Useful Information about MyanmarMyanmar Travel Essentials

We’d like to provide you with some useful travel information, which will be beneficial for you to know before coming to Myanmar and they will be of big help for your trip planning.
If you want to know about any particular information, please feel free to let us know.

1. Climatic Information

Myanmar has a tropical monsoon climate. It is characterized by strong monsoon influences, has a considerable amount of sun, a high rate of rainfall, and high humidity that makes it sometimes feel quite uncomfortable. The annual average temperature ranges from 22 degrees Celsius (72° Fahrenheit) to 27 degrees Celsius (81° Fahrenheit) year-round.

From November till February: This is the cool and dry season in most part of Myanmar, when one can enjoy a nice, bright and sunny weather with clear blue sky. This is a good season to travel as the weather is most agreeable with milder temperatures and coincident with several local festival and common international holidays. The average day temperature, in areas at sea level including Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Mawlamyine, Hpaan, Monywa, Ngapali, can be between 25 and 35 degree Celsius (or) higher but temperature at the night time and early morning is between 15 and 25 degree Celsius (or) lower. The temperature, for mountainous area such as Golden Rock, Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, Kalaw, Inle Lake, Kyaing Tong, where altitude generally is ranging from 2000 to 4000 feet (not meter) above sea level, can be slightly above the freezing point at night time and pleasantly cool during the day time. In the northern Kachin state closer to Himalayan Mountains, temperature can drop below freezing point.

From June till October: This is the monsoon season. The coastal and delta region of Myanmar received afternoon and early evening shower daily. Generally, it rains for 30 to 45 minutes and there will be sunny moments for a couple of hours and the whole process may repeat during the day. There will be less rain for the places in the middle of Myanmar such as Bagan, Monywa and Mandalay as they are located in the dry zone. However, the rainy season is also a good time to visit as a lot of areas have very pleasant rains with milder tropical temperatures with monsoon breeze. Being Myanmar is a hot and dusty country in the tropical climate; days during the rainy season generally are pleasant with less heat and less dustiness with all the scenery greener. Photographers will have great sunset and sunrise pictures due the cloud formation in the rainy season. Another good reason is that visitors would receive rainy season discounts from hotels and airlines.

From March till May: These are the hottest months, when maximum temperatures in many parts of the country exceed 40 degree Celsius.

2. Communication

International hand phones: Accessibility to international roaming can be available very limitedly in big cities and will not be possible anywhere within the country. However, developments are on the way with several investors in the telecommunication sector.

Local SIM Cards: Local SIM cards (with several top-up options) which allow international calls and internet are abundantly available at phone accessories shops at the airport and in town. There are three to four major telecom operators (MPT, OOREDOO, TELENOR, MYTEL, etc.) proving telephone and internet service in the country. All of their SIM cards are good, reasonable and reliable. Please explore the telephone and internet packages they offer by clicking the following links.

http://www.mpt.com.mm
http://www.ooredoo.com.mm
http://www.telenor.com.mm
http://www.mytel.com.mm

Wi-Fi: For house guests, hotels and restaurants provide free WiFi coverage. Internet at the hotel is pretty reliable with acceptable speed in Yangon. It can be slow in all the cities outside of Yangon. However, we have the telephone networks and internet service providers such as MPT, Telenor, Ooredoo, and Mytel, etc. Their SIM cards can be a good source of internet.

3. Costs and Prices

Cost of meals: Average Lunch (or) Dinner at decent local restaurant generally cost US$ 10 to 20 per person per meal for a set-menu sort of meal with a soup, a main dish, a side dish and a bowl of rice and a bottle of drinking water. Expensive Lunch (or) Dinner at international hotels will cost US$ 30 to 40 per person per meal for buffet meal of plenty of food with free flow of soft drinks and tea coffee.

Tips and Gratuities: Although it is not an obligatory practice, waiters at restaurants, bell-boys at the hotels and tour guides and drivers generally expect tips as a reward to their hard works. At restaurant 10% of the total amount is a general practice for tipping. At hotels and at the airline check-in counters of the airports, 1 to 2 $ to the porter, who help you carry your bags upon check-ins and check-outs. For guides and drivers, if they are attentive, friendly, knowledgeable and going out of their way to make your trip memorable, you may consider a reasonable amount as tips. Please communicate with us for a guide line of what big European tour companies generally practiced.

