Mandalay – Taxis
Mandalay Taxis
Using a local taxi near the hotel is always our first choice. We have a chat to them and hire a driver for the day. If he’s happy with us and we with him, then we negotiate a deal for the next few days.We find this better than a tour or a tour bus. The taxi driver will always know heaps about where to go and will take you to places off the normal route if you ask him. Its worth the rate to have what often turns out to be a friend for your days there who will look after you and your gear.
Your Taxi driver is also a great asset when you want something at a local store and no-one speaks your language. We cart him with us to get the data topup and when we need extra stuff at the local pharmacy. He is an excellent help.
Taxi drivers in Mandalay and Bagan carry water for their passengers, and will stop for coffees and lunch when suggested. The bonus is they will also know where to take you for great local food.
The two taxi drivers we had in Mandalay and Bagan made the stay much more enjoyable and worth every bit of the money. I can’t stress enough how different it would have been if we had opted for electric bikes or bicycles. We would’ve missed out on so much stuff, both in where we went and new friendships.
Our Mandalay Taxi Driver: Ko Swe Myint
Cnr 27 and 77th Streets, Mandalay.Ph 09-257094282, 09-794794187, 09-774490344, 09-444183652.
There was a taxi stand outside our Bagan King Hotel in Mandalay so we had a meet with them, talked to them about what we wanted, and off we went for 4 days. Our taxi driver Ko Swe Myint was great, not only taking us to the temples and palaces, we were off to the river port, the gem market, the local markets, and great local restaurants.
Prices were 40,000 kyat for the day in Mandalay.
A last note. In Myanmar the cars have right hand drive, and yet they drive on the right hand side of the road. Takes a bit of brain space to check walking across the road, with a day or so for it to sink in.
