Hi.

Anyone can recommend a good, reliable and not expensive local agency to organise a trip to Myanmar?

Thanks a lot

start here:

http://www.diethelmtravel.com/myanma...;id=MY01_00_00

Do some homework now. You need to go thru an agency. You can do this at short notice. Easy.

We used Santa Maria for our 2007 tour. They were great. You can read my trip report here:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34957632

Santa Maria is a local Myanmar company while Diethelm is a Thai based Swiss owned company. Price wise I think Santa Maria will be better with the same level service but I used another "local" agency call Global Union Express. I did my own itinerary planning and only used them to book the hotels and the domestic flights. You can find several trip reports here on Fodors like Craig's report and plan accordingly. A lot of travel agent try to "persuade" you do stay in certain hotels where they will make a lot of commission so plan carefully to get the best results.

Be aware that most if not all travel agency will require you to wire money to a Thai bank account which is quite normal for Myanmar.

I'm not recommending Diethelm - I think they are way over-priced - but HIGHLY efficient. I just suggest the O.P. goes and looks at their site, grabs some ideas of itineraries and goes from there. There are a million ways to skin the Burmese cat. They all end up exactly the same.

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e1...irless_cat.jpg

I used www.myinttours.com - one person operation at the time (Jan 2005) - a woman I had met in Vietnam in 2002 had been to Myanmar and virtually adopted her driver, Myint. He was a fine driver, and I stayed in lower end guest houses, so, no, it doesn't have to be expensive. But I'm not sure you HAVE to use an agency - have you looked for the latest Lonely Planet guidebook? BTW, there's a discussion about visas on another Myanmar thread - I got mine in Bangkok in three days. If you don't want to spend time in the embassy, use one of the travel agencies on Khao San Road.

We also used Diethelm (went through their Bangkok office and they corresponded with Burma office). They priced the airfare and hotels at or below what I found on Internet. They were efficient and came recommended by Peninsula in Bangkok. They met us there and delivered all our documents. If you know exactly what you want, I don't think they are overpriced.

I want to bring this topic up again since I am in the pre- pre-planning stage of a trip for next winter. I am still waiting for my friends to decide about taking the Pandaw cruise, but I want to begin setting up at least a tentative plan that will include Yangon and Inle Lake. Should I book the Pandaw directly with them, or is it better for any reason to book with an agency? Price differences?

Can these agents book ongoing flights from Burma?

Can I hear reports of people who have used the following agencies? And just as important, can I have the names of specific guides to request? (Are the guides mostly freelancers or are they "attached" to a particular agency?) From Gloria I have the name of NyiNyi and I also have the name, from Craig, of a guide NOT to use! For InleLake, I have the name of a guide from Femi.

1. http://www.myanmartravels.net/rv-amaracruises.htm (do not list Pandaw on their site)

2. http://www.myanmargoodnewstravel.com/who-we-are.htm (not sure why I have this agency marked; I must have had a recommendation from someone here or on TA)

3. http://www.myanmartravelagent.com/greeting.htm ( I believe that Gloria used this agency--I've not "heard" anything from her in a while and hope she is ok)

4. Diethelm--the fact that they have a Bangkok office might be helpful; they could book flights within the region,, right?

ekscrunchy - guides are mostly freelancers - our guide, "Joyce" at Inle Lake was probably the best guide we've ever had, anywhere. Her contact information is in my trip report (Day 9). Have you contacted Santa Maria? My suggestion no matter which agencies you contact is to ask for the Pandaw cruise price as a separate line item and compare to going direct. We booked our flights to and from Myanmar through Eddie in Bangkok and used Santa Maria for internal flights. I would imagine though that the local agencies can book your ongoing flight(s).

I can't imagine going to Myanmar and not going to Bagan.

"I can't imagine going to Myanmar and not going to Bagan." I agree that Bagan is quite something, but if you've seen Angkor Wat, and it has to be either Inle Lake or Bagan, and not both, I would absolutely vote for Inle. If you haven't already seen Angkor you can make a better case for Bagan, but I would still vote for Inle. You're seeing a different lifestyle, as opposed to lots of temples.

Thanks!! I've not contacted any agencies yet. But I plan to do so in the next few days.

Craig: I did make note of Joyce. But are you suggesting contacting her directly, or asking for her through Santa Maria or another agency? I am guessing the former would be less expensive...

To answer the Bagan issue, I have been to Burma before, many years ago, and I thought Bagan was absolutely magical. But the Pandaw does have a full-day stop there so I think I will concentrate more on Inle Lake this time. (I have never been there) How many nights would you suggest allotting?

Now, one of my friends and potential travel partners is a railway nut. I have been reading about the Gokteik viaduct and the rail trip from Maymyo to Lashio and it sounds like it passes wonderful scenery. Any thoughts about this trip?

I think guides are relatively inexpensive whether you book them through an agency or directly but I would contact Joyce directly - please mention Craig and Jeane from the USA.

I forgot that you had been to Burma before and its great to hear that the Pandaw stops at Bagan anyway. The 4 nights that we spent at Inle Lake were perfect but you could happily do 3 if you skipped one of the excursions (Taungyi/Kakku or the reservoir to the south of Inle Lake - town of Samka)

I have no thoughts on rail trips in Myanmar.

Craig, thanks! I will contact Joyce and I will certainly tell here that you were the one who gave me her name.

The breaking news is that I just heard from my friends and they would like to take the 14-day Pandaw cruise. So, slowly, I can begin planning this trip, although it WILL be slowly since every decision has to be run past three people.

Ek: just book Pandaw direct on their website. Life's too short. Slow down and think this through clearly before you start ringing up guides and travel agencies. The reality is actually VERY simple. See my other post to you.

Why don't you just start your own Myanmar post? You're all over the place. Let's consolidate.