Would travelers still be wise to use travel agents for Myanmar?
 

I know in the past this was the case, but now it seems to be easier to book things from outside Myanmar.

This would be our first trip there, and I'm noticing that all the hotels I'm interested in can easily be booked by me on the internet. Same with flights in and out of Myanmar. And the same with a boat we want to take to get from Mandalay to Bagan.

We'd also need 1 internal flight. I've heard that schedules can change, so maybe that is something best left to an agency, or can I do that, too?

And can't we find transport to the temples at Bagan when we get there?

And can't we find boats for Lake Inle the same way?

And can't we just hire taxis in Mandalay and Yangon, as we know what we want to see there?

Am I being foolish if we go ahead and just book all this ourselves?

You can do almost everything yourselves online these days. Things have changed a lot in Burma!

I found that my agent in Burma can get some hotels for less than I can. And they can easily arrange a car and driver for a side trip. Also, for Internal flights the agency will notify you if there are time changes in your flight.

I never used an agent to book our boat at Inle or transport in Bagan (I am partial to the horsecars there). If you want to go to Kakku on your way to your lodgings at Inle, having an agent book you a car and driver is the way to go. There is little competition at the HeHo airport, so prearranging that makes sense. There are reports of price gouging at the HeHo airport.

So I would say do what you are comfortable with.

We were in Myanmar in Jan. and Feb. for a three week plus trip. I too had planned to organize this trip the way I have always organized the rest of our travels--by myself using the online resources. That was my plan. It might give you some insights on why we finally ended up using an agency to book our travels within Myanmar if you read this thread I wrote while trying to book places.

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...rom-the-us.cfm

Ultimately, we ended up having the agency book all hotels except one, book our three internal flights, arrange for a guide to go with us to Golden Rock (a guide is highly recommended for this experience, and I am speaking as one who very rarely uses guides), a 1/2 day trekking guide in Kalaw, a driver for our day trips within Mandalay, a driver to and from Golden Rock, a driver from Bagan to Kalaw and on to Inle Lake, and our boat trip from Mandalay to Bagan.

On our own we arranged for one hotel, all hotel/airport transfers, a buggy driver and motorbike rentals in Bagan, the boat driver to and from our lodging at the next lake down from Inle Lake, a different day tour of Inle Lake, taxis in other towns etc.

As to pricing, I really don't know how much it cost us over and above what it would have cost us to do it on our own, but I don't think it could have been more than a couple hundred dollars. A couple hotels I was able to do direct comparisons on--one was more than I would have paid and one was less. I suspect that most people who travel in Myanmar still use an agency because many times we were asked, "what is your agency?" when we arrived at a place.

As people who normally never use agencies, I have to say that it was nice to have to do nothing more many days than just show up because all arrangements were taken care of. OTOH, I think it would have been quite easy to just use our hotels to arrange onward transportation and guides once we arrived.

As one who really likes flexibility, we had two places where we would have liked an additional day. Whether it would have been easier to flex if we were making all of the arrangements on our own, I am not sure about since in many ways hotels are at capacity in Myanmar.

Kathie,
I remember you worked with Santa Maria and I'd like to write them. Is there anyone there in particular you'd recommend I contact, and if so, can you share their email with me?

julies,
Yikes, I never would have thought it would have been so hard to use your credit cards from the US! That does give me pause. Did you book the Inle Sanctuary yourself? We're seriously considering it.

Be aware that while taxis are plentiful in Yangon, they're scarce in Mandalay. Having said that, your hotel should be able to find a car and driver to get you around.

I now have a contact at UA tours in Yangon who books internal airfares for me. They are quite responsive by email. I've mostly just walked into a travel agent shopfront to arrange onward travel, granted I had the luxury of plenty of time.

There's a couple of trip reports I've written with names of local guides I've used. It's easy to organise things on the ground. Highly recommend Pupu in Inle Lake. She will organise a car and driver or boat and driver as the case may be.
U Naing in Mandalay had great English although you'd probably prefer a vehicle more comfy than his flat bed truck.

Happy planning, when are you going ?

Inle Sanctuary was our favorite place in our entire Myanmar trip. Book it! Don't give it a second thought! As far as booking there we had Santa Maria do it. I had been in direct contact with the place prior to working with Santa Maria and could probably have done it myself but just decided to have SM do it all for us. I did work directly with Inle Sanctuary to arrange our boat transfers though. The price they quoted was cheaper than Santa Maria could have arranged for us.

