I just sent off all my required paperwork to obtain visas for myself and husband. I had so many questions. Some answers I found on this and TA forum but not everything so I decided to call the consulate in NY City myself. I called 1-212-744-1271. I was given 3 options and chose the last by pressing 0. Music played for several minutes and wonder of all wonders, a very kind gentleman answered the phone! He answered my questions-who do I make out the money order to for the visa fee/Myanmar Consulate was his answer; I repeated the address as given on the website as the phone recording initially had the zip code as 10021 but 10075 is the correct zip. He assured me our passports, etc. would be returned prior to our leaving the US on Jan. 4th if I was sending the applications, etc. to them today. We don't travel to Myanmar until February and depart March so I needed the visa to be valid for 3 months from December. I used Fed Ex 2 day as I had seen posted by others. Final cost to send everything for the 2 of us including the addressed return was $31.75. I was given tracking #s for both labels-going to NY City Myanmar Mission UN and returning to me in Colden, NY.

I remember someone had posted not being able to get through to anyone on the phone to the consulate in NY City so I wanted to let you know that you can get through and what phone number I called.

Very excited about our upcoming trip as things are finally coming together. I even have all new 1s, 5s, 10s, 20s, 50s, and 100s. It took several months starting in October but it's done as of today!

Great! I also found the consulate very helpful. I didn't call them, but our passports were returned to us in a week back in 2990, and it took all of 10 days in 2011. Such a contrast to all the awful experiences of those getting India visas!

Exciting, we just took our Visa apps to the DC Embassy. Still trying to get our money together. Good for you for getting it done so early.

I went to the NYC consulate in person.

Lovely crew -- smiles included. It took ONE week and $20--- Easy Breezy.

I love Fed Ex's tracking system! I sent our application for visa and our passports out on Friday 12/6/13. It was signed for by the Myanmar Consulate receptionist on Monday 12/9. I just got an e-mail today stating it was picked up by Fed Ex and expected to arrive to my home on Wed. 12/18/13. I can now believe that my trip to Myanmar is really happening!

We got our visa back yesterday from the Embassy. Finally managed to get our money together. Took us 3 banks to get it all. They all said they rarely get brand new bills anymore. So we are finally organized for our trip next month. Hard to believe it is finally right around the corner.

yestravel-'ll be taking my IPad so will be checking Fodor's if you decide to post any news during your trip. We also had to go to 3 different places to get our money. It's not an easy task-getting things together for Myanmar/Burma! We leave for Cambodia on 1/4 so right around the corner for us too. Have a great time!!!!

Are you taking the new $100 bills?

Yes-all but 4 are the new 100s. I heard on TA forum I think that no problem with the new 100s and my local agency who will get most of them when we meet in Yangon said the new ones are fine. I also got newly printed 1s, 5s, 10s, 20s, and 50s. My bank said they get these newly printed bills right before the holidays. The only concern I have is carrying the money around. I'll be a nervous wreck until I hand the majority of it over to our agent. This country is the first place we've gone to that doesn't do credit cards! When are you going? We will be there 2/10-3/10.

What you can do is print off the news article about the new 100s and take it with you to show.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/07/news...ed-dollar-bill
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/...-bill/2936097/

Thanks! I sent an article and the question to our TA at Santa Maria last month and she said no problem accepting the new bills. I was concerned in some of the smaller places that it might be an issue. We have some of the old $100's from when we first began trying to collect the money. The rest are new $100's and a mix of $1's, 5's, 10's and 20's. I have also been reading that there are ATMs around even some at the airports. The new $100's were the problem. While brand new, many of then had a noticeable crease down the middle and I wasn't certain if that would be an issue or not. All three banks had them with this crease. All the banks said, that's as good as they get. It was a rather interesting experience collecting it all.

Yes, traveling with so much cash is a bit disconcerting. We will be in BKK for a week before we leave for Burma. We arrive in Burma on 23 January and leave on 10 FEb - So we'll be leaving just as you are beginning your journey there. I will try and post if anything unusual or new and interesting arises.

