From the first step of preparing your trip to Myanmar to the time you are traveling inside this beautiful country, there are accidentally some stages that your preparation may go wrong.To assist you with better preparation, Myanmar Tours Asia would prefer to clarify the common mistakes that you will face:
1. Myanmar Visa
Since Myanmar is a neighboring country of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, travelers often think that they can do visa on arrival like they can do when they land in the mentioned country, in fact, it is not feasible.Visa to Myanmar should be done prior to the time you arrive at least 3 weeks either with visa stamp or visa approval letter. Since Sep 2014, Myanmar Government launched e-Visa to help tourists to obtain Visa to Myanmar easier via Internet and Online payment with cards.
Read our instruction for Myanmar Visa >>
2. Hotel bookings
Since Myanmar just opens the country for a short time, tourism season which lasts from Oct to April is really a difficult time to book the hotels. If you travel in this periods, advance booking should be made at least 2 months before your arrival, specially for hotel rating from 3 to 5 star standard.At the time we issued this article, most of the good hotels are fully booked in November. Please mind your travel this time unless you have hotels already.
3. Domestic bookings
At the current time, there is no electronic tickets for all domestic airlines in Myanmar, paper tickets are used and you have to keep your tickets well.The most prominent problem for airlines bookings in Myanmar is you have to pay in cash when you do ticket delivery. Credit card or online payment is not accepted yet.Booking tickets from air ticket agencies can help for this matter.
4. Pricing Matters
The biggest matter for Myanmar Trip now is the price. As the demand goes over the supplying condition, Myanmar can be known as the most expensive destination in Southeast Asia. A room at 3* hotel can varies from 50 to 80usd in winter time, while the transportation may cost up to 150usd for a long day travel.Please expect to spend more money than other countries in Asia and also cash is favorable here.
5. Itineraries
After many years working with customers from all over the word, we realize that most of customers have problems of planning their itinerary.First of all, itinerary should be based on the air or car travel route. It could be Yangon – Inle Lake – Mandalay – Bagan or Yangon – Bagan – Mandalay – Inle Lake. These routes are the most common and enjoyable.
Secondly, the itinerary should be based on your interest:
– For beach relaxation, you can flight either from Heho ( Inle Lake) to Ngapali or Yangon to Ngapali.
For Ngwe Saung Beach, only road travel from Yangon is doable.
– For trekking in Putao, you have to cross Mandalay city.To do trekking in Kyaing Tong, flights from Mandalay, Heho to Kyaing Tong are available.
– For Mergui Archipelago, flying from Yangon is the only choice.
6. Payment & Money
Recently, after the visit of US President Barack Obama, travelers now can use credit card to pay for their trip in Yangon. However, ATMs in Yangon allows them to withdraw only Kyat, local currency.
The best is still taking cash with you on the plan.
Some travel agencies like us offering online payment by credit card but not the total cost. You can pay deposit by credit card but balance should be cleared by cash.
When you travel in Myanmar, it should be better to exchange some money as many shops do not accept dollars or other currencies.