The one hotel Santa Maria did not book for us was the Mandalay City Hotel in Mandalay. I had booked that online through booking.com when I saw that the small suite I wanted had become available for our dates; I snapped it up. Then, we found out we couldn't get any credit card to go through for payment, and it was past the time when I could cancel. I finally had to contact their corporate offices who were kind enough to hold the room for me without any payment at all, so we just paid when we arrived.

We were in a time crunch when I was trying to arrange everything and that is why I finally threw up my hands. Perhaps your cards will work online. After all of our phone calls to banks we finally did figure out one that would work from home for online transactions. If we had had more time, I could probably have put it together using exclusively that one card. It was nice though to just have Santa Maria put the logistics together as far as best sequence for what we wanted to do. I told them where we wanted to stay rather than just relying on their contracts, so perhaps we could have gotten better pricing if we just stuck with the hotels they have contracts with.

As I recall, the only problem we had while in Myanmar was when we were trying to book an ongoing flight out of Myanmar on Air Asia. We tried and tried and couldn't get it to work. I'd get to the part where I needed to put in credit card info and would get a "forbidden" message. We finally were able to book that flight when we downloaded their app and did it on our phone.

sartoric,
We're going in mid-February of next year, but that is after spending time in India in January. I booked a non-stop flight from Varanasi to Bangkok, and from there to Mandalay, and I'm trying to work out the rest of Myanmar now. I just have to end up in Yangon at the end, so that we can fly home from there.

Interesting about using an agency just to book the flights. The internal flights are the part I'm worried about getting, and I've heard stories about last-minute cancellations and a mad scramble to re-book. An agent could hopefully be a big help in such cases? So is it possible to share the email for your contact at UA, or is that not done on Fodors?

Kathie,
But just when I thought I had a workable itinerary through Myanmar, I made the mistake of looking at your trip report again and suddenly Mrauk U is becoming really hard to resist. I'm trying to figure out how much is too much for just one trip! Even though the boat trip to Mrauk U sounds like a plus, I may just be committing us to too many flights on one trip! As it was, I had worked to plot a route that only had 1 internal flight in Myanmar, because of sevral India flights...

Does anyone know if there are currently safety issues in that region?

julies,
I had actually already emailed Inle Sanctuary this morning to see about availability. So I do think we're going to do it, and thanks for telling us about it! Is the landscape there as beautiful as up in the Inle Lake area nearer to Nyaungshwe?

rje, Just write to Santa Maria. I've been to Burma 3 times and used them each time. I just write to [email protected] And usually Din or Zaw replies.

Satoric's response reminded me that we had them get a car and driver for us In Mandalay and I even had them arrange an airport transfer for us in Mandalay.

Rje, my contact has moved within the company to being an outbound guide, she loves to travel, so it's perfect for her. I now use Facebook to stay in touch with her.

If I wanted to book a domestic flight I would use their generic inbox. It's [email protected]

I've taken a fair few domestic flights over my four trips to Myanmar, the planes have all been newish, although mostly turbo props. Golden Myanmar Airlines has a jet, and I was able to book that flight myself online. There've been no incidents recently, (past four years or so), of course that is no indication of safety, could just be luck.

How much time do you have in Myanmar? Getting to/from Mrauk U is pretty time consuming. It was a fabulous experience. I'd consult with Santa Maria about whether it is advisable to go. It's always on and off advisable/inadvisable to go there.

We though about going when we were there this winter, but Mrauk U was a no-go then. In your shoes, planning and booking nearly a year in advance, I don't know if I would include it in an ironclad itinerary because lots of things could change politically in that amount of time.

sartoric,
you remind me of why I'm squeamish about flying in Myanmar! But even on dicey airlines, I know the odds of any problem are still very small (typed with fingers crossed).

Kathie,
Here's our itinerary as of now (it can still be changed).

• Mandalay (arriving on short morning flight from Bangkok) - 2 nights
• Pandaw overnight cruise to Bagan (arrives at 10am the next day)
• Bagan - 3 nights
• Inle Lake - 4 nights

Then, if we we went to Mrauk U, it would be here, flying to Sittwe, and probably staying overnight, then taking a boat to Mrauk U the next morning, then staying for 3 nights.

•And then, Yangon for 2 nights, before flying home.

I need to keep in mind this is would be coming after nearly a month in India, with a couple of days inbetween just resting in Bangkok! I don't want to do so much that amazing places start to lose their impact, but I also only have so many opportunities to go so far.

