SE Asia is on my to do list as well. Every time I think about going I think about Mr. Peterman from Seinfeld. This is the kind of experience i'm looking for. Sadly, I think those days are gone for the most part.
Have you seen the Anthony Bourdain episode on Burma/Myanmar? His new show on CNN, Parts Unknown, premiered last month with an excellent episode on the country, and you should definitely watch that. (Edit: Not sure if it's available from Canadian IP addresses, but, at least in the US, you can see it for free on the CNN site: http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/antho...#autoplay=true )
He also did an episode of No Reservations on Laos, but it's several years old now. Still, for a dollar download on iTunes, it's worth watching to give you a sense of the history and stir up some anti-Americanism before you go. The Plain of Jars looks kind of cool too.
Also, I can't help you on the dilema of what to call Myanmar/Burma as the preference seems to vary from person to person, but I can at least clarify the Lao/Laos confusion since I notice that I was calling it Lao in the other thread. That's not technically wrong, but it's pretty obnoxious now that I think about it. It's Laos in English and Lao in the native tongue, so you can call it Lao when you're over there, but calling it Lao when you come back would be like telling people about your trip to "Italia."
Last edited by gargamel; 05-10-2013 at 10:41 PM.
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Bump - just finished 3 weeks in Myanmar (Burma) and it was unbelievably amazing. I won't go into detail here and now, but if anyone ever plans to travel there in the future feel free to post in this thread or PM me and I would be happy to give you a breakdown and some tips as a lot of what you'll read online is, frankly, wrong and/or outdated, things are changing very quick in that country.
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Bump - just finished 3 weeks in Myanmar (Burma) and it was unbelievably amazing. I won't go into detail here and now, but if anyone ever plans to travel there in the future feel free to post in this thread or PM me and I would be happy to give you a breakdown and some tips as a lot of what you'll read online is, frankly, wrong and/or outdated, things are changing very quick in that country.
Cool, would love to hear your thoughts (compared to Thailand, etc?) ..... funny I created this thread but I ended up going to Patagonia instead.
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Bump - just finished 3 weeks in Myanmar (Burma) and it was unbelievably amazing. I won't go into detail here and now, but if anyone ever plans to travel there in the future feel free to post in this thread or PM me and I would be happy to give you a breakdown and some tips as a lot of what you'll read online is, frankly, wrong and/or outdated, things are changing very quick in that country.
I just got my visa to go there next month. Unfortunately, it will only be for 6 days, but I'd love to hear your recommendations.
I just got my visa to go there next month. Unfortunately, it will only be for 6 days, but I'd love to hear your recommendations.
Hmmm, with 6 days you're somewhat limited of course. Have you booked your flight yet? I assume you're probably flying in Yangon, possibly Mandalay? If you're flying into Yangon I would recommend spending no more then 1 night there, it is a large, dirty Asian city, despite the culture shock being very interesting, there really isn't a ton to see. The things I would recommend seeing are the Golden Rock (likely have to spend the night there, so you might not be able to go given your timeline) and the Schwdagon Pagoda, very interesting spot and definitely worth 2-3 hours at minimum, tons to see.
The can't miss spot in Burma is most definitely Bagan, it's an amazing spot, like no other I've ever seen and I've been quite a few spots in Asia and elsewhere. I would recommend at least 2 nights in Began but realistically staying for longer would be better, if at all possible. I stayed there for 6 nights and was throughly entertained each and every day.
Mandalay is also nothing too special, nice to see for a night or two if you happen to fly in or out of there, if not I'd probably skip it. What else I would highly recommend is a doing a trek in the Inlay Lake region, if you enjoy that type of thing off course. We did a 3 day, 2 night trek but I understand you can do a shorter route and do a 2 day, one nighted as well. It was amazing and one of the best experiences I had in Burma. We went with A-1 trekking and I can highly recommend them.
If I were you (and assuming you fly into Yangon) I'd stay one night in Yangon, 2-3 nights in Bagan, 1 night trek, 1 night in Nyang Schwe (sp?) which is were the trek ends and then back to Yangon.
Hope that helps, if you're looking for any other more specific info let me know.
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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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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.
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.
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Thanks for the response kipperfan, that's very helpful! I had noticed that there seemed to be a lack of dorms in Myanmar compared to other South East Asian countries.
Were you able to pay for transport and accomodation in kyats as well? What kind of transportation did you use on your trip? I know a lot of people prefer to fly, but I have the time so I am planning to stick mostly to rail or bus. Did you fly both in and out of the country? I am hoping at to either enter or exit by land between Dawei and Kanchanaburi, Thailand; a border which apparently just opened to foreigners last year. Also, sorry that I am asking so many questions!
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Travelling to Laos and Burma