4. Customs and practices

Bargaining: It is needed only where prices are obviously high. In most cases where the prices are only a little above what you know to be the average, it may not worth the hassle of bargaining on a daily basis. In case of high quality clothes or fabric, intricately curved crafts, gemstones and antiques, the prices quoted generally might be more than the true price. Some suggest the following rule but may not be applicable in the shops high-end products where quality control is carefully made. You will have to find fault with the goods in question in order to give the seller the chance of lowering his/her price without a great loss of face. Throughout the process of Bargaining you must not show anger or impatience and always remember to be reasonable. Keep yourself cool and be persistent but charming. By goo-humored and give in with grace if you want to buy an item badly enough but are unable to get a lower price. Please also understand that the seller is in business and has to make a profit, not just break-even. Never bargain for an item and then leave the shop without buying it. This is a very bad bargaining manner and suggests you lack finesse. It is best to make sure that an item is something you really want before you start to bargain for a lower price. Otherwise, we will be obliged to take something which you were only vaguely interested in.

Clothing: Cool, comfortable cotton is the most suitable fabric for Myanmar’s warm, humid tropical climate. Locally made cotton is available at most destinations. For travelers heading to high altitude destinations such as Golden Rock, Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, Kalaw, Inle Lake, Kyaing Tong, Putao where altitude generally is ranging from 2000 to 4000 feet (not meter) above sea level, and if the trip consisted of taking boasts on lakes and cruising on rivers, it is advisable to take a sweater or jacket as it can be chilly at night and while taking the boats. It is wise to bring a pair of easy-to-wear and easy-to-take-off slippers (or) flip flops because there will be several shoes-off places during your days of sightseeing. Temples and pagodas are considered sacred grounds where visitors are requested not to wear any foot-wears including shoes, socks and stockings. Visitors of both genders are expected to properly dress by covering shoulders and knees while visiting religious monuments like monasteries, pagodas and temples and avoid pointing feet to Buddha images, monks and elders. Long pants and sleeve shirts are recommended especially for going out in the evening to protect you from mosquitoes.

Footwear: It is common practice to remove your footwear before entering someone's workplace or home, but it is always best to ask before entering. Removing footwear's before entering to the precincts of any religious building is a must. Shoes as well as socks and stockings have to be removed every time you enter any religious ground so it is best to wear one that are without laces or can be easily removed and put on again. Sandals ad Flip-flops will be comfortable and practical, but trainers and hiking boots with a lot of laces many not be convenient when sightseeing in towns.

The issue with regard to removing of foot-wear is a difficult and sensitive subject. In the past, it was even considered a sufficient reason to start a war when foreign diplomatic missions and missionaries did not obey prohibition of footwear.

In the neighbouring country of Thailand, shoes can be worn on the terraces of pagodas and must be removed only inside the pavilions and shrines. In (Myanmar) Burma, however, one has to leave footwear at the very entrance to pagoda, monastery and religious compounds. You therefore have to climb the stairs and walk around the pagoda terraces barefoot.

In case of large pagodas, the terraces can be clean by voluntary cleaners, but you may still tread on pigeon and bird droppings, puddles and stains and miscellaneous litter.

Greetings and Introduction: Greeting by hugging is not practiced and greetings and farewell by kissing is regarded as western culture. You may not see kissing in public even between a man and his wife. Women seldom shake hands when they are introduced to another person, males or female; she just smiles and nods her head. Handshake is common among the city dwellers in Yangon and Mandalay for introduction, greetings and farewell but, people in the rural area will find it too foreign.

5. Fabrics

Weaving is such a strong tradition in Myanmar. The fabrics of the Rakhine, Mon, Shan, Kayin, Kachin and Chin national Race, and their various sub-races are still in strong demand and are considered as Culturally Important Textile. Old pieces of fabric are now collectors' items. Some national races use strap looms while others use the ordinary hand looms but their designs and choice of colours differ.

