We recently returned from a short stay in BurmaThis was our first return to these neighboring lands since our brief visit to Yangon a few years ago. And it's safe to say that in some respects, it was like night and day, the country has changed so much in such a short time!
We came back with our heads full of images, with a few favorites and a desire to return!
Two weeks in Burma: the chosen itinerary
Since our trip was only going for a short time (relative to the size of the country), we decided to focus on just one region. The choice was made based on the local airline's usual promotions. Air Asia and our budget.
It is therefore only in the region around Yangon (Irrawaddy delta), Then the Eastern region, between Mon State and Kayin State, through which we would return to Thailand, which we were gravitating towards. Landing in Yangon vs Mandalay was cheaper and we thought it would allow us to see less visited parts of the country, as 3/4 of tourists mainly go to Bagan and Inle Lake, which we are saving for later (after all, the country is developing slowly).
Our route on a map
A few explanations regarding the map menu showing our route below (open the menu in the top left corner of the map): you can uncheck the route highlighted in blue, and you will then see:
→ The pale green squaresThese are the starting and ending points of this trip.
→ The red diamonds, which represent our stages with overnight stays.
→ The yellow stars, which are day trips/visits
As I mentioned earlier, we logically landed in Yangon and then decided to return to Thailand via the Myawaddy-Mae Sot land border, which had only recently opened, which saved us from having to go back to our starting point.
We first headed west via Pathein, to reach Chaung Tha beach, before returning east, passing respectively through Bago, Kinpun (Golden Rock), Mawlamyine and then the steep mountains of Hpa An.
With a few details, here's how we structured our days:
- Day 1 Arrival in Yangon + journey to Pathein (1 night)
- Day 2 : journey to Chaung Tha + walks around the main beach (3 nights)
- Day 3 : Discover the mangrove and surrounding village with a local guide
- Day 4 : motorbike ride between Chaung Tha and Ngwe Saung
- Day 5 : return to Yangon (3 nights)
- Day 6 : rediscovering the essence of Yangon
- Day 7 : a short trip to the outskirts of Yangon
- Day 8 : travel + visit to Bago (1 night)
- Day 9 : journey to Kinpun (1 night)
- Day 10 Early morning – Kyaiktiyo and the Golden Rock / Afternoon – travel then visit to Mawlamyine (1 night)
- Day 11 : a few visits to Mawlamyine then travel to Hpa An (3 nights)
- Day 12 : visits around Hpan An (Mount Zwegabin and several caves)
- Day 13 : visits to sites around Hpan An (Kyaut Ka Latt pagoda and other caves)
- Day 14 : return journey to Thailand via Myawaddy-Mae Sot
Budget for two weeks in Burma
As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words… no, no, you can't fool a thousand words, but a picture can… (sorry, I have vanninitis, the disease of bad jokes…):
Total Budget: 30,403 ฿ (758€) or 2,172 ฿ (54€) / day (for 2)
[To put things in context, that was 10 years ago!]
As can be seen, the largest budget, by far, accommodation, with an average of 1000 baht (€25)/day. We stayed in fairly basic hotels, the cheapest being $12 per night, while the most expensive cost us $45.
Speaking of money, you can relatively forget your dollars If you travel to Burma. While US dollars were once almost essential, the local currency, the Kyat (pronounced Tchiatte), is today mostly usedIt's quite simple, apart from 2 hotels where we were able to pay directly in Uncle Sam's currency, the rest was a no-go.
The consequence of this? We had only exchanged our baht into dollars… which we could not spend as planned, so we had to exchange them as we went along, losing fees because of the double exchange (baht-dollars then dollars-kyats).
Some pointers:
- A bottle of water costs an average of 400 Kyats
- A meal costs an average of 3 Kyats per person.
- Motorbike rental: between 6 and 000 Kyats
- On average the bus cost us 7 Kyats per person.
- For taxi rides, expect to pay an average of 4 Kyats
- Average price for tours: 10 Kyats
Getting around Burma: don’t be in a hurry!
Overall, the distances remained quite short for our itinerary. The longest journey was made between Kinpun (at the foot of the Golden Rock mountain) and MawlamyineAnd even though it's only about 150 km, it took us almost 4 hours… That was the whole point, to avoid too much long travel.
