whiskey

Firstly a quick thanks to those who have posted trip reports/comments on the Burma forum - its been invaluable to us (me, my sister and her gf) in planning our trip for this coming april. the three of us are doing the fairly standard Yangon/Bagan/Inle Lake/Mandalay route for the first part of the vacation. Our travel dates, which i appreciate occur during the water festival - are dictated by my sister's vacation schedule, as she is a teacher in Laos. I will then be on my own for 8 days after they go back to Laos. I know i have left it quite late to sort out the details of the tail end of the trip! But I am hoping to get some input on how to best spend that time. we have been using Shan Yoma to assist us with the plans and they proposed the following itinerary to me:

April 21 Yangon - Sittwe
April 22 - sittwe - Mrauk U (by boat)
April 23 - Mrauk U - Sittwe (by boat)
April 24 - Sittwe - Yangon (fly)
April 25 Yangon - Mawlamyine (by private saloon)
April 26 - Mawlamyine - Hpa an (by private saloon)
April 27 - overnight in Hpa an
April 28 - Hpa an - Kyaihtiyo
April 29 - Kyaihyiyo - Bago - Yangon

I assume "private saloon" is a car [i have emailed Shan Yoma to get more details re this itinerary - but am having email issues with them and its taking days to get responses - which i know is par for the course]. I had expressed to them an interest in Sittwe/Mrauk U but I thought, based on this forum and other research, that these areas were off limits to tourists at the moment - but even if that situation has changed - the above itinerary seems like a lot of moving around and little time spent in any of the actual places. I generally would prefer to stay in a few places and see more of them, even if that means missing out on some other sights. assuming i am able to go to Sittwe and Mrauk U, would people suggest i focus my time there? any thoughts on the above would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

yestravel

Santa Maria Travel has told us Mrak U is closed to visitors due to fighting.

Kathie

yestravel is correct, SIttwe and Mrauk U are closed to foreigners because of sectarian fighting. Those areas have been closed for a while, no one knows when they might re-open, but I doubt it will be before your April trip. (You do know that it is hotter than hell in April?)

But let me answer your itinerary question. What you have laid out gives you no time at all In Mrauk U. It's about a four-hour boat ride from Sittwe to Mrauk U. At some future date if you want to go there, I'd recommend three full days in Mrauk U (that means 4 nights). As you can see from the transport issues, a real trip to Mrauk U would take up all (or almost all) of your time. Personally, I thought it was well worth the time, but of course, it is not possible now.

Given how hot it will be, consider spending more of your time in the north.

whiskey

Thanks for your replies. After I posted my question yesterday, I received an email from Shan Yoma saying Sittwe and Mrauk U are open for visitors (and attaching what they said was a communication from the Union of Myanmar Travel Association (not in english) saying tourists could visit those areas with advanced permission) - so I am not sure if this means the situation has changed? there seems to be conflicting information out there. maybe i should consider another area, like the north as Kathie suggests. & yes i do know it will be hotter than hell during our visit - as i mentioned, the timing was driven by other factors. I was in Cambodia and Laos the same time last year, so am hoping i have some idea of the horror that awaits - and of the need to pace oneself.

Kathie

That would be wonderful news if Mrauk U were open again. I'd say if Shan Yoma will make your arrangements for Mrauk U, take them up on that, but have a "plan B" you can implement quickly if it turns out it is still closed. There is often a lot of mixed information about the situation in various parts of Burma - internal communications are not good. I'll check with some of my sources and see if anyone has more info.

whiskey

Thanks again and Kathie yes please let me know if you hear anything to either confirm (or contradict) what Shan Yoma has told me. I hope i am not being naive - appreciate things can change quickly - but I assume they know what they are doing by offering to make the arrangements. In any event i have told them i would like to focus on Mrauk U & probably skip their Mawlamyine - Hpa suggestion (perhaps that will be my plan B). my sister, her gf and I only have a day and a half in Mandalay so perhaps I will add on a day or so there once they leave to see the ancient cities.