- Textiles are generally by the yard.
- Woven (unsowed) sarong fabric and sowed one is by the piece.
- On average, this is 2 yard (1.82 meter) length and 1 yard (91 cm) width.

Lotus Fiber Weaving: This unique fabric is found only in Inlay Lake and nowhere in the world. To wave a set of robes for a monk, fibres from 120,000 stems of the dark pink lotus are needed. Lotus fibre weaving was invented about a hundred years ago by a woman who line in Inle who wanted to present the cloth as a gift to a revered abbot. About five stems are hold together in the hand and a small blade is used to circle around the whole fistful about four inches from the end. This is broken off and pulled apart so that silken filaments flow out from the cut ends. The filaments are quickly rolled into a thicker thread. The next batch is twisted onto the end of the previous one so that the thread grows I length. The yarn is watched, starched and spun before it can be woven.

Silk: There are two types os silk produced in Myanmar: the thick, heavy silk woven with one hundred or more shuttles in tranditional wavy patterns and the thin silk in ikat design or in plain colors. There is also the Kyo-Gyi-Cheik design, which is the same wavy pattern but in two colors only. They are both woven in Mandalay and its suburb, Amarapura. The thinner silk is from Inle Lake in Shan State where the ikat technique turns the hard-edged Myanmar design into softer motifs.

Cotton: Cool, comfortable cotton is available in many design and colors. The wide range of cotton cloth includes fabric that was hand woven on the strap looms by the ethnic races in their classical patterns.

6. Food

Myanmar Food: A complete meal traditionally includes a main dish of meat or fish, a vegetable dish, dips or sauce to eat with blanched or pickled vegetables and a soup. It could also include typically Myanmar's nation-marked side dishes such as crispy fried dried shrimp powder known as ba-la-chong and second or third vegetable dish. The main meat or fish will usually be in the form of a curry with an oil base. The holy trinity Ginger, Garlic and Onion together with other spices are pounded in a stone mortar with a pestle (found in every Burmese home) and then coked in oil before the meat or fish is added. Burmese loves white meats and a lot of freshwater fish. All the dishes are spread out on the table and is not served in courses. Spoonful portion of each dish are taken and placed next to the rice which is in the center of your dinner plate.

7. Health

Drinking water: It is advisable not to drink the tap water or to brush your teeth with tap water. So, please use bottled drinking water. Generally, ice cubes served at restaurant and hotels come from drinkable source of purified water. It is best to avoid raw (uncooked) vegetables. However, you can ask the hotels or restaurant to blanch in hot-water Lettuce and other leafy vegetables.

8. Insurance

Please make sure you have fully comprehensive travel insurance before coming to Myanmar as it is not available in the country.

9. Luggage allowance on domestic airs

Free luggage limit per passenger on most domestic carrier is 20 Kg for total checked baggage per passenger and 5 kg for total hand carry per passenger

10. Money

Currencies: As Myanmar is predominantly cash only country, it is advisable to bring US$ Cash. US Dollar Cash is very preferable and is widely acceptable and exchangeable compare to other currencies of the World. Euro, Sterling Pounds, and Yen are also exchangeable at money changers but are not acceptable for settlement for purchases of goods and services.

Cash: A good mix of small bills such as US$ 50s, 20s, 10s, and 5s are advisable for expenses of personal nature such as food, drinks, SIM cards, admission fees to places of interest, bike rents, boat rides, gratuities, tipping, etc. US$ 100 bills are particularly useful for exchanging into local currency as slightly higher exchange rates apply for US$ 100 bills. US$ 1 bills are not particularly useful. In case, if you need to give away 1 $ or 2 $, please use local currency. There are bills by the amount of 1000 Kyats, which is more or less equivalent to US 1$. Due to weird local banking regulation, the US Dollars Cash you bring for your personal expenses will have to be cash in new and clean bills which are of good condition and are not dirty, damage and tattered. So, please make sure you bring adequate amount of (new and clean) cash with you.

