I believe Darren's experiences are real (why would he lie?) but my experiences in Myanmar (two trips so far, and third one in October) are much more positive. We stayed in rather cheap accommodation and travelled by train, bus and boat around the country. People are generally friendly, we have chatted with many young people (students) about life in general, sports, and even politics. (they were surprisingly well informed, many people listen to BBC World Service)
Be sure to visit Swedagon Pagoda in Yangon (I have been 4 times, spent more than 20 hours there already, and still can't wait to go back), Bagan (easily 2 full days), Mandalay and Kyaiktyo.
And politically it is no worse to visit Myanmar than to visit the USA that has just started its first puppet court in its concentration camp at Guantanamo.

It would be a shame if such a valuable trip report that actually contains a multitude of perspectives on Myanmar had to be locked down due to name calling, wouldn't it? Lets keep this thread focussed on sharing travel experiences, no matter how different they may be to your own.

Thanks
Sean (B747-437B)
Moderator
Trip Reports

I would have to conclude that Darren had a rather native experience in Burma. I think that is really cool because most tourists to Burma are kept away from local type experiences either by their tour package or lack of willingness to mingle with the locals.

After reading FT for two years, the general demographic I have concluded is not one of the free spirited sojourner with a backpack, but rather an incredibly savvy group of business travelers. It is refreshing to know that there are a couple of people like Darren on FT.

So...youre calling me non-savvy? Thanks for the compliment and observation. I pride myself on exactly that. I also know when to back down and reconsider things. I will give MM another chance (though not for a while due to unrelated things) and I will do my absolute best to see what others see in it. As I said, I sincerely wanted to love the country and I will try again to.

I went to Burma a year and a half ago with my partner, and it was by far the most memorable trip for us in the past few years. (I've been to about 50 countries, so I've been around...)

Rangoon was the least interesting, while Bagan was the most memorable and enchanting. Inle Lake was beautiful and peaceful; Pindaya Cave with some 8,000 Buddhist statues inside was fascinating, and Mandalay was interesting.

Food was cheap. We're vegetarians and managed to find decent (not gourmet) food. About $2 at tourist restaurants, less than $1 at local restaurants. The only extravagant experience was happy hour at the grand old colonial Strand Hotel in Yangon, with friends who work at the US embassy there.

Yes, the begging of money and peddling of souvenirs was a constant nuisance throughout, but I quickly got over it. Depending on my mood, sometimes I'd just ignore them and walk on, even as they'd keep following me around. Other times I'd playfully joke with and tease the kids, and they'd seem to enjoy the exchange even as they went away empty handed.

We also encountered inflated prices from some trisaw drivers, but that's to be expected in any places where one has to bargain. Typically we'd establish a fair price for where we need to go from the locals (e.g. hotel staff, waiters, local tour guide), so we know when to walk away or how to bargain with the drivers. No big deal. They're not bad people; they're just trying to make a living.

And they do provide a good and needed service to tourists. For instance, in Mandalay, we had a driver take us to the foot of the Mandalay Hill. He waited for us with our slippers while we hiked up to the hill-top pagodas and visited for about an hour. When we came back down on the other side, he was waiting for us. He didn't ask for anything extra for all the waiting.

However, after we got dropped off at the Sedona Hotel (to use the bathroom), we walked across the street to the puppet theatre to buy some puppets. Afterwards, the driver magically reappeared and approached us, complaining that he deserved money for taking us to the theatre, which he hadn't. (If he had dropped us off in front of the theatre, he would have gotten a 300 kyat commission from the theatre.) Of course, we did not agree to that. Again, frustrating, yes. Big deal, no. From his viewpoint, he could have earned a commission for him and his family, but it didn't work out in this case. There weren't many tourists, and he probably wouldn't have made any more money that night, so he got desperate and aggressive. It's a tough living.

We always exchanged money on the black market. Again, we'd ask around for the going rate, which varied daily and by city. We paid exclusively in kyat, the local currency. At times they'd quote a price in US dollar, but then we'd quickly switch to - and finish the bargaining - in kyat. Nobody ever forced us to pay in dollars.

