My sister and I want to visit this fascinating country and wonder has anyone done the same during the past 2-3 years. Would love some feedback. Many thanks.

I travelled in Myanmar in the last 10 days of November. I spent 2 days in Yangon, 3 days in Mandalay, and 4 days in Bagan. It was a very interesting and relaxing trip.

Someone just made a "Ranking SEA countries" post on LP forum; most subsequent posters agreed that Myanmar beats most SEA countries in most categories. I agree.

So enjoy your trip. One thing you much remember is that you should only bring with you Euro or US dollar, CASH. That is pretty much the only thing that works.

testing

always have to check if this is working with aol or not...it is

we spent a short week in myanmar in december 2002...we stayed mostly around yangon.

we hired a driver (his contact is: [email protected] name is kyaw naing)...he is a beautiful man with a great sense of humor...he has an older toyota corolla which is adequate (has a/c) for taking you around....we went out into the country around yangon as well as all through the city...he is very reasonable...and knowledgeable about the city, etc...
we would hire him in a heartbeat again..

the country and city are very simple...old fashioned and stuck in a time wharp of say 1920....

we did not feel any tension from the military dictatorship....

it is very cheap there...we used the compulsory money for tourists, american dollars and the local currency...they prefer solid currencies...bring small bills....

we stayed at the inya lake hotel, a former russian built hotel (converted from a rennaissance hotel in 2002) just on the outskirts of the city...it was simple and grand in the same setting...paid about $60...

i would check out the pansea hotel another time....
i would not like to stay in the center of the city...the "k".... palace hotel is also nice...don't know the spelling of the k word....

tons of cheap shopping: cloth, wicker/grass products, lovely laquer ware....

great restaurant: L'Opera outside of town

we did not go up country to see the temples...

go and enjoy...its an easy flight from bangkok

More about the money issue.

First off, the much talked about "compulsory money" or FEC is no longer required by the Myanmar government, permanently.

But you still need to directly use US$ in following occations: certain transportations, sites entrance fees, certain upper scale hotels. You can pay your way with local currency too but they charge you at least 5% more than you pay with US$. Except for what mentioned above, you use local currency in all other purchases. You need big bills($100) and also small bills. Big bills get you better exchange rates(the reason is simple - easier for whoever wants to smuggle US$ out of the country), and the small bills for little things, for instance, museum fee ($3) in Bagan. Make sure to change local money liitle at a time, it is difficult to change it back to hard currency. Don't change money at the airport and post a message on LP forum to ask the ongoing exchange rates before you leave home.

Mandalay is a nice city. Make sure also to visit Mingun near Mandalay by ferry, fascinating views of the ancient temples.

Bagan is worth at least 3 days. Rent a bike and explore the area in slow pace; temples big and small, near and far, the archaeological wonder, one of the most impressive in the world, combined with incredible tranquility, are peerless anywhere.

I found Myanmar people are truly friendly by nature. One guy compared Myanmar with Thailand; he joked that "Thais are the best friends that money can buy"; I think it is not fair for Thais, but certainly you don't feel that way in Myanmar. That is one of the best thing travelling in the country.

A few more words about the political situation.

The Myanmar government is a very repressive one; the military intelligence is everywhere to spy on their own people and yes they do have political prisoners, maybe many. However, the government doesn't bother foreign visitors, and in fact, doesn't bother its own people either if they are silent on political issues, and most of them are. You may find things are more deplorable than you think, and you may find some of what you heard is pure myth, or western media propaganda. It is interesting to see what is going on in the country first hand.

Some people are concerned about money-go-to-the-government, well, other than the airfare, you can spend all your money on the local people. Besides, you might feel better by knowing that at least some of the money collected by the government eventually finds its way to the restoration of the archaeological sites. They spend a lot of money on that.

i found no use for "big bills"..maybe only to pay your hotel bill, but a credit card will do that in most places, except low end places...

A few final words about money.

"Better rates for bigger bills" is not unique just in Myanmar. It is a common practice in those SEA countries with tight government control over hard currency. Incliding Laos, Philippines, etc. The reason for that is as I stated in my last post. When I was there in November, for $100 bill, $1=800, for $50 bill, $1=780, below 50, $1=760.

A more important thing to keep in mind for potential travellers is that plastic doesn't work in Myanmar. They don't have the clearing facility in place to process theose beloved cards. Of course nothing is absolute. In Yangon and a handful other major tourist places, the most expensive hotels do take credit cards, for a very good reason - the room rates for foreigners in those hotels is 3 to 4 times higher than what locals might pay. For that kind of profit, they are surely willing to go through all troubles to make the plastic work. Outside those hotels, credit cards are virtually useless.

The day before I left Bagan, an American from Washington State came to Bagan with only his credit card. He was forced to stay in the most expensive hotel inside the old Bagan. Unless somehow the hotel gets some cash advance for him on his card, his trip is ruined. There is nothing he can do walking out of the hotel.

TC is useless too. But again, nothing is absolute. Some money changers in Yangon might cash TC for you with 20% service charge. And you will be very lucky if you can find such money changers outside Yangon.

So for most travellers who want to have some independent movement in Myanmar, USD cash is the thing they must have, and the only thing.

Thanks very much for the replies, everyone. We must delay our trip due to flights from Oz to BKK during Chinese New Year (forgot!)booked out. Info is much appreciated and will be used later in 2004.