The roads are not yet sufficiently developed and we are still far from the fluidity of the neighbouring country (Thailand can boast of having an excellent road network).
As for bus styles, it varies; sometimes you'll get older local buses, other times newer ones with air conditioning (please!). Taxis are now almost all standardized, with fairly recent vehicles, mostly from Japan (with right-hand drive… even though they've been driving on the right since 1970…) and Chinese motorcycles.
So, what's the verdict on Burma?
From the country's "opening up"Prices have skyrocketed (some hotels have tripled their rates!), and while tourism is still in its infancy, changes have been observed [Editor's note: things are more complicated after 2021.In particular, all those brand-new shops selling… smartphones, which everyone has already become addicted to…
It seems trivial, but given what we observed during our quick visit before 2010, it's as if the country went from the 60s to the 2000s in less than 5 years... a shock.
- I discuss this in my article on Yangon: Return to Yangon: A city in full metamorphosis
Another point that has changed is the much heavier road traffic, especially in Yangon, which, like any large city, is now plagued by traffic jams on some major arteries.
But the Burmese people remained true to their character, always warm and welcoming. We had some wonderful encounters, beautiful rides (and as someone who loves getting around freely on two wheels, I was in heaven!), and I sincerely regret, as I write these lines, that the country has descended into a civil war that jeopardizes the possibility of reliving these moments.
But I have no doubt that the future can only be better. All the best to them!
26 Comments
Hello Romain!
I would like to visit Burma this winter! I would like to know if you had any problems with electronic items, if you brought any with you. Can you bring a laptop + cell phone + Nikon? I read that it was possible that the authorities would not let us enter the country with… Thank you! Great blog, the articles are really interesting for beginners of the trip!
Hello,
No problem, the country has opened up since then and this information is a bit dated... Thanks for the compliment!
Hi! I have a great passion for Myanmar. I love everything about this country: the culture, the landscapes, the people, the religion, etc. I am very excited to read your shares. Thank you very much:)
Wow, Burma looks like an interesting country.
Hello Romain
I'm currently in Nepal and would like to spend 15 days in Myanmar before going to Thailand. However, flying directly from Nepal is expensive; is there another way to do this? Would it be better to stay in the north or the south, or are both feasible?
To get to Thailand, what transport should I use?
Do you need warm clothes?
Thank you in advance !
Hello,
When you say it's expensive, you're talking about getting to Burma I guess? Have you looked at a flight to Thailand? You might be able to get to Burma from there.
Otherwise I don't see many other solutions, because from Nepal, reaching the Burmese border will not be easy as there are some unstable areas and I don't know to what extent these are borders open to foreigners (I'm talking about the northwest of Burma).
As for where to go, if you only have 15 days, I would choose either north or south but not both. Knowing that it is in the north that you will find the "unmissable" places, Bagan, a trek to Kalaw, Inle Lake. You can always make a detour via Yangon and then at least see Hpa An, before joining Thailand via Myawaddy – Mae Sot. Doable by shared taxi, see my article here.
No real need for very warm clothes but at least a sweater, something with long sleeves, it can still be chilly in the mountains at night.
Hello,
We are two friends and we are leaving for 3 weeks in Asia in July 2016, the first two in Burma, then we would like to rest for 5-6 days in a heavenly place in Thailand before leaving again, knowing that we are taking a round trip Paris-Bangkok, do you have a particular island to suggest in Thailand (so as not to waste too much time in transport to reach Bangkok on the way back), and is it better to return from Burma by plane to Bangkok or is there a better way to reach an island (or any quiet, nice and heavenly place combining beaches and nature hiking!)?
Thank you very much!
The fastest will certainly be the plane. For the islands, either you opt for the plane and suddenly you can go almost anywhere, by taking a flight to Phuket, Krabi or Samui directly. And from one of these countries, sail around (like Koh Lanta from Krabi, Koh Phangan from Samui etc.). Otherwise, you would have to stay in the islands close to Bangkok, Koh Samet for example, there would also be Koh Chang or Koh Kood; but this area is particularly wet during the rainy season.
Hello Romain, your blog is great, and the information is of good quality...
