Yangon practical information · Practical information in Yangon
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Practical information in Yangon
Practical information in Yangon
Hours: 6:30AM to 10PM. The pagoda opens at 5AM but, technically, tourists are not allowed in till 6:30AM. It is unlikely, however, that an early arriving tourist will be turned away.
Entrance fee: US$5. Ticket booths are located at the Eastern and Southern Entrances. If you enter from another direction, the ticket agents will catch up with you sooner or later and collect the fee. It is easy to avoid handing the US$5 fee to the government by simply asking for or buying a used sticker from another tourist as they leave the paya then going up one of the side entrances. If you get in at 5am and get out by 6am you'll probably escape paying the fee (but risk not being allowed in). Ticket agents will sometimes quote the price in US Dollars (as per the sign) or Kyat (either at the government rate, the black-market rate, or an inflated blackmarket rate). Best to have both available and pay whatever is cheapest - no point giving the government more than you need to. Tickets are valid for one day only (not a 24 hour period) and must be retained throughout your visit. Bring some sticky tape to help keep the sticker attached to your clothing (especially if it is a hot or wet day, like 2/3 of the days in Myanmar).
Guides: Guides, official and unofficial are available for US$5 (add a US$1/1000kyat tip). The quality is variable but most guides are friendly and trying to make their way against the odds. The pagoda is vast and complex and, if you can afford the extra dollars, the company and practical information on what's going around you is well worth the expense.
Getting there: Taxi from the city centre costs 1500 kyat to 2000 kyat (expect higher starting prices, especially if it has rained or is after dark - 3000 kyat or so, feel free to haggle). Taxis are available for the return trip at the bottom of the main entrance.
Food: The closest restaurant is at the intersection of the Shwedagon Pagoda Road and U Hlaung Bo Street (at the bottom of the Southern Walkway). There are some tea shops on a small roadway that describes a semicircle just below the top of the pagoda where you can get tea and biscuits. North of the pagoda, on Inya Road and outside the Savoy, are many places to eat, including a good fast food restaurant for pizza, coffee, and sandwiches. Bring water, the heat of the sun can get to you if you visit during the daytime. No food or water is available on the platform itself but water is available on the lower reaches of the walkway.
Disabled travellers: A road on the Southern side leads halfway up the Singuttara Hill and an elevator can take you the rest of the way. Alternatively, if not in a wheelchair, head for the Western entrance from where escalators are available all the way to the top. The escalators are free for foreigners (or rather, included in the price of the ticket).
Dress code: Dress reasonably and keep your legs covered (long skirts, halfway between knee and ankle, are fine; shorts, on men or women, are not). Longyi are available at the ticket booth if you arrive overly uncovered.
Shoes: As with nearly all Buddhist monuments, footwear is not permitted. With the Shwedagon Paya, almost all visitors (and all locals) remove their footwear at the gates before even setting foot inside the complex. There are places to leave your shoes at the bottom of every walkway for a nominal fee (5 kyat) but that can be a problem if, say, you enter using the Eastern walkway and wish to leave by the Northern. Carry a plastic shopping bag, pop your shoes into that bag, and carry it around with you while on the walkways and platforms. That is the Burmese way!
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Yangon
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Yangon Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.