Anne Cruickshanks

I had an excellent experience in planning my trip to Myanmar with Anne and with everything that she arranged for me while I was there.

Anne was extremely responsive as soon as I was put in touch with her, and she was very patient while I went back and forth on what I wanted to do on short notice. Once I decided to pull the trigger, she gave me great options tailored to the way that I like to travel and was very quick with suggestions and changes. She was amazing with everything within Myanmar, and I have to give her additional credit and thanks for making really helpful suggestions related to my international travel/ long haul flights, which she certainly didn't have to do since she wasn't directly involved with them.

I feel that everything that she planned for me allowed me to see a lot of the country and certainly all of the highlights within a relatively short period of time (roughly 10 days). I loved everything that I did - sightseeing by bike and boat in Mandalay, visiting the amazing pagodas and taking a cooking class in Bagan, seeing the markets, countryside and caves from Heho to Pindaya to Kalaw, spending a day with amazing elephants at the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp, exploring Inle Lake, and finally seeing the sites in the big city of Yangon, which was so completely different than everywhere else I'd been. It would be hard to pick favorites, but Bagan, the elephants, Inle Lake, and Yangon were particularly wonderful.

Beyond taking in all of the places that that beautiful country has the offer, the people were amazing. Anne set me up with absolutely incredible guides and drivers everywhere that I went, and they were all for lovely to spend time with and informative about everything that they were showing me. I even got to meet some family! Anne herself also took the time to meet me in Mynamar and take me for a drink and nice conversation. As a more general note, I was traveling alone, and I always felt completely comfortable and welcomed everywhere I went.

I had always wanted to go to Myanmar, but it exceeded my expectations. I hope more people get to experience it and its lovely residents.

Anne was outstanding from initial contact, providing excellent advice during the planning phase and at every point during the trip. Nothing seemed too much trouble and she certainly goes the extra mile. The trip was wonderful and full of surprises. The daily itineraries were well balanced but it felt like every day had an unexpected bonus whether it was e-bikes in Bagan or the Irrawaddy cruise boat in Mandalay. We also loved meeting Anne in Mandalay. This was easily the best organised holiday we have had and we have had many. Our high expectations for the trip were exceeded.
We loved Myanmar and the people. The guides (Wai, Nay, Thinzar and Naing) were all superb....knowledgeable, enthusiastic, flexible and charming.
We were glad we did the trip in the order we did (Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake) as highlights increased as we moved through the locations. There were certainly many highlights but the balloon trip over Inle Lake probably takes the accolade.
The hotels have all been great, with the Sanctum Inle Lake up there as amongst the best that we we have ever stayed in!
I also think the holiday was excellent value. So all in all a holiday to remember.

My 23-year-old daughter and I chose to visit Myanmar to learn more about the fascinating culture, history, political transitions, and people there. Anne planned an 11-day adventure for us which far exceeded any expectations. We had an amazing time!

First, I will say that I barely needed to communicate with Anne. She “got” how I travel almost immediately and my trust in her decisions was gave me no worry. I could focus on the rest of my travels and the rest of my life. We spent the first two nights at the Mercure in Mandalay. Nay was the first of several guides Anne arranged. Each of them is OUTSTANDING! Nay has spent a lot of time guiding trekkers, which we were not on this trip, and so he led us on a beautiful bike ride through the countryside outside of the city. We opted to start and end inside the city and I’m happy we did. We could handle the busy streets and we got to see some interesting sites. In the outskirts we stopped several times to learn about different industries and had lunch at a nunnery, which prepared and educated us on this fascinating side to Myanmar culture that we revisited everywhere we went. Nay also showed us other Mandalay sites — the sunset from high up, the World’s Biggest Book and the last remaining building from the former Royal Palace. Nay is lovely!

Our next two nights were spent aboard the Strand Cruise, motoring down the Irrawaddy. We visited U-Bein Bridge, Mingun, and Ava. Site visits included a tuk-tuk ride and a horse and cart ride…so fun. And the boat accommodations were wonderful. We upgraded our room upon arrival because there was a larger one available and the staff could not have been nicer. The entire crew deserve incredible accolades! All the details, the food, the excursions (Aung was our guide from The Strand Cruise), the entertainment, the rooms, everything was lovely. On the second evening dinner was served shoreside BBQ style. The crew had string lights, a bonfire, music, and had raked the sand into intricate patterns. Magical!

