Off to my 59th country this week: Myanmar (Burma). We are following a fairly standard tourist trail. We fly into Mandalay in the North, then travel down to Bagan and then visit Yangon.
It has been only fairly recently that travel has been opening up for tourists not travelling in tourist groups!
So excited!
My visited Countries April 2014
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very cool.
its at the top of my list.. the planning alone is pretty daunting
Have a blast! I went as a backpacker back in 2009 and had a great time. It was unspoiled and more locals went to temples than tourists. I went around this time as well and it was the water festival so I hope you guys enjoy!
What made Myanmar tourist-group friendly back in the day is because tourists can pay tour groups via credit card beforehand and have everything taken care of (transport, food, lodging.) When I went as a backpacker, I had to bring $100 USD brand new crisp notes since there were no ATMs in the country and they won’t accept any bills with rip/tear. Though I stayed in Myanmar for 2 weeks, I was always cautious with what I had to spend since I only had a limited amount of money and if someone stole this cash from me, I’d be out of luck.
That Burma is just opening to non-group travel is a misconception of many. My wife and I went Burma 6 years ago by ourselves.
ABSOLUTELY make sure you have VERY new bills – I did NOT and thus We left Burma early with about $3,000 as this money was not PERFECT. Went to Thailand and had no problem spending those $.
Also be carful of buffets in Burma – we ate at one and we were both VERY sick the next day.
Absolutely eat Mohinga and other Burmese breakfast food – very delicious.
Bagan is great – highly recommend seeing the sites by bike.