Credit Cards: Although Myanmar is predominantly cash only country, international credit cards such as Visa, Master, Union Pay and JCB have now been extensively accepted by financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses since early to the mid of 2010s. Tourist as well as business travellers can use international credit cards for cash withdrawal activities at ATMs, as well as for payment settlement activities for purchases of goods and services.

ATMs: There are thousands of ATMs across Myanmar, covering tourism hotspots such as Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan Nyaung Oo, Monywa, Kalaw, Inle, Nyaung Shwe, Taunggyi, Pyin Oo Lwin, Hsipaw, Mawlamyine, Hpaan, Ngapali and so on. ATMs are serviceable round the clock are located at airports, supermarkets, hotels, shopping centers, major places of tourist attraction, and banks. There are also currency exchange services located and available at major cities. Maximum amount per withdrawal generally is authorized up to US$ 300 equivalent amount in Myanmar Kyats, MMK (subject to change) and daily maximum amount of withdrawal generally is authorized up to US$ 100 equivalent amount in Myanmar Kyats, MMK ) or subject to the limit set up by the issuing bank. Local ATMs charge a small fee of US$ 5 equivalent amount in Myanmar Kyats (MMK) for each transaction.

Banks: Banking system in Myanmar is not yet functioned in compliance with International electronic banking networks. All monetary Institutions around the world have to follow restriction NOT to wire money to banks in Myanmar due to Economic Sanction imposed against Myanmar by US government as part of the carrot-and-stick approach in dealing with international trade and politics to accomplish US foreign policy and economic pressure, national security goals. However, as businesses cannot abstain not dealing with banks and as bank to bank Telegraphic Wire Transfer generally is a smoother channel of payment, most businesses big and small in Myanmar use international banks based in neighbouring countries for accepting payment. Please communicate with us for the banking procedure for payment we used with affiliated banks in other countries in the region.

11. Travel Documents

Passport and Visa: All visitors to Myanmar are required to carry a valid passport and a Myanmar visa. The passport must be valid for six months beyond the intended length of stay. Application for Entry visa into Myanmar may be made at any Myanmar embassy or consulate. However, it is advisable to apply at the Myanmar Embassy or consulate of the traveler’s country of residence. If that cannot be done, application at Myanmar Embassy at any other country would also be advisable. For the application process, the requirements of supporting documents and time taken for the application can be slightly varied in different Myanmar embassy in different countries; it is advisable to check with Myanmar Embassy before application. If the embassy asked for a confirmed itinerary as a supporting document, we will be able to provide one once the services have been booked through us. We can also be contacted for more information with regards to the current updates on extension of visa and policy on overstay.

There are (3) kinds of visa we can provide for you.

(1)Individual visa
(2) E Visa
(3) Package Tour Visa

(1). Individual visa

This visa is issued by a Myanmar Embassy or Consulate. You don’t need an invitation letter for it, usually it takes 3-5 working days to issue this visa.

(2) eVISA is Now Available in Myanmar

The eVisa system was developed to make it easier and hassle free for foreign visitors to Myanmar to apply for a visa conveniently from anywhere. The system has been a key milestone in the Myanmar policy to encourage more visitors to the country.

eVisa Applying, you can directly apply visa at http://evisa.moip.gov.mm

Easy eVisa Application Steps

1. Submit your eVisa application on http://evisa.moip.gov.mm
2. Enter all personal information and submit
3. Make online payment for visa fee
4. Receive acknowledgement email for payment and visa application submission. Application completed successfully.
5. Receive approval letter via email within 3 working days.
6. Print out approval letter and enter Myanmar

Common Cause of Rejection

1. Improper photos: Photo not showing applicant's face clearly or multiple persons inside
2. Name and Address of Accommodation in Myanmar is not registered Hotel, Motel Inn or Resort
3. Invalid passport numbers
4. Passport validity 6 months

● For more information please go to http://evisa.moip.gov.mm and information on restricted area go to http://evisa.moip.gov.mm.

● For more information please go you will need the following before you apply:
(a) Your passport validity must have at least (6) months.
(b) You have to upload one color photo (4.8 x 3.8 cm) taking during last (3) months.
(c) You will need your visa or master credit card for the payment of USD 50.