Our next two nights were in Bagan, which I could go back to tomorrow! We loved it. Numbers vary but I’ll use 8,000 — temples, pagodas and other religious monuments litter the landscape and sparkle with their gold. Thin was our guide in Bagan and she is really engaging. She grew up literally among the temples and was moved by the government to New Bagan before the site became a UNESCO site. I was super excited when we arrived at the e-bike stand to get our bikes, but my daughter was not. No problem…Thin just put her on the back of her bike and off we went! That is the way to travel there, scooting among the temples on the small pathways. We saw a LOT of incredible temples, each unique and full of stories. We visited a lacquer workshop where Thin’s mom used to work. They give a wonderful and really impressive explanation of the process. It will wow anyone, the amount of labor involved. We stayed at the Aureum Palace, which, if in your budget, is worth it! It’s in the middle of the site and I’ll bet one could not build a hotel there anymore. Views are stunning. The next morning was an early one for our balloon ride. Again, if in the budget DO IT! Enough said. That afternoon, another DO NOT MISS: May’s cooking class. May could run a Fortune 500. She had the 12 of us from 3:30 to 7:30. We made 21 dishes in her back patio on eight open flame wood stoves. She introduced all the ingredients, let us make choices, gave assignments for prep and manning the stoves. Everyone participated, everyone learned and the spread on the table was so impressive. I’ve been doing these cooking classes in various places on my travels and this one tops them all. May was so well organized that we were just finishing up the meal when our guide came to collect us. Not easy to do! As we were walking out, we passed an open garage facing the street filled with books on shelves, because May runs a free library for her community. 🙂

The next morning we took the first of our two in-country flights to Heho and drove to Kalaw. There, we met our next guide, Naing, who we LOVED! (Recommended reading: The Art of Hearing Heartbeats and A Well-Tempered Heart by Jan-Philipp Sendker). We stopped at Pindaya to visit the famous cave filled with thousands of Buddhas…pretty crazy! And we stopped at a local home to learn about their tea crops and the famous tea leaf salad, and at a local market for bulls, and the local every-five-day market which happened to fall on that day. We stayed overnight in Kalaw Heritage Hotel in order to drive the next morning to the Green Hill Valley Elephant Camp, a retirement home for logging elephants. We spent the day feeding and bathing the eight elephants in residence there, learning about their history and medical requirements, and eating a delicious lunch. I could go on an on about these beautiful animals, and certainly our phones are filled with special images of our time spent with them…it’s a special, special place and so beautiful. I would like to retire there. We drove to Inle Lake afterwards, which is where Naing grew up. We stayed at the beautiful Aureum Palace Resort on Inle. Naing picked us up the next morning by boat for a full day on the water. This was another highlight. We chose to visit a lotus fiber weaving factory and a silver factory. Then we had the most amazing experience: Naing took us to his home, where his sister-in-law cooked us a delicious meal and we got to sit around and chat (with Naing’s help) with his aunties and his mom, who put thanaka on us. His home is a traditional wooden one on pillars lining the lake. Wandering after lunch over bridges and alongside homes, and experiencing Naing chat with everyone he passed was really special. He is special.

We flew to Yangon the next morning to meet our final guide, Sandar. Each one of our guides, carefully chosen and nurtured by Anne, are young, eager, enthusiastic, transparent, delightful people. Our experience throughout our journey would not have been possible without them. And it’s clear that Anne knows how to not only find the right people, but communicate and manage them too. Sandi is adorable. The best way to learn about cultures is by sitting down to eat with local people. We did that throughout our trip. In Yangon, with Sandi, the experience was even more immersive. She is so chatty and funny and sweet. A simple stop at a street stand because my daughter was hungry, turned into an experience with crickets, the difference in taste between males and females, which ones her husband would like her to bring home, and more. Hilarious. Sandi guided us through the famous Shwedagon Pagoda the next day. I was really glad we organized the trip this direction, from Mandalay to Yangon, finishing with this impressive site. We went in the evening of the local new year, so it was a bustling scene, beautiful with the moon and the people and the spirituality of it all. A wonderful way to conclude our journey.