Where will you be prior to Burma?

We are in Cambodia from 1/5-1/29 and then Thailand from 1/29-2/10 when we fly to Burma. Then from 3/10-4/5 back to Thailand. We're both retired so lucky can have the time to spend on trips. My feeling is if I'm going to be on a plane for all that time I'm going to make my holiday worth while. Since we are older-68 and 71-chances are we won't be back to these places any time soon. Other places on our travel list.

I just checked my new 100s. They do have that blue ribbon on the front but when flipped over I see no crease. I did get a few that believe it or not had tiny pin holes from a staple!! I used those here. Trying to get enough pristine money for a country that doesn't readily have ATMs or accept credit cards is a daunting task. One I don't intend to repeat any time soon!

We are also meeting our daughter in Phuket in March. She lives/works near Hong Kong so we only get to see her once a year when she spends her 30 days leave in the US-usually in July during school break. Skype and e-mail only go so far!

Have you been to Bangkok before? This is our 1st time to SE Asia other than a 2007 trip to China and my Peace Corps time in the Philippines back in the 60s. I'm sure things have changed a lot.

I love these travel forums as I've gotten so much helpful info from here and on TA. Makes the planning so much easier. I especially enjoy reading the trip reports! I've loaded up my IPad with all sorts of stuff that I hope will make our SE Asia stay run smoothly. Most places that we are staying at have wi fi so we will see what happens!

Sounds like a fabulous trip! And to get to see you daughter --wonderful. We were in SEAsia (Thailand, Siem Reap, Luang Prabang and VN) for ~9 weeks in 2012. Loved BKK. Did a long TR here
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ia-odyssey.cfm.

Actually never thought we'd be back that way either - so goes to show. We really loved Thailand and had been toying with Burma at that time, but didn't go due to the politics.

I had read various posts on different forum about how the $$ is examined-held up to light etc. So that's what we did & found tiny flaws here and there. Someone on Fodors suggested making two groupings -- the perfect, pristine one and the ones with slight flaws. That is what we will do. The people at our CU yesterday thought I was nuts. They said the $100's we had were no better than what they could give us. In fact the ones they gave us were better. Less crease and no tiny nicks etc. I'm sure I am being paranoid, but better safe than sorry.

There forums are great. Some of the people on the Asia forum are terrific. They give so much helpful info. Makes planning a trip much easier. I travel all the time with my iPad -- indispensable. Don't know how I traveled without it. Not expecting great wifi in Burma though. We'll see.

Expected to receive my passports and visa for Myanmar/Burma on Wed. but the Fed Ex guy just dropped them off today. So, all in all, from Buffalo, NY to NY City M. Consulate and then back to our home in Colden, NY a grand total of 10 days. I keep looking at the visa stamp just to realize that in a little while we were be there to explore that amazing country.

This trip is becoming more of a reality with each day that passes. So excited!

yestravel:

I got an IPad for this trip and I love it. I have all our hotel and flight info as well as e-mails saved from guides & drivers-everything pertaining to this trip on it. I wonder if I should print out some paper copies just to be on the safe side? I did that with vouchers I have to hand over for some hotels, car rental, etc. My biggest fear is that I will be in SE Asia and all my loaded data will have mysteriously disappeared.

Thanks for the link to your report. I'm going to read it now as I relax with a nice calming cup of tea. I was so nervous that I wouldn't get our passports back in time for our 1/4 flight.

Very exciting that you have everything ready to go. Sending stuff thru the mail esp during the holidays is nerve-wracking.

Even though I having everything on my iPad I still print out essential info -- a spreadsheet with our itinerary, hotel reservations and the like. We had a hotel glitch in Italy and I was unable to pull up the emails to show we had a reservation. You never know when something could happen and you would not have access to your online data. I don't print out the TRs and recommendations though.
Safe travels