Practical Tips for Traveling Myanmar

Recently I was in Myanmar, and I liked it.

Stacey (from OneTravelsFar.com) and I arrived in Yangon and instantly I was smitten. I couldn’t put my finger exactly on why. It wasn’t an outstanding city, but it reminded me of places I’d been before and it felt different at the same time. While there were obvious signs that Western culture was seeping in, it felt like we had almost gone back in time a little bit. I imagined Myanmar in 2014 is how Cambodia might have been a decade ago. The people were so lovely and genuinely excited to see us, but we didn’t feel hassled or pressured.

Our trip to and through Myanmar wasn’t easy and when I return I’ll do it differently. Here are my practical tips for visiting Myanmar.

1) Do Not Get the Visa in Person
Do you have a fetish for standing in queues for 3 hours in the sweltering heat, only to return 90 minutes later to spend a few more hours in the queue again? I didn’t think so. That’s exactly how we spent one fateful day in Bangkok.

2.5 hours in my travel buddy Stacey started to wonder if we really wanted to go to Myanmar. I predict if we hadn’t already booked our flights, we would have followed the footsteps of the two travellers ahead of us who said “Fuck Myanmar” and walked out of that crusty Embassy.

But we didn’t and I’m really glad we went… To Myanmar, that is, not to that awful Embassy.

Apply for the Visa On Arrival. It’s a relatively new thing – which at the time of writing – is only available at Yangon airport. You need to apply at least 5 days before your travel, so maybe do it a few weeks in advance just to ensure everything’s sorted. Do not wait in the lines, they are soul destroying.

2. Take Crisp USD Bills
At this point in time there are ATMs scattered across the main tourist parts; I saw them in Yangon, Mandalay and Bagan, which were the three places we visited. However, many of the ATMs have small limits and because the Internet/phone connection is patchy, often they will not work for a few days. Don’t expect to be able to pay with big purchases with your credit card, as the same phone line issues affect this service too. It’s quite easy to change USD in the local currency in the main centers and you tend to get a pretty good rate.

3. Do the Balloon Ride
Yes, $320 is an outrageous amount of money to pay for 40 minutes. That’s basically $10 a minute and for that price I would expect a massage by someone who’s hands have been dipped in 24 carat gold. It is painfully expensive, but it’s one of those things that I think you just need to man up and pay for. It was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. Easily top 5 material and the sunrise on that particular day was crappy – that’s saying a lot.

4. Prepare to Pay a Lot for Average to Poor Accommodation
As tourism is relatively new to Myanmar, there’s not a lot in the way of accommodation options. The options that do exist are expensive and do not provide much in the way of value. If you’re a budget traveler, you might cringe at the prices you’re paying for rooms you’d get for ¼ of the price in Thailand or Cambodia. That’s the price you pay to experience Myanmar before it turns into a circus like Angkor Wat.

My suggestion is to find out where other travellers are staying along your trip and book into their suggestions. You should consider booking the accommodation a day in advance as because tourism is increasing so rapidly, prices can go right up and the accommodation can wind up being saturated with no affordable spaces left. You can also usually negotiate a better price this way and your current guesthouse/hostel/hotel should be fine with you using the phone for this!

On average my friend and I were paying about $15-20 per night, each, for shared accommodation. This was budget, but comfortable places. You can definitely do cheaper and you can definitely do more expensive, but I imagine this is a good guide line for people traveling there. In comparison, the rooms we were staying in we would expect to pay more around the $5-10 mark per person in places like Thailand or Cambodia.

5. Internet Sucks, Don’t Even Bother
Have you wanted to throw your iPhone at a wall because it takes 15 minutes to load a basic email? I have. That’s how I felt the whole time in Myanmar while trying to use the Internet. I think things will continue to improve, but do be warned the Internet sucks there. I found that the Internet speed dramatically improved after 9pm because I guess there was less congestion.

6. However Long You’re Planning Probably Isn’t Enough
We spent 12 days. Not enough. We met people who had spent 3 weeks. Not enough. I met people who have spent a month there and I would guess that’s about the right length of time. Yes, it does kind of feel like Myanmar is assaulting your bank balance compared to other South East Asian countries, but I feel that it was very much worth the price. The next time I return to Myanmar – and I will definitely be returning to see how much it’s changed – I will be planning at least a few weeks. There’s gorgeous beaches in Myanmar, apparently, with my name written all over them in the sand.

7. It’s Mostly About The People & Being There
Aside from the temples in Bangon, some golden temples and a teak bridge, in my opinion there’s not a whole lot to see in Myanmar, at least things you couldn’t see elsewhere in Asia. The reason I fell in LOVE with Myanmar was because of the people.

We had a partially deaf taxi driver open up to us about his desire for a less corrupt government. We had a young girl come sit with us outside a temple and practice her English and share her life stories with us. We had a young man in Mandalay invite us to meet his whole family and then took us out to drink tea and watch football. We were constantly embraced by the local people and shown such warm.

It’s a wonderful place to be and to see.