Anyone been to burma?

m_curiousity

We're heading to burma in early october, am super excited but slightly worried about the logistics of travelling internally through the country and finding places to stay, has anyone been recently and did you have trouble? I know burma is less touristy than other countries nearby and less developed so wasnt sure if its best to book accomodation in advance or is it more like the rest of south east asia where its easy to turn up and find somewhere?

Ive read that its best to take dollars and that atms are scarce, we have the latest lonely planet guidebook but i find its always best to speak to others who have been recently to get up to date info!

Any

NiftyDigits

I went a couple of years ago. Took US$ and found accommodation on arrival.
YMMV.

jonesMUFCforever

Take care Burma is listed as a country no bank wants to deal with so ATM's may be very rare to find.
Do not try to bring any currency home as it will be worthless here and be very wary of anybody over there trying to introduce you to do with any kind of business there.

totallybored

Make sure your US$ are nice crisp new notes. I've not been to Burma yet (it's next on my list) but any notes with a tear wouldn't be accepted in Cambodia so I imagine Burma is similar.

Gleeful

It's now officially called Myanmar. I would love to go but tourism is very new and although there are luxury resorts in certain areas, it is an unstable, undeveloped country and not really set up for tourists.

Gleeful

I think it's the sort of country I'd be happier visiting on a package deal/escorted tour. And I hate package deals!

danandjens_worldtravels

Yes! We went in 2012 and it is a lovely country, we did it budget backpackering!

Travelling around was easy and finding accommodation (guesthouses) as you go was frustrating and not as easy as it is in other SE countries. The problem at the time, there are only a limited number of accommodations that can house foreigners and lots more of us are going. The standard of accommodation for the price in comparison to neighbour countries is low, its okay but its lower. I think most were around $20US per night.

We did not book anything in advance as we didn't know where we'd be and to be honest have never had a problem before, when we arrived at places they were fully booked and around the 6th guesthouse they would have one night available. The next day, the search begins again and one night is found. We noticed that those who booked were not necessarily happy with their booked accommodation and so go in search of something nicer, hence why rooms become available. Its a bit of a roundabout and you will get somewhere, however if you can book before you go (get a lonely planet and phone around, they are all pretty much the same and often no deposit taken) you won't waste each morning looking for somewhere and will get more time in the towns you want to visit.

We also thought there would be more accommodations than what was listed in the LP, there weren't really. In 2012 it was what was listed there.

Money, yes take US dollars and crisp and after 2006 (I think). We had some older ones refused and no folds, bends and definitely no tears! I recall there is an ATM in Yangon was due open just after we left but not sure if this happened.

Buses are FREEZING cold, the are 'team' buses and have livery of premiership teams on them but the air conditioning is on at the coldest ever. I have never been so cold on a bus, change into your jeans (if you've brought some) a hoody and a few thermal layers, keep your airplane socks and take a beanie too - they do provide a blanket but it just doesn't cut it!

Try the local tea, our fave was in Mandalay, its been brewed overnight and sits stewing all day its as strong as coffee and unique, we loved the pot of green tea left on every table in every teashop to sip and enjoy.

Taxi's that meet buses we found to be friendly, as they always are but honest and genuinely trying to find you a room and help - strange but true!

Beautiful places, fabulous people and we left via Thailand, here we spoke to lots of Burmese on Koh San Road and we found this the most insightful conversation we had about Burma, as these people had left they felt free to talk about politics, house and land prices etc. They spoke to us because Dan was wearing a Burmese alphabet t-shirt he'd bought, we actually couldn't walk down the road in Thailand without every other stall holder stopping and having a read of the t-shirt and a chat!!

If you want to do the Balloons over Bagan, I suggest you book it. I really wanted to do this, when I go in a hot air balloon it will be somewhere special, but it was fully booked.

We should definitely have planned our dates a bit more firmly and not winged it as we normally would have and take extra money as if there is no ATM you can't get any more. These two things were the biggest differences in travel in Burma/Myanmar!

danandjens_worldtravels

Our first nights guesthouse was booked and included airport pick up - Look at Motherland Inn II in Yangon.

Oh and lots of the guesthouses give you breakfast in the price, eggs and bread but nice!

PompeyPete

Me and the cook visited Myanmar for just under 3 weeks in February 2010.

We kicked-off with a couple of nights in Bangkok, and after Myanmar had a a 5 night side-trip to Cambodia (Phnom Penh and Kampot).

