Myanmar
 

Wintertravel .. are you still going to Burma in Dec or did you change your mind .... I am booked for Feb. But, I am a bit nervous about going.

hi, just back from burma. it was just WONDERFUL!. people were the incredibly kind and generous. we had NO problems. I travel on several international trips a year and this was no different, except that the people are really suffering, a little like in cuba. but they carry on with their jobs and work VERY hard. we tried to book with private companies to give back to people. took taxis and went about. probably everything is about as it was except almost no tourists. you will have a GREAT time.

bonnie

Am planning to go to Burma in June/July with our 3 children, age 19, 16, and 13. but see that not many people on the board seem to be going. Am I crazy to be going. The state department has no travel warning. We went to Kenya and Zimbabwe 2 years ago when they had state dept. warnings and were fine. So just wondering if we will be ok in Burma. I'm excited about going, feel the people need to see tourists and want to support them by traveling there. Plan to travel into the city to get our visas at the consulate. Plan to finalize travel plans soon. Have emailed Santa Maria Travel? Anyone use Diehthelm, also looking at them.

The issue with Burma isn't that it's dangerous for you (unless you are a photojournalist) but the repressive and cruel regime. The dangers in Burma are primarily for the people who live there, not for people who visit. Of course, the demonstrations by the monks and the violence with which those demonstractions were stopped by the government did discourage people from going.

Hello, bacooking!

You ask about using Diethelm Travel for arrangements in Myanmar.

Last spring, I used Diethelm's services for my trip to Myanmar (Yangon and Bagan). I found Diethelm to be reliable, and also extremely expensive on every single count: hotel, day tours, transfers, etc. I found it difficult to accept their high prices in what is essentially a third-world country.

Most persons who decide to go to Myanmar usually feel, as I did, that they are helping the people survive under a repressive government. Perhaps our visits do in some degree help to alleviate the misery of the people; I simply have no way of knowing if that happened.

What I do know is that Myanmar is lacking in virtually every type of tourist infrastructure to which you are probably accustomed.

I speak of electricity only for 8 hours daily for most people and darkness all night long (save for the tourist hotels & restaurants); cars, autos, and municipal buses that routinely break down on the public street and that are 20-year-old second hand Japanese vehicles (including my own guide's auto); few stores, shops, and markets that are open in the evening due to the lack of electricity; a covered market that is gloomy and dingy even at 1:00 in the afternoon, again due to a lack of internal electricity; no tourist buses or taxis available at any street corner due to the gasoline rationing. The list of deprivations goes on and on.

I did see several culture wonders in the two cities I visited in Myanmar. Were they worth it? Probably they were, but in general I see tourist travel to Myanmar as a waste of time and money that could have been better spent elsewhere. Would I return to Myanmar? No, certainly not! Would I recommend Myanmar to a friend or family member? Only as a one- or two-day excursion trip from Bangkok.

i totally disagee with the above....we found the infastructure, while not extensive, to be adequate...burma is still very 3rd world and will remain so...

go and enjoy it

don't know where polly is, i have sent her an e mail direct but no reply

Long term electricity blackouts are apparently common, at least in Yangon, but I didn't have any problems in the guest houses I stayed in. Myanmar looks the way I imagine the rest of SEA looked a few decades back - clearly any money coming in goes to the regime. BUT - I found it a magical place to visit and would love to go back.

I had serious doubts about visiting because of not wanting to support the regime, but I booked with a guide/driver a friend had virtually adopted (www.myinttours.com), so as much money as possible went to the locals.

I visited Burma in 2006, and am dreaming of my return visit (very likely next year). It is my favorite Asian country to visit.

I've been to Burma twice --once for 3 weeks and then again for 5 days. Latter trip was just to visit our guide. It was without question the best trip I have ever taken in my life and I felt I actually helped a few people.

As Kathie says, from your perspective, traveling to Burma is safe. However you potentially risk the well-being of every non-licensed (non-government) individual you come into contact with while you are there.

Burma ranks as one of my most spectacular travel experiences. But, like JohnAtLC, I will never go back. While tourism does bring money into the economy, the majority of tourist money goes directly to the government. So what ever aid you dollars might be able to do for an individual, at least as much money goes to funding the machine that suppresses him.

I'm not passing judgment, as I've traveled there myself for several weeks. I just wish that I knew in advance the impact my traveling there would have. If you want to travel there, by all means go - you will surely have a wonderful time. But if you think you'll help the Burmese people, you money would probably go a lot further if donated to support aid for all the Burmese refugees along the Thai border.

Sorry if this comes off as proselytizing, but it is a cause that is very dear to me. As soon as there's a regime change, I'll be on the first plane back!

ttt

Hi. We were in Burma in Sept. when the initial demonstrastions were starting. We left Yangon for Bagan right when Monks started marching. I have to say I was a little stressed. I am sure the timing of our trip tainted my view on whether to travel there.

The hotels were very nice, expecially in Bagan, and the people and the scenery were great. However, there a few times I was kicking myself for bringing our 6 year old twins with us. I have to say that I have never been so happy to leave from some place on an airplane in my life.

We would be watching BBC World at the hotel to try to find out what was happening and it would all of a sudden black out. The news channel was the only channel we could not receive, so I don't think the satelite was going out. Initially that channel was how we found out anything was going on in the first place.

I am sure it was the product of what was transpiring at the time, but there was just tension in the air and everything felt uneasy during out trip once the marching started.

One of the good things was our guide in Bagan. He was telling us about the school, so we gave a small donation of $50. It is unbelievable how far that money went. He e-mailed us pictures of him taking the supplies to the school. That amount bought everyone in the school a school book, pens and paper.

When we got there we cashed in $300 and it was riduculous the amount of 1000 dollar bills received back. It filled up the safe, we looked like we were drug dealers. It was hard to not hand out those dollars at the market when mothers would come up and ask for food for there children or children would come up and ask for money. Our guide said just one 1000 note of roughly 65-70 cents would feed a whole family for the day.

I made the mistake of giving money to one little girl and pretty soon there was a mob of people wanting money. It was hard to be staying in such a nice hotel and then knowing whole families were hungry, and can be fed for under a dollar. I know that this sounds a littel naive, as the same can be said for a lot of the world, and one day of food is not really doing anything, and people we probably think that this teaches people to ask for money. It just seemed especially sad since there is no infrustucture or anyone to help these families. (I know I will have to think twice before I ever go to India, becaus I am sure it is 100 times worse.)

I am glad that I went, but I came away with a selfish feeling for even having gone. My tour guide was extremely nice, and I know he loved his counrty and wanted to help it. When I got home I read every news article on what was happening in Burma and about who had what. I read an article that said it was almost $1000 to get a cell phone unless you are contected to the gov. All of the tour guides have a cell phone, so I think our money was basically helping the people that already have something, and not really trickling down to the people who don't.

I guess the bottom line is that things can change at any moment there, so I would probably wait to go.

I am sure that people probably have very different feelins and different experiences than I had. I am sure that mine are a direct result of the marches that were going on.

HLester, thank you so much for telling us about your experience. I really appreciate your candor.

Thanks for the report HLester - glad that it worked as well as it did for you. But sorry that you wound up with a bad feeling about Myanmar.