Overall, I'd highly recommend Burma, despite the political situation. As recommended in Lonely Planet, it'll be difficult not to enrich the military junta once there, but at least you can try to spend your money as much as possible at locally-owned guest houses, restaurants and shops.

Thanks to everyone who posted info. I'm spending 3 days in Myanmar, all in Yangon, due to time constraints, and I look forward to it. Any more info would be greatly appreciated.

I must say, this has been one of the livliest and most interesting discussions I've seen anywhere on FT in the 4 years I've been around, seriously.

I'm not sure that I saw the "name calling" to which someone alluded (some emotion, maybe), but on this thread I've read of experiences based solely on the facts depending how each individual person perceived them (and I won't bring up "Rashomon" because it's WAY too cliche... ). These are interesting, healthy comparisons from differernt people who have travelled there in different ways and in different styles.

Like the poster above, I, too, look forward to more insights to Burma.

Will

I was just in Yangon very recently, about two weeks ago. What an amazing place. I had very little time for the country (3.5 days) so I stuck to Yangon and made a day trip out to Yele Paya (Midriver Pagoda). That being said, I think 2 days in Yangon is plenty, though Schwedagon Pagoda is a sight in itself at all times of the day. I stayed at the May Shan Guesthouse (I'm a student) and paid 20 bucks a night for a triple on the 6th floor (yes it was just me, but the views of Sule Paya were fantastic and worth the extra 5 bucks over a single with no view). The staff at May Shan, a family of Chinese origin are very kind, can arrange tours, have internet services (1 buck for 10 mins) and do other things. My room was spotless, had satellite tv, air con and of course a decent bathroom.

I noticed that Yangon was quite a worn city, many of the great buildings dilapidated, the roads only in decent condition. Sidestreets were bumpy and of third world nature, with open drains and what not. Everyone wears the traditional lungyi and the women where the golden colored stuff on their cheeks as a type of makeup, sunscreen, religious thing. Pretty cute. People were just unbelievable kind and friendly. Everyone stares at tourists as it is not seen as impolite. All it takes is for you to stare back for a few seconds and smile. Immediately, your smile is returned by many more smiles. A beautiful thing indeed. People are more than willing to help and I was never reall accosted by touts, like I was in Cambodia or Thailand. Once in awhile I would be offered a Taxi or Foreign Exchange.

I met a total of 3 people who spoke badly against the Military Junta. The first was on my first day, when I visited Sule Paya. A monk took me aside and we went into this house cum room. We spoke about everything and then the topic turned to the US and Iraq. Then he turned to the Military Gov't and pretty much went off on it. I made sure to stay quiet as I was quite scared as to what could happen to me if the Gov't heard anything from me. He finished his tirade with, "You go and see... Go and see if anyone in this country opens their mouth. No one will." And it was pretty much true. The Burmese seem to be a very quiet and reserved people (duh, or they could face time in a Burmese prison if lucky.. or just get shot). The second man was my tour guide at Shwedagon. He spoke English quite well and it was abvious he was educated. I think he had studied Botany or something (maybe that was my driver?) either way, he had advanced pretty high up on the scale and when he was finished, he began to teach. He was told to teach music, or something totally unrelated to this field of study, by the government and therefore, was no good at it. He bemoaned the educational structure of the country and how the children cannot ask teachers any questions because they teachers will not know the answers and then will get angry with the children because they don't know the answer. He said it was a vicious cylce and that he wanted no part in it, so he left. He also complained about the fact that universities were placed far apart from each other in order to keep students apart (confirmed later by my driver). This was his shot at the government, but he only mentioned the word "gov't" and the word "military" about once or twice. Of course he looked over his shoulder every five seconds and asked us to move once in awhile. I made sure not to ask too many deep questions, since I know he would answer them anyways. The third person was my driver, who took me to Yele Paya and some other places. It was a long day and I got to know him well. He said nothing of the gov't until after Yele Paya when he noted that Gen Khin Nyunt, the present leader was born near there. I stupidly asked whether he liked Khin Nyunt more than the last guy (Nyunt just became the leader in 2003). He smiled and said he could not answer, while I, in realizing my error, profusely apologized for being an insensitive ........ However, that night, after dinner we were going by Shwedagon when he pointed out the Parliament building across from it. He looked at me and said "Parliament not working right now." He smiled, paused and began laughing "Parliament not working for very long time!" We both had a good laugh at that and left it there.