The flight from Bangkok to Yangon (Air Bangkok) only takes an hour. Had 4 nights at the Summit Parkview hotel close to Schwedagon Pagoda.

Then we started our adventure. I've copied and pasted the following from another forum I used to post on...

"I thoroughly recommend hiring a car/driver/guide. If you want a contact for the driver please send me a pm:

We hired a car/driver/guide for 2 weeks in February.

We paid US$800 (total).

This included the car, petrol, road tolls (plenty of them!), food & accommodation for the driver/guide, and his guiding skills. His knowledge of his country/religions was very impressive.

Before we committed to hiring our driver for 2 weeks, we used him for one day touring round the sights outside Yangon. He was very safe, which gave us the confidence to invest in his services for 2 weeks.

Our driver/guide spoke excellent English. He has a physics degree, but earns more as a driver. His wife has a Masters, but she earns more working from home as a seamstress!

Our safety, comfort and welfare were his top priority at all times.

He was an excellent defensive driver, which is exactly what you need in SE Asia.

It’s worth mentioning that driving standards in Myanmar vary a lot, a hell of a lot! Driving is on the right-hand side of the road, and most cars are also right-hand drive!

Many cars are bashed-up Japanese second-hand exports. Newer left-hand drive vehicles are Government, Military or Diplomatic. 2-stroke mopeds are everywhere (except Yangon), and come at you from all directions, often with 4 or 5 people onboard, or maybe even a stunned pig strapped to the back!

Much of the traffic you’ll encounter on your adventures are either wide carts pulled by bullocks, or over-laden lorries. Overtaking usually comes with a risk. Although the condition of the roads are generally poor with many pot-holes, the verges are usually flat(ish) and wide, which allows plenty of room to manoeuvre.

Cars/lorries and buses have a cute way of indicating that the road ahead is clear to overtake. I won’t spoil it for you, other than to say the system works! Dust is also something to consider. Take surgical masks.

How did we find the driver? He was our taxi driver on arrival at Yangon airport. On our drive to the Summit Parkview Hotel he asked us what our plans were for our stay, and it went from there.

Dead easy really. We had previously thought about trains, buses and planes. But I’m glad we chose our own transport.

He wanted to know where we wanted to visit, and he organised all the details. If we wanted to we could change our itinerary within rerason, as we went along. We took advantage of that in Mandalay, by only stopping there a couple of nights and adding Pyin u Lwin to our adventure.

Our trip took us to...

- Taungoo, for an overnight stop.

- Bagan (3 nights).

- Mandalay (2 nights).

- Pyin u Lwin (3 nights).

- Kalaw (1 night).

- Inle Lake (3 nights).

- Kalaw (1 night).

- and our last night on the road at Taungoo.

We covered 2,500 Kms, which doesn’t sound a lot, but you feel every bump along the way as you criss-cross from one side of the road to the other avoiding the holes!

Our driver was excellent company, and we soon became friends.

What would we change if we did the trip again? I think I’d want a bit more say with our hotels, and have my choices fixed before the adventure got under way. I’m not saying there was anything particularly wrong with his choices though. I’d miss out a few of the smaller temples in Bagan, in fact why go to Bagan again, there’s so much more to see in that wonderful country!"

Dandandjens worldtravels posting is excellent!

Have a look at Nepal too, for a great adventure in country full of wonderful people.

Bali and Java for a month in 35 more sleeps!

PompeyPete

Gleeful wrote: »

I think it's the sort of country I'd be happier visiting on a package deal/escorted tour. And I hate package deals!

Be brave, it really isn't difficult to DIY it.
You'll reap the rewards.

Gavin83

I went last year and it's one of the best countries I've been to. I found the people to be incredibly warm and friendly and overall a very safe country.

US$ are best for more expensive items with the local currency for smaller purchases. Most places will accept ether though. Like others have said the US$ have to be in perfect condition and printed since 2006 though. I actually didn't have a problem with ATM's, they're not too common but they certainly worked when we found them. There are obviously a few in the airport and we were lucky as we had one at the end of our street in Yangon.

Transport was a bit more shoddy than Thailand but still perfectly acceptable and transport is very cheap. The night train was certainly an experience, very basic but good fun.

We had a laptop so we generally booked hostels/hotels the night before we travelled there.

It's very new to tourists which is a blessing in many ways but does make the experience more challenging.

Enjoy!