Hello

My husband and I are dreaming of a trip to Burma/Thailand, probably in Feb./March 2013. We both have been to Asia, but not to these places, and very much want to experience Burma before it changes too much. We're thinking of a 3-week trip, just for financial reasons (have more time than money), 2 weeks for Burma and 1 week in Thailand, probably up north. However, if Thailand really is as inexpensive as people say, we could stretch the trip.

For our air tickets, he has enough AA miles for one r/t; I have enough Delta miles for one r/t. I would need 20,000 more AA miles for a ticket, so if there's not a quick way to accomplish that, we can fly separately. We both have the credit cards and it's too soon to re-apply. Any thoughts?

For Burma, what are anyone's thoughts on buying a tour vs. independent travel in this country? I realize it's going to vary from person to person; I'd just like some general advice. For tours, any suggestions on a company? We don't care about luxury accommodations, just clean. We've never bought a package tour and much prefer to be independent, just not sure about that for Burma. What about hiring a guide for the duration of the stay?

Any other thoughts and/or links to helpful sites would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Susan

You can do a private tour. Just the two of you plus guide/driver. That way they can tailor the trip to what you want to do and you won't have to deal with a big group.

I arranged my trip via a company in Bangkok but they had to make the Burma plans through their in-country partner so I would just skip the middle-man and use a Burmese company. In my case that was EPG Travel. They did an OK job. A few issues but nothing out of the ordinary. Note that hotels in Burma have been jacking their prices way up due to the large demand and small supply. Also, the infrastructure is still fairly weak. Lots of old-ish vehicles, poor roads, cramped old domestic airports. So pack your patience. I was in Burma for about two weeks and that was a good amount of time I think. In my case the tour company basically used a local guide in each place who meets you and picks you up at the airport. I think that is a good way to organize things since the guide knows his area very well. And if there is a guide with whom you don't click you move on to another one soon enough rather than having the same guide the whole time.

Thailand can be very cheap indeed. And it is definitely worth doing. You could easily spend weeks there if you wanted to. I think the North is always worth a visit. But if you want to experience the Big City then Bangkok is the place to go. If you are not really into big Asian metropolises then I think staying in the North is a fine idea. I love Thailand and have spent a couple of weeks there for each of the last several years.

We used exotissimo. The handled every detail of trip. From soup to nuts did a great job. We loved the experience

Thank you! I love the suggestion of a private tour! That's the type of experience I was hoping for. We'll investigate further.

I've wanted to visit Thailand for years, but for various reasons always wound up going somewhere else. I'm trying to talk my other half into a longer trip, so we'll see. I'm interested in the food mostly, as well as scenery, culture and people. (Maybe a massage along the way.)

Thanks again!

Thank you! I'm looking at their website and truly appreciate your passing this along! It's good to know you had a positive experience. I could just google for information, but I think it's worthwhile to have a recommendation from someone who's been there. That's why I posted here at f/t.

Thanks again!

I would second organising a private tour. It will not be very expensive and then you can tailor exactly what you want. Organising everything yourself will be difficult. Internal flights are difficult to book over the internet and hotels tend to be fairly rubbish at responding to emails. Another big advantage of organising a tour is that you can pay the tour company for most of the costs by credit card if they are based outside of the country so you do not have to bring a large amount of cash with you.

I will third the private tour suggestion for Burma. However, if you are die-hard independents AND experienced developing-country travelers, you could do it quasi-independently by getting an agent to set up your internal intercity transportation (likely flights), and then contacting hotels and guesthouses for your own reservations. But it will take a lot of homework, and time in advance of your departure. If you go this route, I would still get a local guide w/transport for each location, as it adds so much value to the trip. And Burma's not the easiest place to figure out "the system" of getting what you need and getting things accomplished. And when things go wrong (likely if you head off one of the Main Four tourist places), a guide can be a godsend to find workarounds. If you do not have a lot of independent travel experience in the third world, if you are the anxious type, or if your schedule is very inflexible, go the private tour route.