The Bogyoke Aung San market is very cool, though all the carvings are teak wood and not Ebony wood as I previously had heard. Apparently there are no Ebony forests in Myanmar and the black carvings are merely teak with black shoe polish (I saw the guys putting shoe polish on them). Carvings are still cheap and beautiful though.

Due to sanctions, no credit cards are accepted. It is also imperative to note that I could not access my web based email, yahoo, as Gov't firewalls blocked it off. However one could get into yahoo mail via mail.yahoo.co.in and other non US manipulations. However, once the server figured out that you were a US user, access to your inbox was denied. So I think Indians and Singaporeans and non Burmese enemies can access Yahoo, but I am not sure. www.mail2web.com or whatever that site is, did not work for me. Food is quite good. 999 Shan Noodle being a good place (thanks Lonely planet), and other places outside of town catering to Burmese (my driver took me). Great Indian food. Esp at the Maharaja Restaurant, ask any taxi driver and they will take you. Fantastic Indian fare for less than 4 bucks, nearly a months salary there, but cheap for us. Great service, they hail you cabs and above all the food is great. Myanmar Beer is also quite decent and cheap.

I saw most things. Shwedagaon Paya, Sule Paya, Yele Paya, another Pagoda en route to Yele, National Museum, Bogyoke Aung San Market. Definitely encourage people to visit this nation and see it for themselves. I feel terrible for the people. Such a great people are being repressed.

thanks for the report Jamoldo, how did you travel there?

I got into Yangon through Bangkok. I flew Thai from Bangkok. I think they got like 3 times daily, though you might want to check that. I tried to avoid supporting the Gov't so I did not fly Myanma Air, though my Thai flight, using Thai metal was Myanma codeshare. You can also take Silk Air from Singapore, and some other regional carriers from nearby countries. I think Bangkok Air goes there. And Air Mandalay runs twice a week to Chiang Mai from Yangon (and back). Airfare to Myanmar is not cheap.

We will fly BKK - RGN - BKK in October for 7000 THB (approximately � 140 or US$ 170) return on Bangkok Airways. You can book on-line.

I went there in January of 2002. I arrived in Yangon from LAX a long trip Via Hongkong and Bangkok. I was told what to expect so I wasn't too surprised. I was only to SEA once before and liked the rustic experience. I had a limited time so I decided to book a tour with A&K. I know it's so touristy and overpriced but, I was able to afford it and it was very well orginized. I was travelling on my own and had wonderful guides at every point. I was able to chose the guesthouses I wanted upon arrival to each place. They also steered me towards the cafes that had "clean kitchens". So what you're eating in a place with other western tourists. It sure beats stomach flu! I liked Inle Lake the most and Kalaw in the Shan State. It was a wonderful experience seeing the floating villages. The Market was a bit much but, I enjoyed the open spaces, the absence of air traffic and mobile phone antenas and the quiet of the evenings. Kalaw was chilly at night and ideal for light treking. YOu have to share the trails with the cows bringing wood and supplies into town and they always have the right of way! I didn't care much for Mandalay and found it quite uninteresting. Pagan was wonderful. The one nice resort there was great for the few days I spent there. I did get very sick but it was my fault for eating at a truck stop.
I'd go again but want to see other parts of SEA first.
Besos, Ramondo

Thanks, very interesting report

The part I find interesting is that the exchange rate is around 6.5 Kyat to one $US. Yet the Black Market is over 1000 to one $US.

I've travelled to well over countries and have never seen such a spread. About 150 times the official rate.

We go there for a week's vacation in a few days time, and take a local ferry up the Irrawaddy from Bagan to Mandalay which sounds like a fun adventure.