WinterTravel

Great ideas and insights all - thanks! As of now we have not arranged guides and are planning to wander on our own (the local agency that we used to book our internal air tickets can help provide guides if we change our minds -- any thoughts on whether we should/should not arrange guides for at least one day in each place and if so what cost/tipping protocol would be?).

Any thoughts on the expensive airport transfers provided by the hotels? The prices are undoubtedly higher than local transport, but we're leaning toward using the hotel transfers at least on arrival to make it easier (since we are going independent and don't have guides meeting us).

Any guidance on tipping for the (expensive but worth it we hear) balloon ride at Bagan?

Thanks again...

moremiles

One more question-how much cash to take since ccards and ATM's are not useful?

Craig

WT - guides are good if you have specific places you want to go to without wasting a lot of time. If all you plan to do is wander then you don't need a guide. We found a guide helpful in Yangon because we knew all of the places in advance where we wanted to shop and tour - a driver on the spur of the moment could never have found the shopping venues that we were looking for - they were all over (and not at all within walking distance of each other). In Bagan, we also knew what we wanted to do and when - again the guide was helpful - although you could probably be perfectly content wandering around the area of your hotel in Bagan, the archeological zone is actually rather spread out and to see all of the sites and the major market there, you need a driver who knows how to get to these places. I have covered Inle Lake pretty extensively in a post on another of one of your threads.

As for tipping, do what you feel is right. Whatever you do will be much appreciated. We may have tipped our balloon pilot, I don't remember - he wasn't a local so it wouldn't have been a big deal to us if I didn't.

I would just do the hotel provided transfers - how bad can the cost be?

Moremiles - what are your expenses while in Myanmar - hotel, restaurants, transportation? Without knowing that it is difficult to say. Anything you need to pay for will have to be paid for with cash, either US dollars changed into the local currency or straight US dollars.

Craig

WT - we expect a comprehensive trip report on your travels in Myanmar!!

moremiles

Thanks and sorry I didn't mention my costs. The hotels, brk, and lunches will be already paid for so just dinners, tips, shopping, spa?

moremiles

Transportation and guides are already paid for also.

Craig

$25-$50/day maybe? - dinners can cost next to nothing or if you eat at the one or two fancy places in Yangon, they could set you back a bit. We paid $350 for a really nice painting purchased in Yangon and about $70 for a beautiful lacquer ware bowl purchased in Bagan. It's hard to spend a lot of money in Myanmar.

moremiles

Thanks Craig. I don't plan to spend much on food-maybe drink.

WinterTravel

Thanks as always Craig. A trip report will be forthcoming when we get back.

WinterTravel

One more question for anyone who's been to Myanmar this year -- what is the status of internet access? Is it true that Yahoo and Hotmail are not easily accessed but Gmail is? Should we expect to have regular email access, or tell family that we will not be reachable that way while gone? Thanks for any thoughts...

dogster

Forget about e-mail. That'd be the easiest. It's a hassle, slow, yup, Hotmail and Yahoo ain't available and they want a passport and address, name of all seventeen grandchildren and a guarantee before they'll let you log on in an internet cafe. Only use hotel E-mail, as little as possible. Life's too short.

I'm eighteen months outta date - but given the monk's protest and cyclone I scarcely think it will have improved.

Craig

I agree with Dogster. Forget about the internet. In February 2007 the only place that had it was the Savoy in Yangon. At that time I was able to access my Comcast e-mail account.

moremiles

No SIM cards either, is that correct?

Hanuman

GSM phones do work periodically especially when there are visiting foreign(especially Thai) politicians around. Funny thing is that while I was there and when the phone did work I made a lot of phone calls and I was never billed!

WinterTravel

One more last-minute question just popped into our heads -- is laundry service readily available and reasonable (price-wise) at hotels in Burma? Anyone use it, or should we be planning our old sink routine?

dogster

Yeah, you'll be totally fine everywhere you're going. Exercise caution with fine clothing - in fact, don't take any. Leave that till you get to BKK.

Of course it'll be overpriced. lol. Did you ever find a hotel laundry that isn't?

BTW - those taxis outside the Strand will cost you more than if you walk out, go right, turn the first corner and walk 100 yards. There's a [kinda] rank. Any tours using the Strand will be perfectly good but wildly overpriced. Of course, negotiate everything in advance.

Oh, and those nice, friendly monks you'll meet, sitting posing at Shwedagon? They aren't. They're ex-monks. Fun - but not the real deal. Don't fall for it. Or do.
Either is fun.

jege41

Internet/ Gmail is widely used in Myanmar with Govt. approval/ Google.
/plenty of icafe's
Exchange money on the black market, or travel agents. You will need a suitcase to carry your money in however.
Take a riverboat from Mandalay to Bagon.
Be generous, why argue over .50 cents difference. One dollar to the average Burmese is like 100 USD to most of us.