But Mrauk U seems to be very special, doesn't it?

julies,
But to your point about not knowing if it will be safe in a year, I will have to commit very soon, because if we are going to Mrauk U, I'd need to add days to the trip, and I need to get the return flights in just a few days (award flight).

Hmmm, what to do...

Whoops, I left out 2 nights from the itinerary.

We're driving from Bagan to Kalaw and staying there for 2 nights in a guesthouse.

From Kalaw it is a 1 1.2 hour drive or a longer slow train to Inle.

I'd say that if you really want to go to Mrauk U, book it. If it doesn't work out, you can cancel the reservations for that part of the trip and substitute something else for that time. When we went to Mrauk U, we didn't know if we could get there when we booked, but it all worked out. I had some ideas for what we might do instead if it didn't work out.

What time of year are you going?

Regarding Mrauk U:
I did just look at travel.state.gov and there are no official warnings for any part of Myanmar. Where else would anyone suggest l look?

Kathie,
We arrive in mid-February. I guess we need to bring some warm clothes for mornings at Inle Lake, and then warmer elsewhere?

I guess I'd better make sure any reservations for Mrauk U can be cancelled without penalty. I've never done it before, but I'm starting to think travel insurance might be warranted for this trip...

"I need to keep in mind this is would be coming after nearly a month in India, with a couple of days in between just resting in Bangkok! I don't want to do so much that amazing places start to lose their impact, but I also only have so many opportunities to go so far."

You are going to be absolutely exhausted with this schedule after a month in India. Neihter India or Myanmar is a sit-around-in-the-cafe-relaxing -with-a-glass-of-wine and watch the world go by type of place. Trust me. I know. We are old hands at India (four months in total there).

It sounds as though your trip is going to be about six weeks in total. The past four years we have done six week trips in Asia. I never have the second half of the trip completely booked (and leave it nearly open-ended) because we never know in advance how tired we will be of a certain type of activity or place.

I know we are all different, but IMO it is foolish to have yourself locked in to a non-stop sightseeing type trip for six weeks. This is not the same as a two week trip where one feels like maximizing sight-seeing non-stop. When traveling for this amount of time, you will definitely need some down time.

I am going to try to put a trip report together soon but haven't gotten around to it yet. FWIW, here was our Myanmar itinerary:

2 nights Yangon
1 night Golden Rock (another super favorite)
1 night Yangon
flight to Mandalay
3 nights Mandalay
day boat trip to Bagan (for us this one day trip was sufficient)
4 nights Bagan
2 nights Kalaw
3 nights--Inle Sanctuary (would have liked one more night)
2 nights--Nyaung Shwe
flight to Ngapali
3 nights--Ngapali (would have liked ine more night)
flight to Yangon
flight out of Myanmar

We are not typically beach people, and I vacillated for a long time about adding in Ngapali, but by this time in our trip we were definitely ready for some down time because prior to this it had pretty much been non-stop sightseeing. After Myanmar we flew to Bali for nearly three weeks (a lot of it unplanned), and we found that we just were not interested in doing the non-stop tourist type of stuff all of the time.

If you have never been to India, I think you will find that it too is pretty much non-stop sightseeing.

We used Santa Maria for our trip a few years ago. We did find you could get drivers for less than we paid SM. Re Mrauk U, when we started planning in the summer for a Jan/Feb trip, it was open and we included it in our itin. Within a couple months SM advised us we could no longer go & we dropped it form our itin. However once the time came for our trip, it had opened up again, but we decided to skip it.

I have not been to India, my husband has, and I would agree with julies comments above. We do frequently take trips of 6 weeks or longer and also completely agree with julies that at some point we need down time as we just get tired of constantly sightseeing. There is also the overload factor. I find when going to cultures very different from my own, that it is can be very intense, almost overwhelming at times. Having downtime to absorb what I am immersed in is very helpful.

FWIW I'd put the extra days in. You can spend time at Ngapali beach if Mrauk U is not accessible, or even have more time in Yangon. Downtime is easy to do anywhere (for me at least), but only you know you !

Have a look at smartraveller.com.au the Australian government travel advisory site. It currently lists Rahkine state as "reconsider your need to travel". At least it's not "do not travel" which voids any insurance you might have.

I agree with sartoric - add in the extra days, you can always find a way to use those days.

