There are changes afoot in Burma as regards changing money. As I expect all of you know, there is an "official" rate of exchange of about 6-8 kyat to the dollar and the black market rate of a bit over 800 kyat to the dollar currently. Previously, it has not been possible for foreigners to exchange money at banks in Burma.

Recently, there have been changes in the banking laws in Burma, and banks are being allowed to open currency exchanges. So far, there is a report on Thorntree of one open in Yangon. The currency exchange does exchange at rates similar to the black market rate, not the official rate. (Will this mean they will do away with the "official rate"? who knows?)

Anyone heading to Burma should keep their eyes open for this, and please report back on your experience. We will, of course, report back on our experience.

Very interesting news Kathie and yes please keep up posted.

More info on the new currency exchanges: There is now a bank-run currency exchange at the airport in Yangon. Reports have varied a bit, but it appears that the exchange rate used is close to the black market rate. In the city, the bank-run exchanges have recently had the best rates, about 10 kyat per dollar more than the black market rates. So far as I know, such bank-run exchanges only exists in Yangon. There have been long lines of local trying to excahnge dollars for kyat there.

Recent excahnge rates have been around 800 kyat to the dollar.

New info: these bank-run exchanges will exchange not only dollars, but also Euros and Singapore dollars.

You still need US dollars to pay for hotels, flgihts, admission fees, etc.

More new info: There is now a currency exchange counter at the Mandalay Airport as well as at the Yangon airport and at least one open in Yangon near the Strand. These bank-owned exchange counters now offer rates better than the old black market rates. Our travel agent advised us to exchange money at the counters rather than to have them exchange money for us upon arrival.

For decades, any change in Burma has been glacially slow. Suddenly, this year there are all kinds of changes that reflect a new openness.

The almighty dollar/euro/singapore dollar wins again. Amazing what a totalitarian government will give up to have foreign trade, isn't it?

Well, they still don't have regular foreign trade. The economic sanctions prevent them from being fully a part of the world economy. But it looks like they are considering re-joining the world after decades of isolation. The release of many "prisoners of conscience" and dropping some of the pretense of the "official" exchange rate, may make the country more accessible to NGOs. Currently, money brought in by NGOs must be exchanged at the "official" rate, making it hard to make much impact when the government skims off 90% of the money.

We were in Myanmar last week. We had arranged for our travel agent (Santa Maria) to exchange money for us because we would be leaving Yangon early the following morning after we flew in from Hanoi. No time to go to market or agent to switch....

The Santa Maria agent (Zaw) had us look at the rate offered at the airport. It was 785 Kyat. They gave us 790. They also said that they did this type of an exchange at "no charge" to us or them...rather it was a service. We were happy to get the kyat and the exchange rate was fair based upon what we saw at the airport.

One other money note: My husband and I DID NOT take enough US dollars with us. Myanmar food and other expenses were much more than we estimated. We are living in Vietnam right now and I think we "sort of" thought that the food prices would be similar!!! WRONG!!! So my recommendation is to make sure you take MORE money than you think you possibly will need! Better to come home with extra than run out as we would have--but luck, good karma or something came our way because we ran into a friend we met years ago in Laos and she loaned us several hundred dollars! She saved us....and we were so thankful!!

Also....exchange rate for us last week was 490 in Yangon, 475 in Mandalay and 460 in Inle Lake for US $100 bills. And as has been reported before--make sure your bills are PERFECT. They really are unhappy with any flaws (wrinkles, folds, tears, scuff marks, etc.) on the bills and may not reject them, but will give fewer Kyat.

gail-I hope you will be posting a TR? Any info for our upcoming trip would be appreciated.

I assume the exchange rate should be 790, 775 and 760, correct?

Could you give me an idea about what to budget for 5-10 minute taxi rides within a city and for simple (not extravagant) dinners at hotels. I assume hotel dinners need to be paid for in dollars, but dinners at stand alone restaurants need to be paid for in kyats. Correct?

Whoops...I did mess up on the Kyat prices I posted above. They were 790, 775 and 760. Sorry for the mistake.

and yes, I will post a blog here soon. I am trying to finish up a course I am teaching in Hanoi and the posting will have to wait awhile. My husband has been keeping up a travel blog and has posted on our site:

http://geoasian.blogspot.com

He has posted about five entries on Myanmar with a few more to come.

I can't really give a good indication about taxi prices because we used drivers and guides most of the time. Sorry. But I did notice that when people were at the airport waiting for flights they did go around and try to find others to share taxis from the airport into town once they landed.

We used Kyat for everything because the exchange rate is much better than using dollars. The food prices in hotels we thought was extremely high. Some high end restaurants had main course prices similar to US hotels and restaurants. We also were pretty disgusted at the price of beer and simple fresh juice drinks. Hotels were charging $4-$6 for a bottle of beer when you could easily get one in a more local restaurant for around $3.25. We bought beer for our stay on Inle Lake at a shop for about $1.75 each...

If you are planning on eating at hotels--and you are staying at the high end (4-5 stars) then plan on paying prices similar to restaurants in the US. In Mandalay we were at a beautiful hotel (Mandalay Hill Resort Hotel) but were blown away by the restaurant prices. One evening we just went into the bar and shared a simple quesadilla and one bottle of beer and the bill was almost $20. The high end restaurants did advertise their prices in dollars.

Because of the amount of food served as one dish--my husband and I typically ordered one main dish and one vegetable. This was plenty of food for two people. We ate lots of curries, noodle dishes and rice based dishes. Those prices were lower and more manageable for us--especially since we realized we were going to be short of cash. If possible, we requested that our guide direct us to non-tourist restaurants where we found the food much better and the prices more reasonable. We ate everything and anything and did not get sick or have any problems. By the way--the fish curry is really, really tasty!

Gailmo, thanks for your report. A question about the exchange rate in Mandalay - is that the rate at the exchange counter at the airport or what you were offered elsewhere?

Your point about taking enough money and prices is exactly right. You obviously have good karma to run into an old friend there! Two years ago, we found prices were higher than we expected, and reports from others indicate that prices have gone up significantly since then.

Shelly, current taxi prices from the Yangon airport to the city are quoted on Thorntree as US$10. Two years ago, short taxi rides in Yangon were 2000 - 3000 kyat. I've heard from others that prices in kyat haven't gone up much but prices in dollars have (which makes sense as we got 1000 kyat to the dollar two years ago).

Gail, I look forward to reading your report!

Kathie,
The exchange rate of 775 in Mandalay was at a travel agency office. The Santa Maria guide took us to this location on our second day. We did not exchange any money at any airport in Myanmar.

Thanks, Gail.