My daughter and I highly recommend Anne, Myanmar Pure and kimkim as travel planners. I’ve planned many trips in my life and just didn’t have the bandwidth. Anne connected with my request and created the exact experience I was hoping for. My daughter repeatedly said, “This is the best trip I’ve ever been on, Mommy.” Is there anything better? And we cannot wait to return someday to Myanmar — to connect with such a diversity of people, walk and ride through so many beautiful places, eat the delicious food, and feel the spirituality. Thank you!

Our 2 weeks of honeymoon in Myanmar was magical. Anne was very helpful and she did her best to accommodate our needs. All local guides who accompanied us during our journey were not only knowledgable but also they told us their experience growing up as novice monks, how Myanmar has changed these past few years, development in the country they have seen so far, etc. And that was a great learning experience for us. Also, visiting villages and having lunch in a local house was a delight! We saw how the villagers helped one family building a house (it takes only one day to build a house!) at Inle Lake, getting to know their daily life, the challenges, their local belief... And this kind of insight would have been impossible without our guides. Although it was an intense trip, the balance in the schedule Anne made was perfect. Thank you so much for the unforgettable trip!

Anne is amazing: always goes the extra mile to accommodate any request
Excellent guides and hotels
Very well organized tour

Our experience with Kimkim was exceptional. To start with Anne was one of the best communicators I have worked with. She was professional, helpful and knowledgeable. Our guides were also wonderful and understood what we were looking for in experiences. In Yangon we learnt so much from our guide. Inle Lake was the highlight of our trip. We loved the 2 days and wished we had more time. This was enhanced by our wonderful guide, Wei. He was delightful. In Bagan we were once again thrilled with the guides we had. May really assisted and made the market and cooking class a day to remember. I have absolutely no negative feedback and will be recommending Kimkim at any opportunity. I hope to have the pleasure of travelling with your help in the future. Thank you

From start to finish, in country operator Myanmar Pure made our 26-day trip to Myanmar a seamless, rewarding experience. Passing off logistical arrangements allowed us to focus on all this geographically and ethnically diverse country has to offer. Our requested itinerary included the well known "don't miss" sites and a peek into the often unseen "real" life of Myanmar people. Myanmar Pure delivered. Owner Anne's relationship with her local guides brought us into homes for meals, tea, and conversation. We were even serendipitously invited to join wedding receptions in two small villages, an opportunity missed if our guides had not been there to translate. More often than not, we were the only foreign visitors in places off the standard tourist trail.

While the known sites were certainly worthwhile, the overall best part of the trip for us was the brush with day-to-day life. The depth of that experience we owe to Myanmar Pure. Anne chose well when she selected local guides Zayyar, Lu Wine, Thinzar She and Aung Naing Thu. They were our gateway to rewarding interactions with the people we met on the course of our travels. And, they were just plain fun to be around.

We recommend "the kimkim team" for anyone considering Myanmar. Your pre-trip questions will be answered promptly, courteously and completely, and in-country logistics will, if our experience is an indicator, run smoothly.

My husband and I went on a 10 day tour of Myanmar for our honeymoon, and it was the best decision we could have made. What a beautiful country with amazing people! The whole Pure Myanmar team took extra care of us from our first contact until the end, treating us like friends.

We loved every part of the trip and were sometimes moved to tears of happiness -- some highlights being the circular train in Yangon and Shwedagon Pagoda, the elephant preservation in Kalaw, watching the sunset on U Bein bridge near Mandalay, the Pennywort Cooking Class and cruising Inle Lake during the pagoda festival.

If you are considering visiting Myanmar with Pure, you won't be disappointed. Just do it!

Thanks Anne, Cherry, Nay, Tim and Naing and our skillful drivers for an extraordinary life experience.