Golf in Yangon, Myanmar

I was in Yangon, Myanmar. It was very fortunate to have a local friend who could arrange golf in Yangon at a private club called Punh Hlaing Golf and Country Club. It took about 45 minutes drive from Yangon town. The Green Fees was about USD 60 on the weekend, for weekdays the rate was cheaper probably USD 50. It was a walking course, so it turned out a very good exercise for us and we probably walked 6-7 KM to complete the 18 holes that day.

The other golf course that we played was the Yangon Golf Club, a club established in 1899. They have men caddies with a forward marshal to indicate the location of your ball. So we very seldom lost any ball except for OB, water hazards and the forest. The Green Fee for Visitor was USD 15 per round and caddies fee was USD 3 to USD 5 depending on their skill category. This course usually hosted the Asian PGA, Myanmar Open.

My problem in Myanmar was the language. It was like `chicken and duck', we have no idea on what they were talking about. Luckily, we were just playing golf and the caddies were helpful, you know we all were not so good as golfers and we sprayed the ball everywhere...and still they could find the ball.

I stayed at the Traders Hotel in the town centre. A special rate given to us was USD 45 per night. It was a very good hotel and managed by the Shangri-la Hotel group. During our stay the hotel was the venue for my country's Merdeka celebrations, so we joined the party, there was a good crowd of about 500++ people who came to the dinner including local VIPs. So we met people from the Embassies, Petronas, other hotels and Toyotas... all Malaysian. Just next to our hotel is another hotel, on the 5th Floor (or 3rd floor?) they have place for foot massage, cost us RM 18 per 1 hour session.

Food in Yangon was very good, just like home. There were plenty of Muslim food, Beriani Ayam and Teh Tarik only cost RM3.20! Cooked dinner at a Yunan Muslim shop 6 dishes only RM17! We missed the good old days, these were prices 10 years ago in Malaysia. Many hotels have chef and cooks from Malaysia, so you can order TomYam and ikan asam pedas quite easily.

Traders Hotel welcomed guest from Malaysia, they would provide you with a copy of Quran, sejadah and local praying time. What more could you ask for? Nearby there were 2 Sunni mosques for your Friday prayers just 3-5 minutes walking time.

The was the Bogyoke market where they sell jades and stones and stuff like your batu cincin. Some shop owners even speak Malay, so no problem to bargain, they pampered you with teh tarik in small glass because they served tea only in small glass in Myanmar. So many of them have worked in Kuala Lumpur, so they could speak Malay very well.