I'm writing to ask if you could estimate a budget for one month in Myanmar? I'd like to go there with my best friend in February, but we're having trouble figuring out the cost of the trip… we'd like to travel simply, just decent, clean rooms, and enough to eat… your advice would be very helpful 🙂
Thank you for your reply…
Hello,
I thought the article was sufficiently explicit in itself... if I base myself on my experience, which was over a period of 15 days, you would therefore have to double the amount in question for a budget over a month, i.e. around €1600 for 2, €2000 if you want a margin should be enough.
Hello Romain,
Thank you for this blog, which is full of information and beautiful photos. Could you tell me if the bus network covers the entire country, like in Sri Lanka, for example? And regarding trains, have you taken any? Is it easy? Because everyone seems to say it's better to travel by plane, but I'm not keen on that at all, unless the price difference justifies it! Also, you say I don't need to exchange money for dollars? I suppose you can exchange euros for kyats directly in Bangkok…
Thank you for your answer
Hello Marie !
The bus network normally serves the entire country, but the road network is in poor condition and getting from one point to another takes time... hence the general preference for the plane, if only to connect Yangon to Mandalay.
In my case, having only visited the southern part of the country, I had settled for the bus. I only took the train to do part of the loop around Yangon, not to go outside… We were supposed to take it to get to Bago from Yangon but as we couldn't find the right times before and we weren't helped much on site (at the ticket office at least) we fell back on the bus…
The Kyat is not a legal tender. This means you won't find it outside of Myanmar. Exchange your money at the airport if you arrive via Yangon. If you're traveling overland from Thailand, get some US dollars in Bangkok but exchange them for Kyats as soon as possible.
Thank you, Romain!
I'll check out your articles!
Hello Romain
I really enjoyed your trip,
I am leaving for Burma and Thailand, I will stay 28 days in Burma.
I would like to ask you two questions:
Is it easy to change euros or do we need to bring dollars?
we will enter Thailand at the Mae Sot border. To go to Myawaddy, is it better to do it from Hpa an or Mawlamyine? If we leave from Mawlamyine we have to go to Hpa an?
thank you in advance
Maria
Hello Maria,
Overall, dollars should be preferred to euros for Burma, but not having noticed, I can't say but I think that euros are accepted at least in banks and at the airport.
To reach the border, you will have to go through Hpa An anyway, which I recommend you visit!
See articles on Hpa An: 1er day et 2th day
And on the border crossing: http://www.thailande-et-asie.com/traverser-frontiere-terrestre-birmanie-thailande-myawaddy-mae-sot/
Hello Romain,
Thank you for sharing this information.
I am starting to prepare my next trip for September, about two weeks.
I hesitate between Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka
If you had to make a choice, which of these countries would you choose first?
Budget-wise, is there a big difference?
thank you in advance
Sandrine
Hello and thank you !
If I had to choose, it would be Indonesia, for the simple reason that in this season (September) the climate will be good! In Burma and Thailand it is in the middle of the rainy season (even if not insurmountable) and in Sri Lanka, from the west coast to the east the climate will differ. Budget-wise there is not really a big difference.
Great article Romain! Thanks a lot, your information will be very useful to us because Burma is in our plans for 2015.
Thanks! Great project! Burma is a destination that is better to discover now before it has changed too much (even if I think that the country should remain ignored by mass tourism for a while longer, as Laos still is)
Well done, good subject,
Happy Holidays
Thank you, happy holidays to you too!
Thank you for this article which is very useful to us. We are thinking of going to Burma in early 2015.
Regarding your budget, do you think it is easy to spend less? Around 15-20 euros per person per day?
Have a good day
Easy? Not easy, for sure it is possible to reduce the budget at the hotel level by being satisfied with a little simpler, as mentioned in the article, it is possible to find hotels at 12-15$ but it is very basic… After by eating a little less it can also reduce. Targeting 20€ seems to me possibly feasible, 15€, I don't think so.
Thank you!
Hi Romain and thanks for this article!
I was in Burma a little over a year ago, I loved this country, very "quiet" in terms of the number of tourists compared to Thailand! I did the basic itinerary, starting from Mandalay, to end in Yangon, making a detour via Mawlamyine. The bus was hell for me, I remember that on the journey between Bagan and Kalaw, the people around me were all throwing up... It was a very long journey!!
Good continuation 🙂
Pauline
Hi Pauline,
The bus journeys are long but it was bearable for us, no vomit to report! Merry Christmas by the way and good luck with your travels too!