After two weeks in Myanmar, here are some of my thoughts:
Likes
- The weather in winter is perfect in the shade and in the highlands.
- Watching day turn into night at Shwedagon Pagoda
- Small rural towns and cycling through the countryside.
- Cruising Inle Lake.
Dislikes
- It isn’t a value destination. Accommodation is expensive. Eating is also expensive compared to richer SE Asian countries (eg. USD0.80 for a bowl of noodles, USD2.50 for an Indian roti).
- Accommodation is scarce and is often fully-booked when one tries to ring ahead.
- Sights can get monotonous after a short time; they’re largely related to Buddhism. Not a criticism but bear that in mind in terms of how your plan your itinerary and time allocation.
- There is always a worry that one could run out of USD and be forever stuck in Myanmar; there are international ATMs now but it is virtually useless as with a transaction limit is around USD20 and USD5 fee!
- Depending on where one ends up staying, I found it hard to meet other travellers for the more urban parts of the journey.
Surprises
- Yangon is now very modern since my previous visit some 15 years ago.
- There is quite a noticeable uptake of smartphones.
- A lot of visitors are oldies in large groups.
- Most visitors to this “Golden Land” are in their “golden years” on group tours.
- All but one bed (dorm) were double-sheeted, unlike in many neighbouring countries where you’re up against blankets used by everyone before you.
Top Tips
- Decide where you want to visit and book your accommodation in advance.
- Reconfirm along the way. When I’m sitting in hotel receptions, it’s shocking how many people get turned away each time or have to change hotels in the same city as they can’t get all then nights they want.
Costs
My total spend in Myanmar over two weeks was USD728, of which USD379 was for accommodation nearly (nearly entirely in twin/double rooms by myself) and USD349 for general expenses. If I had travelled with a companion twinshare, the accommodation would have been USD194, making the total USD573.
On top of that, I spent USD331 for three expensive domestic flights and USD75 for the visa through an agency. Both of these were well worth it; the former because of my hip and back issues lately. And the latter saved me having to stay several days in KL or Bangkok to wait for a visa.
At the end, I only had USD84 left over. I could have been easily stranded with no money if I had been unlucky with accommodation in a couple of places, eg. having to accept a more expensive place. Like I said, hotels are very full and prices have doubled since the last version of the guidebook … and quadrupled since the version before!
Summary
There are other places I want to explore (or revisit) before I’d consider a third visit to Myanmar.
- Firstly, the attractions aren’t varied enough for me.
- Secondly, it isn’t a fun-and-value country like say Vietnam, where one can experience the culture and yet have hedonistic moments for very little money (eg. food, drink, massage, shopping).
- Don’t get me wrong, travel isn’t all meant to be hedonistic. It’s about experiencing as much of the world as possible and that I’ve done in Myanmar. But I didn’t like the fact that pricing seems so wrong for a poor country. I somehow enjoy myself better in countries like Indonesia, Pakistan and China.