyundai buses from South Korea running side-by-side



Night-panned! I think this is a Nissan Diesel bus from Japan



Graveyard for the old buses! These Chevy "buses" are actually Canadian-built C-15 military personnel carriers from the 1930s, way before WWII!




The busiest street in "Downtown" Yangon, I snapped this photo on a Sunday, and when I returned to snap more on Monday, the street was gridlocked on all four lanes. Featured in this picture is a really old-school Korean Daewoo bus side-by-side with a slightly newer ex-Tokyo Toei Nissan diesel bus.



More vintage Hino minibuses, they are still very common on the roads of Yangon.



Moving out of Yangon to Mandalay, the second-largest city in Burma, 10 hours coach ride over 700km from Yangon! Sitting on rooftops of buses seem to be a common practice in Mandalay......by the way, feel free to call me crazy, ALL of these photos were taken while riding on the back of a motorcycle through the streets of Mandalay!










Finally, these photos are taken in Bagan, the ancient city famous for its archaeological zone with over 2000 temples and pagodas! This is by far the oldest bus that I have ever seen on the road, and I love the fact that it still retains its old Tokyo Toei colours!



And I will conclude my post with this photo, taken after sunset on top of one of the temples in Bagan.



I have uploaded my entire collection of Burmese buses onto my own website, simply follow THIS link if you can't seem to get enough just yet!

And please, feel free to com'on in and go for a bus ride with me! I apologize for the subpar quality of the video, the ride itself was extremely shaky, and I had a hard time stabilizing while recording with my S3.

I have also made a post for the Yangon Circular Train under the R3 section, feel free to check it out!

ENjoy!

Dave

[ 本帖最後由 NewFlyer 於 2013-5-10 02:42 編輯 ]

thanks for sharing these beautiful photos with usHowever, there are some questions I would like to ask? 1.

Is Burma much safer than other Southeast Asian countries except Singapore?

2. Does all the second hand buses from Japan and Korea have locked up the air-conditioned system?

3. Does Burma have some second hand buses from Singapore?

thx

Hello Victor,Thanks for responding with those questions!
1. Burma is generally still quite safe (as of right now) in terms of crimes against tourists, as the previous military junta government levied extremely harsh punishments for any criminal acts committed against foreigners. However with that being said, one should apply common sense and be alert of immediate surroundings at all times. Personally, I did not experience any incidents nor moments that I felt endangered....if anything, the Burmese people have been extremely helpful, friendly and sweet!

2. That is correct, all AC units on buses have been disconnected......there is no shortage of "hot dogs"!

3. I did not see any ex-Singaporean buses in Burma......though that is not a bad idea at all, the SMRT Nissan diesels could've fitted right into their renewed bus fleet perfectly! The majority of the buses that I found are second-hand buses from Japan, with a slightly lesser minority formed by second-hand Korean buses and a fleet of "Yangtze Kiang" Chinese buses (see photo). If it's helpful, I also came across an online article about Myanmar purchasing 3000 "new buses" from Japan ("new buses" as in second hand buses from Japan)




Let me know if you have any further questions!

Dave

May I know the meaning of the words usually shown on the windscreen of the buses?
Are they route information, advertisement or something else? Thks.

Yes you are correct! The symbols on the sides are Burmese numerals (route number), and the script in the middle is the destination label. So, as a hypothetical example, the route information is displayed based on the following pattern: "112 North Point 112". As a foreigner, I usually ask for "Sule" when going into the city, and show my hotel's business card (with the Burmese address) to the conductor when returning to the hotel.
Dave

Yangon 先多巴士服务，反而Mandalay 因並無禁motorbike，相對十分少公共巴士

另當地整車既早已習慣整日系韓系巴士，加上唔少内地廉價新旅遊巴既競爭，
所以歐系巴士好難在缅甸生存到

btw At Yangon cir train line Where you found old car
and old bus ?，can give google map data ，thank you