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This treasure used to be called Augustine’s Antiques; however as the Burmese government doesn’t allow antiques to be sold outside the country’s border, its name has been changed. Today, the shop concentrates on newer items but the quality remains to be guaranteed. Visiting Augustine's Souvenirs in your tours to Myanmar, you can find carvings from Mandalay workshops, colonial-style furniture, lacquer from producers in the Shan States, gilded wooden statues and some beautiful 20th-century silver and brass temple offering bowls, which are sold by families in need of the cash. Make sure that you receive a receipt and a stamped letter proving that the items you purchase are not antiques.
Address: 23 Attiyar Street, off Thirimingalar Street, Kamayut Township
Contact: 00 95 1 705 969; augustinesouvenir.com
Getting there: take a taxi
Opening times: Mon-Fri, midday-7pm; Sat, Sun, 2pm-7pm
Payment type: credit cards not accepted
If you make a great effort into painting collection, do not miss this place in your tours to Myanmar. Hundreds of paintings are stacked around the walls of the fine art gallery on the edge of the colonial quarter. At first sight, you may be discouraged by the ramshackle state of the place, but don not leaves away: some of Aung Soe Min's artists sell internationally and he nurtures rising talents from all over Myanmar. Everyone will able to find something for themselves here: portraits, landscapes, and abstract works, mostly in acrylics. If you buy to purchase a large canvas, it can be taken off its wooden stretcher and rolled up to transport back home at ease.
Address: 1st Floor, 286 Pansodan Street, Kyauktada Township, Yangon
Contact: 00 95 9 513 0846; pansodan.com
Getting there: walk or take a taxi
Opening times: daily, 10am-6pm
Payment type: credit cards accepted
The Market is always included in the must-visit destination list of Yangon when you have a Myanmar travel. Built by the British in 1926, the market was considered as the larger and oriental version of London’s Covent Garden market. It’s now largely given over to stalls designed to draw tourists: woodcarving from Mandalay, lacquerware from Bagan and woven textiles from the Chin and Naga tribes. Friendly saleswomen will size you up for a traditional longyi skirt and blouse, made-to-measure upstairs in minutes. Make your outfit more perfect with a pair of traditional velvet slippers which are sold on the south side. Along the west side is a range of antique shops although much is new-made-old these days. On the south side are also several currency shops with goods with good rates for changing dollars into kyats. Do not pay attention to the roving moneychangers.
Address: Bogyoke Aung San Road, Yangon
Contact: bogyokemarket.com
Getting there: walk or take a taxi
Opening times: Tue-Sun, 8.30am-4.30pm
Payment type: credit cards not accepted
Every visitor in their tours to Myanmar should buy something at this fair-trade shop. It sells extremely high-quality crafts made by some of the most disadvantaged people in the country: orphans, destitute families, and AIDS sufferers. Here you can buy soft toys made by convent girls, silk purses by AIDS sufferers from troubled Rakhine state, cross-stitched iPad cases designed by Shan villagers as well as hand-woven fabrics, homewares, and jewelry. Support handloom weaving among the Chin tribe by purchasing a Sone-Tu table runner.
Address: 89 Thein Phyu Road, Yangon
Contact: pomeloyangon.com
Getting there: take a taxi or walk
Opening times: daily, 10am-9pm
Payment type: credit cards not accepted
Lacquerware is considered one of the most typical souvenirs visitors bring back from their tours to Myanmar. The shop sells a large selection of well-made bowls, plates, trays and boxes in both traditional and modern styles at very affordable price. The simple black lacquer bowls lined with gold leaf, the most beautiful items, costs only $10 here while they cost US $40 in Bagan. Lacquerware chips and cracks easily so it’s better for you to ask staff to pack it and take it back as hand luggage if you can. The staff are very helpful and speak English quite well so you don't need to worry about communication when having Burma tours.
Address: 7, 13th Street, Yangon
Contact: 00 95 1 226261; myanmarlacquerware.com
Getting there: take a taxi or walk
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 9.30am-5pm
Payment type: credit cards not accepted
Besides these above-mentioned addresses, there are a lot of other ideal places to shop in Burma which are described in our next articles. Purchasing a meaningful item in your tours to Myanmar will be a wonderful way to keep the best Myanmar’s characteristics.
Source: http://ancharm-myanmar.com/travel-guide/travel-experiences/go-shopping-tours-myanmar/