Why be content with just savouring mohinga while in Yangon, when you could learn how to cook this ubiquitous breakfast food for yourself?

Three Good Spoons is a social enterprise that runs fee-based cooking classes for housekeepers, home cooks, and tourists. Your contribution as a culinary student will help them to provide nutrition and cooking classes to disadvantaged women in Yangon. To join a basic three-hour cooking class, simply visit the Three Good Spoons website, pick the Burmese set meal that you would like to prepare, and submit a booking form.

If you would love to meet new people over a shared meal—without the hassle of cooking—sign up for “Supper at the Spoons” instead. These are monthly group dinners prepared by Three Good Spoons for groups of 12. You can book a ticket for one, or, if you’re travelling in a pack, book a whole table. The proceeds from these suppers will also go towards supporting the organisation’s outreach efforts.

“The cooking instructor was knowledgeable and friendly. The ingredients were fresh and the kitchen was clean,” raves a recent participant. “The meals came out so delicious! We highly recommend everyone tries a cooking class or meal at Three Good Spoons. It’s a gem in Yangon!”

Another company that offers a traditional cooking class for tourists is Sa Ba Street Food Tours. Their class also includes a market tour beforehand, so you can get acquainted with the fresh ingredients used in Burmese cooking. The menu of each cooking class depends on what’s in season, but you would likely learn to prepare Burmese salads, curries, and traditional desserts.

Get tickets to Three Good Spoons’ cooking class
Get tickets to Sa Ba Street Food Tours’ cooking class

If you want to experience what daily life in Yangon is like, hop aboard the Yangon circular train. The 28-mile (36 km) track has 39 stops, and it will bring you to satellite towns and suburban neighbourhoods seldom visited by tourists.

You could ride the circular train on your own, but booking a tour through Viator would give you access to a local guide well-versed in the city’s history, culture, and architecture. On this tour, your English-speaking guide would accompany you as you get off at various stops to explore local markets and food stalls. Together, you would also head to a popular spot for lunch and tea. Your tour would end at the St. Mary Cathedral—the largest cathedral in Myanmar.

“This was our best tour in Myanmar! Our guide was excellent. We were the only non-locals on the train and enjoyed the opportunity to meet our fellow travelers,” recounted one satisfied visitor who joined the tour this year.

“Although you can do the circular train yourself,” advised another, “it's much more interesting with the knowledgeable guide that can answer so many questions about day-to-day life in Yangon.”

Get tickets to the Yangon by Circular Train: Life Along the Loop Tour

Uncharted Horizons is an adventure travel agency specialising in bicycle tours that will take visitors on “real adventures, off the beaten tourist trails” for a close-up welcome to Yangon.

On their “Wild West” tour, you will ride past bustling markets and scenic river crossings, and cycle through green villages to interact with friendly locals. Another option is the “Islands and Rivers” tour, which takes you to hidden backstreets and the Indian village of Dala, as well as other parts of rural Yangon.

For a full-day experience on two wheels, book the “Twantay Explorer,” where you will enjoy the serenity of rural roads and rice fields. In the Twantay (or Twante) township, you will stop at a famous pottery-making village (the Oh-Bo Pottery Sheds), and have a hearty local lunch at a waterside restaurant.

Get tickets to Unchartered Horizons' Tours

Did you know that it takes up to four days to create a container made of clay? From mixing the clay, to the shaping, casting, and firing process, pottery requires both skill and patience.

To learn more about this craft, spend half a day with Yangon’s “Oh-Bo pottery” community. You can do so by booking the “Hands-On Yangon” tour with day-trip specialists Urban Adventures.

The tour kicks off with a city walk and ferry ride, where you will be transported across the Yangon River, to head towards the Twantay township. Once in Twantay, you will meet the “Oh-Bo” potters, who work with traditional tools, local materials, and kilns. Their creations range from small pots to large vessels, which are used locally to store rice and other household items.

Apart from meeting these potters, you will get a behind-the-scenes look at how their work is produced. If you are feeling particularly inspired, you can request a lesson to make a pottery souvenir of your own.

Get tickets to Hands-On Yangon Tour

Wish to take memorable Yangon photos during your trip? Hone your photography skills while doing good.

Social enterprise Three Treasures organises tours that benefit local communities. They also occasionally host street photography workshops in Yangon. According to them, Yangon is a “playground’ for aspiring photographers because of the city’s diversity, its architecture, its colours, and its spontaneous energy.”

Sign up for these workshops and learn to use your camera to shoot in bright light, low light, and shady conditions. You will also get tips on composing your shots and making your subjects stand out. Don’t worry if you don’t own a camera—most modern-day smartphones are sophisticated enough to take gorgeous photos.

Alternatively, you can contact a local tour agency, to see if they offer a photo tour. Yangon Tours runs a photography-themed tour where an experienced photographer serves as your guide for the day, taking you to the best spots to capture not only the city’s major attractions, but its local way of life.

Get tickets to Three Treasures tours
Get tickets to Yangon Tours’ Yangon Photo Tour