Backpacking in Myanmar

Best Things

The people are the friendliest I've ever met and eager to talk to you
Extremely cheap (except for some forms of transportation)
.

Worst Things

Dodgy government and all that goes with it including having to watch what you say
Littering seems to be a favourite national passtime
No other tourists can mean some boring times and it's also sad for people who work in the tourist industry
Getting from place to place is already painfully slow and there are often long delays

Where I Went in Nicaragua

Yangon

I didn't spend much time in Yangon and the two days I was there at the start and end of my trip it rained like crazy and I was trapped indoors.

Mandalay

Myitkyina

After a greuling 34 hour train journey I finally made it to my destination and was whisked away on a mototaxi to the YMCA. I loved this place and met some lovely locals including the guy who ran the YMCA. Like most people in the area, he is an ethnic Kachin and was eager to tell me about his people. I also rented a bike with a Burmese charity worker who was visiting on holiday and we had a great time exploring. Renting a bike is a great way to go... just ask at the YMCA and one of the people who work there might be willing to hire you their bike as they did for me.

Simbo

My journey from Myitkyina to Bhamo saw me taking two boats that seemed to be the only mode of transportation for people who lived along the water. I couldn't get to Bhamo in one day and had to spend the night in a village on the river called Simbo. It's a small place with cows roaming the dirt track streets and kids playing soccer. I went for a walk and stumbled onto a beautiful pagoda and a nice waterfront area as well. The people are really friendly and I had a few good chats in the guestouse/restaurant I was staying in. The only one, I think.

Bhamo

Hspaw

Visa

Accommodation

Where I Stayed

Yangon - White House Guesthouse

Mandalay - Royal Guesthouse

Mychina - YMCA

Bamaw - Friendship Hotel

Hsipaw - Mr. Charles

Transportation

Boat

Bus

Buses in Myanmar are apparently pretty unreliable but, besides having to sit through some sort of Burmese sitcom shown on the bus TV, I had good luck. The bus is cheaper than the train and for the distances covered, they are a good deal.

Train

The cost of a train journey is completely out of whack with the prices for other modes of transportation because in this case, tourists pay extra. The extra cost doesn't guarantee a smooth ride though and the trains in Myanmar are notoriously unreliable. I was in for a 24 hour ride in a four person sleeper car that turned into 34 hours after another train ran off the rails at 5am and blocked the way. For ten hours we sat in limbo as someone, somewhere attempted to clear the way. It was a bit hellish but compared to stories I've heard from other travellers, I didn't have it that bad.

Taxi

Weather

I was there in September during what I'm told was the end of the monsoon season. The only place I really noticed the rain was in Yangon where it pelted down most of the days I was there, flooding the streets and making walking on the sidewalk an adventure in itself. Elsewhere in the country it rained a bit, but mainly during the night so it didn't really effect me.

People

Locals

I really can't say enough about how friendly and welcoming the people of Myanmar are. I had nothing but great experiences and even the communication barrier was no problem. Laughs smiles were always plentiful and food was always shared with me. When I found people who spoke English they were chatty, well educated and full of interesting stories and information. I never raised the topic myself, but most are quite eager to talk about the government although I'm sure they're careful about where they do it.

Other Travellers

I only met a few people during my travels but the people I met were all really nice. There really were no tourists in the country when I was there. I saw a bunch of people on the plane and then managed to go for a week and a bit without seeing any other foreign tourists.

Money and Costs

For reasons I never did manage to establish, hotels only accept payment in US$ and, just to complicate things, they don't always have change for you in US$. So to avoid being given stacks of kyat as change for large US notes, try to stock up on lots of $1, $5 and $10 notes before you arrive. One hotel ended up letting me pay in kyat after I shot them a look of desperation. I guess if you don't have the notes and they don't have the change, a comprimise will have to be made by someone.

Trains, boats and tourist attractions also only accept US$. Make sure they're crisp and have no marks on them. My notes were refused a couple of times for no reason except that they weren't brand new and crisp. You will get the best exchange rate in Yangon and the larger the notes you want to change, the better the rate. When you arrive you will need to pay about US$7 to get into the city and changing money is easy. I recommend changing it at your hotel to avoid scams and having to count through large amounts of money in the streets, but you will probably get a bettter rate from the street guys. Not that much though.

There are no ATMs in Myanmar able to cope with your bank cards so bring a healthy wad of US$ with you to avoid any nasty surprises. Myanmar is a very safe place and I never felt uneasy carrying lots of cash around with me. Just don't flash it around.

Example Costs (April 2008):

Single room shared bathroom - $3-4
Single room own bathroom - $6-7
Milk tea - 200 kyat
Chinese (black) tea - usually free
Can of Coke/Sprite/Sunkist - 800-1000 kyat
Local Cola/Orange/Lemon pop - 300
Big Myanmar beer - 1500
Bus Yangon to Mandalay - 18000
Bus Mandalay to Yangon - 11000
Boat trip Bamaw to Mandalay (36 hours) deck class - $9
Boat trip Bamaw to Mandalay (36 hours) cabin - $54
Meal at a restaurant (1 dish plus rice) - 1800-2800
Longi - 2500+
Apple - 200-500
Yummy street food pancake thing - 300

What I Spent

I changed US$200 in Yangon at a rate of 1200 kyat per dollar which gave me a grand total of 240,000 kyat. In the 18 days I was in Myanmar I managed to spend all the money I changed with only 2500 kyat to spare. I also spent an additional $100 on hotels, train and boat tickets and admission to tourist sights. So all up, in two and a half weeks I spent about US$300. I met up with a friend of mine in Yangon who was leaving as I was arriving and she spent about US$300 in 28 days. Bottom line... its cheap, especially if you stick to buses and budget accommodation.

Safety and Security

I never once felt unsafe here.

Food and Drink

I hated the food here and ended up sustaining myself on bags of apples and boxes of crackers. I'm not sure what specifically it was about the food that wasn't doing it for me but I think the fact that they cover a lot of it in a layer of oil in lieu of refridgeration could have had something to do with it. I did discover a love of mini samosas that can be found in the streets of Mandalay but they were hard to find and I often found myself returning to the apples.

Communication

The internet here is monitored with far more intesity than in China and that means blocked pages and super slow connections. The only reliable connection I came across was down the road from the Royal Guesthouse in Mandalay and even that was sometimes closed due to problems with their server. I tried several places in Yangon with no luck - slowest internet ever.