With thousands of ancient temples spread all over the country, Myanmar brings to visitors a sense of serene atmosphere wherever they are. Travel in Myanmar you will have the opportunity to visit the ancient Yangon capital; Inle lake with beautiful scenery; the city of Mandalay with attractive attractions such as Shwenandaw wooden monastery, Kuthodaw Paya temple with the world's largest book, Royal palace ... Besides, you can visit the local market and buy some of the country's most famous handcrafts such as lacquer, Buddha statue, paper umbrella, bell… All make a Myanmar heartbreaking human heart..

julies ,
<i>"When traveling for this amount of time, you will definitely need some down time."</i>

That is always good advice, and I've already built in plenty of down time into this trip. Lesson I learned from past exhausting trips!

I've been to India twice before, and love it. Before my first trip I worried because I'd heard from so many people how difficult it was going to be, so I was surprised to find how easy India actually is for travel. The first trip was exhilarating, and I loved the freedom their extensive rail system provided, with overnight trains letting us wake up to a new places. And I like the control booking everything myself there provides.

But Indian train travel can be tiring, so we won't be doing any on this trip. And we find either small Indian cities or rural India to be more relaxing (something we share with you), so only one big city on this trip.

Questions –– did you (or anyone else who has been to Inle Lake in February) notice if there are a lot of mosquitos then? And how about in Ngapali? And were you able to fly from Heho to Ngapali nonstop, or were there stops or connections?

And I hope you do write your trip report, as I always enjoy them!


yestravel,
I guess the rationale is that the extra amount one would pay for a travel agency is made up for in convenience. But I don't usually mind finding things myself locally, and actually find it fun!

sartoric and Kathy,
I think you are both right, and I'm now looking to extend our return date without making any plans that can't be changed.

I went to smartraveller.gov.au and thank you for pointing me to that website, I saw that warning there that you mentioned regarding Rakhine State. Definitely makes monitoring the situation there a must.

I have never found that local agencies in SE Asia are more expensive that DIY. Indeed, booking through a local agency cost less in Java and in Myanmar than DIY.

Kathie,
My own experience right now is that its a mixed bag. Looking at the prices offered by 2 local agencies in Myanmar, some hotels are cheaper than what I can get from booking directly, but some are more expensive, even to the point of being $75 USD per night more expensive! I understand the agencies need to make money, but in some specific instances it looks to be significantly less expensive to DIY, or at least when it comes to hotels.

But as I said, convenience has value. As does peace of mind if anything were to go wrong with a DIY booking. And in some cases, time saved while on a trip is more valuable than a little extra cost.

In India, I've never had a problem with booking hotels, airlines and trains myself. I was curious, so I just checked, and in the past I've booked and stayed at over 30 hotels in India without any problems. And for this upcoming trip another group of hotels in India, and hopefully there will be no problems with these, either.

But my concern that Myanmar might be a different animal was why I started this thread in the first place!

I agree with rje -- mixed bag. And yes, I do expect to pay for the convenience of using a TA. We've used TA's upon occassion. Mostly we book everything ourselves but Myanmar was one place we didn't. Although I think if I went today I might do some booking on my own.

Myanmar used to be very different, these days it is less different. You might want to book some of your own hotels and have the agency book some of your hotels. (The agency won't be offended by this.) I have sometimes booked some of my own hotels in Burma when I could get better rates, but used the travel agency when they could get better rates.

I know I pay more for a car and driver from the agency than I would just negotiating, but if I am taking a day trip with a fair amount of driving, I want a reliable vehicle and a reliable driver. Pre-2011, the cars you saw on the road in Burma were old Japanese cars - ones that had do doubt been junked in other countries. Most cars were missing large parts of the interiors and exteriors. One of the few ways you could get a "whole" car was to book through an agency.

Back in the "old days" in Burma (before 2011), agencies received an allocation of rooms from each of the hotels they worked with, and their prices were better than what you could find elsewhere, When things opened up in 2011, suddenly there was so much demand that hotels didn't want to give agencies the discounted rooms. The Minister of Tourism stepped in and told the hotels that had to give the agencies a certain number of discounted rooms. I don't know what remnants of the old system still exist.

So while things have changed in Myanmar, there are still remnants of the "old days." Sometimes in surprising ways.

Keep us posted on your progress - glad to help in any way I can.

I love it -- "whole cars."

Mosquitoes in February--We saw only a couple anywhere during our entire stay in Myanmar (including Ngapali and Inle area), but we did take Malarone during our entire trip.

We flew directly from Heho to Ngapali--a 45 to 60 minute flight.