Exotissimo, Diethelm, etc. are expensive. Journeys International (based in Ann Arbor, MI but have their own set up in Burma) is very experienced in this country and upper-mid range of pricing--I have nothing but praise for them and their guides, and they set up some pretty off-track Burma locations for me in the past. If you are on more of a budget, try Columbus Travels or Santa Maria Travels in Yangon directly. The latter are willing to work with thrifty travelers that have simpler expectations--just be very clear in your communications of what you must have and what you are flexible about.

Thailand is easily done independently, it has modern infrastructure and an extremely well-oiled tourism industry. If you feel the need for a guide for a specific place, best arranged locally.

Journeys International seem wonderful and very prompt with their communication, but we would love something more budget-friendly. We emailed both Columbus Travel and Santa Maria 6 days ago and have not heard back from either. Is this normal? I understand that internet is sketchy, but was wondering if this was a longer wait than usual. We've also contacted a private guide who comes highly recommended from a fellow flyertalker and have not heard from him, either.
Just concerned about getting things planned and booked, since this is an increasingly popular destination.

Pretty normal for communications to take awhile. If you haven't heard anything after a total of about 10 days, contact them again.

It's way early if you are planning a Feb/March 2013 trip, try not to be so anxious, there's plenty of time to get things set up.

Thanks!

My husband is already looking at booking locations in Thailand! I like to look around a lot first, but he'll have the whole trip planned before I know it!
Actually, in Thailand, we're looking at spending some time (5 days?) in Chiang Mai, and possibly some time in the south at the coast. Primary interest is natural beauty and food, not nightlife. End the trip with a couple of days in BKK.

That is a long way off. I would guess that no one would want to quote you a price yet since everything is so fluid depending on what kind of hotel contracts they have in place.

For sure Chiang Mai and the North is a great idea. Take a trip to Doi Tung. It was the estate of the King's mother and her Swiss-style chalet can be toured. The place has been turned into a giant botanic garden. It is up closer to Chiang Rai. It was one of my favorite places in Northern Thailand.

Thank you! That is my thought, also, but my other half is convinced that we need to get something in place for Myanmar asap, before hotels fill up and guides are not available for our timeframe. One of the travel agencies we contacted (based in the US, but too expensive for us) told him that January is already almost sold out. I consider the motivation behind what someone else says, but he's concerned.

Thanks for the suggestion for Doi Tung! I just posted our possible, sketchy itinerary over in the Thailand forum, but I'm sure we'll spend time in Chiang Mai.

Thanks again!

Aargh - this area is on my '13 to do list. Looks another Guyana situation where the place is getting discovered and the rift raft are moving in. Some in Hawaiian shirts, even.

I see. I will say that when I was planning my trip last year the travel agent didn't book my hotels quickly enough and a couple of my choices were already full a couple months ahead and they had to scramble a little to get some alternatives.

But I am guessing that Feb/March is probably not be as busy a season like January might be. If I were you I wouldn't start freaking out yet but i would definitely want to be in contact with an agency who you think you will potentially work with and let them let you know how soon you need to be making plans. As I mentioned before I ended up with EPG Travel. You might want to drop them a line to see what they say. www.epgtravel.com

December/January are the busiest tourist months in Burma. By late February/March, the tourist season is trailing off since it will be getting hot. Guides will holes in their schedule to fill should be plentiful. One more thing that many foreign tourists don't realize: Burma has plenty of comfortable independent small hotels and guesthouses so getting shut out of a decent place to stay is not likely. It seems that most foreign tourists, NGO's, etc. are just going after the same (relatively) few upscale places, which makes it seem as if the entire country has No Room and sells out quickly. Baloney.

Asia in general is not a place geared to booking many months in advance unless you're going to a major international trade show. Your husband needs to relax.

Personally, I would focus now on figuring out your international air ticketing/award situation than fretting over the land arrangements. Seems like you've got the cart before the horse here.