● Visa processing information
  (a) The validity of eVisa approval letter is 90 days from the issued date. If it is expired, entry will be denied.
  (b) Length of stay is (28) days from the date of arrival in Myanmar.
  (c) eVisa service is none refundable
  (d) You will receive an email acknowledgement within 1 hour after successful payment.
  (e) The processing time is upto (3) working days.

● If the applicant has child (ren) under (7) years old on the same passport, you have to put the name of that child, date of birth in the minor section of the application form.

● eVisa is currently only available to Tourist seeking entry into Myanmar. If you are seeking entry for business meetings, seminars purposes please apply at a Myanmar Embassy in your respective country.

● Tourists must stay in registered hotels, motels, inns, guest house and resort during your stay in Myanmar. Staying at any other type of accommodation or resident is prohibited.

● The applicant should complete individual personal data whether passenger is FIT or package tour.

● eVisa is only valid for a single entry. Re-entry will require a new visa.

● eVisa passengers can enter/ exit myanmar via any of the three major international airports
- Yangon International Airport
- Nay Pyi Taw Internation Airport
- Mandalay Internatioanl Airport
More entry gates will be allowed with official notice in http://evisa.moip.gov.mm

● If you are visiting Myanmar via cruise, please contact your tour agent for Pre-arrangement Visa on Arrival. You will not be able to use eVisa to enter Myanmar via seaport.

● If the decision is not allowed to entry, you may return by the same flight.

● Ordinary passport holders from the following countries are giving visa exemption for 14 days –
(a) Brunei
(b) Cambodia
(c) Indonesia
(d) Laos
(e) Philippines
(f ) Vietnam
(g) Thailand
(h) Singapore

●100 Countries are applicable for online Tourist eVisa.

No.	Country Name	No.	Country Name
1.	Argentina	35.	Latvia
2.	Australia	36.	Lithuania
3.	Austria	37.	Luxembourg
4.	Bangladesh	38.	Malaysia
5.	Belgium	39.	Malta
6.	Brazil	40.	Mexico
7.	Brunei	41.	Mongolia
8.	Bulgaria	42.	Nepal
9.	Cambodia	43.	Netherlands
10.	Canada	44.	New Zeland
11.	Chile	45.	Norway
12.	China	46.	Pakistan
13.	Colombia	47.	Panama
14.	Croatia	48.	Peru
15.	Cyprus	49.	Philippines
16.	CZECH	50.	Poland
17.	Denmark	51.	Portugal
18.	Egypt	52.	Romania
19.	Estonia	53.	Russia
20.	Finland	54.	Saudi Arabia
21.	France	55.	Serbia
22.	Germany	56.	Singapore
23.	Greece	57.	Slovakia
24.	Hungary	58.	Slovenia
25.	India	59.	Spain
27.	Ireland	61.	Sweden
28.	Israel	62.	Switzerland
29.	Italy	63.	Thailand
30.	Japan	64.	Turkey
31.	Korea, DPR	65.	United Kingdom
32.	Korea, Republic	66.	United States of America
33.	Kuwait	67.	Venezuela
34.	Laos	68.	Vietnam

● The following (32) countries are permitted to apply eVisa from 02/Jan/2015;

No.	Country Name	No.	Country Name
1.	Albania	17.	Iceland
2.	Algeria	18.	Jamaica
3.	Belarus	19.	Jordan
4.	Bhutan	20.	Kazakhstan
5.	Bolivia	21.	Kenya
6.	Bosnia	22.	Kyrgyzstan
7.	Cameroon	23.	Maldive
8.	Costa Rica	24.	Mauritius
9.	Côte d’Ivoire	25.	Monaco
10.	Ecuador	26.	Morocco
11.	Eritrea	27.	Qatar
12.	Fiji	28.	South Africa
13.	Georgia	29.	Uganda
14.	Ghana	30.	Ukraine
15.	Guatemala	31.	Uruguay
16.	Guinea	32.	Uzbekistan