Quote:
Originally Posted by OffsideSpecialist
I've been waffling on travelling to Burma as a part of a long trip after I finish school in December. There are a few things I have heard about that I'm interested in getting clarification about.
First of all, with respect to money, most sources say that you must bring absolutely pristine 100$ US notes that will suffice for the duration of your stay. Nothing else would be acceptable at the money changers. That concerns me as I'm not sure I would feel comfortable bringing that much money with me entirely in cash, particularly when I need to go through the extra effort of ensuring it doesn't get folded before I get to the money changer. All of that is especially true considering that Myanmar seems to be about the most expensive country in South East Asia (at least with regard to accommodation). I had been reading some more recent things that have been saying that ATMs have been starting to pop up in Myanmar, so I guess my question to kipperfan and other that have been lately would have to be - How was the money situation there? Did you find any ATMs that were usable or accepted Canadian cards at all? Really, the money situation is about the only thing that is making me hesitant to travelling there. I am kind of waffling between Myanmar and Vietnam at the moment.
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People told me the same thing about the unfolded, unblemished US cash and it couldn't have been further from the truth. 2 years ago there apparently wasn't many ATM's, but I was there six months ago and there is literally ATM's everywhere (there were ATM's at a few of the temples I visited...at temples!!!). I stepped into the airport and saw three, the first one I tried worked with my RBC card and every other one I tried (4-5 other times, throughout the country and even in remote areas) all worked as well, never an issue. The one thing that is humorous though is how much money you'll get (physically). I withdrew the equivalent of $500 Canadian on my first withdrawal and literally got a 3 inch stack of bills, enough that they wouldn't have all fit if I had 3 or 4 wallets!
And with regards to it being an expensive country, for accommodation it is somewhat expensive (though we stayed at what I would consider to be nice places, with private balconies and breakfast included for between $30-40 per night per room) in terms of other Asian countries, mostly because there are no hostels in the country, but if you really want to stay cheap there are guesthouses where you can get private rooms for less then $10 per night in most places. Not sure I'd want to stay in those places but I know of people who did and they didn't complain much. Also, the food, drinks, amenities are all so cheap (you can have a great meal, 2-3 beers and desert for under $10 at a decent restaurant) that even if you stay in nicer places you don't end up breaking the bank.
Hope that helps.