In four months (three different trips) of traveling in India we only had an agent book one hotel for us; all of the others I booked on my own. I always booked trains by myself too (and flights). Our first two trips to India we had an agency arrange for a dedicated car and driver for us for part of the trip. Our third trip to India we had hotels arrange transportation. So, you can see that in most ways our usual travel style regarding making arrangements is very similar to yours.

I am pretty picky about lodging (this doesn't mean I need top of the line), so even though we had Santa Maria book our hotels in Myanmar, it does not mean that I had them choose hotels for me in each location. I did all of the choosing just like I do when we make all of the arrangements on our own.

I agree that choosing your own hotels is important. We had Santa Maria recommend a hotel for us in Mandalay, and we liked it so much we stayed there again in 2015.

Kathie, I think we stayed at the same hotel and loved it! I couldnt imagine going with what a TA recommends without checking it out and making sure its what I will like. With Santa maria it was a mix, some I foundand had them book and some they recommended and I woudl decide if I wanted to go with it. They did come back with lower prices closer in to the trip at one hotel. I gather hte hotel may release rooms or change rates as they get closer to the date. That's something I would not of been aware of if I had booked on my own.

We had no issues with mosquitos in Myanmar, but didn't got to Ngapali.

yes, I knew someone here had stayed at the Mandalay hotel SM recommended, but I couldn't remember how it was. Glad you enjoyed it. I had the chance to see the hotels In Mandalay that are often recommended and we were glad we stayed at the Rupar Mandalar.

We also had no issues with mosquitos, but we were prepared. As I remember we had a few mosquitoes at Bagan.

Just reading along for fun from Johannesburg, South Africa as I have never been to India or Myanmar. But this is a great thread when I do decide to go. So much great deep and rich experiences. And rje, you know we are expecting another epic trip report from you. The last one from India could be turned into a best-selling travel book, so interesting and fun! Good luck with the rest of your planning!

Kathie,
You might be surprised to hear that the Mrauk U hotel you stayed in (the Princess, mentioned by you as going, I think, for around $150 per night in one of your wonderful trip reports) is now going for $672 per night, as per a TA quote! I'm afraid to even ask what their boat transfer from Sittwe is going for!

I do understand that this is a place with some unique challenges, and a limited season in which to make money, so maybe this isn't so surprising after all. Especially considering it seems to still be the best of just a few options.

But it doesn't matter, as it is looking like we will save Mrauk U for another trip and take the advice offered to relax at the end of this trip at Ngapali.

And that reminds me to thank all who have given opinions and advice here. I'm going to take advantage of all this expertise by asking more questions!


julies,
What did you think of Kalaw? Would you recommend it for us considering my wife can't trek due to leg problems? I know there is the elephant camp, but if we can't do that, is the area worth it?

And on the boat ride from Nyaung Shwe down to Inle Sanctuary, where did you make stops? I'm guessing Sagar and Thar Kaung Mwe Daung Pagoda?
Are they close to Inle Sanctuary if we wanted to wait for another day and go from there, instead of visiting during the boat ride down from Nyaung Shwe?

And on a more mundane level of details, if we make stops on the way down with luggage in the boat, does someone watch it for us?
And is there anyplace on the way to stop and have lunch?


yestravel,
regarding hotel rates getting cheaper closer to the dates, did you change to take advantage of the lower rates?
And coincidently, we chose Rupar Mandalar in Mandalay, too, as I see you and Kathie did. Or perhaps not such a coincidence, as it sounds like one of the best options.

Lolazahra,
Thank you! And if during the trip I find anything that can add to the wealth of knowledge already here, I will be sure to write about it.

Yes, we changed and got the lower rate - this was in Yangon.
Loved Rupar Mandalar - it was lovely and peaceful. Hope you like it too.

rje, I would never trust any price quote found on Trip Advertiser. Check with an agent in Myanmar for a more realistic quote. Note that the rate at the Princess is all-inclusive with excellent food and many local dishes.

The thing that seemed very expensive to me was the boat journey.

Kathie,
Maybe I shouldn't have used the abbreviation for Travel Agent (TR).
That price came from Santa Maria in Yangon 2 days ago.

oops, mean (TA)!

Wow I can't believe how much the price has gone up! Does that price include the boat?

I thought you'd find that amazing. Especially after what you paid.

I just went back to the email from Santa Maria to double-check the price, and yes, it is per night!

And the boat was referred to as something I'd need to book separately.

Also, their prices aren't all-inclusive anymore, only breakfast is included now.

Yikes!

Yikes, is right! And what's amazing is that obviously they can get that much or they would drop the price.