If you intend to enter any temple, and let’s face it, you’re in Myanmar so of course your going to go into a temple or two, you need to think about what you are going to wear. There are strict rules in place prohibiting footwear of any description when entering temples, including socks, so be prepared and wear footwear that you can walk around in for a long time but can also take off and put on easily. And don’t think you can get away with it because a temple appears to be deserted. Many of them, especially in the Bagan area, have family guardians who will enforce the rules. If you’re not used to this, it can be disconcerting walking around bare footed in an ancient temple that’s completely open to the elements, but you do get used to it quickly.
I ended up wearing either flip flops (thongs, jandels whatever you want to call them) and my old faithful converse trainers which got so wrecked I ended up binning them on the way home. Don’t even try to wear socks. It’s especially important to choose your footwear carefully in Bagan if you’re planning on temple hopping. The two most popular forms of transport to move between the thousands of temples are bicycle and E-Bike (an electric scooter/moped). If you’re not comfortable riding these, you’re likely to put your feet down whilst travelling (and even if you are comfortable, the ground is extremely sandy and rough), and this can be dangerous if you’re not wearing footwear that provides sufficient protection.
There are equally strict, although somewhat more vague, rules about what you wear above the feet. Most temples will require both men and women to cover their knees and wear tops which at least have a small sleeve (i.e. a t-shirt). My other half found that his knee length shorts were fine, however my above the knee shorts were not. Wearing trousers is an option but heat becomes an issue as South East Asia is hot and sticky especially when you are travelling from the rainy UK and not used to it. My thin, cotton, haream pants became my saviour on this trip (they also kept the mosquitoes off my legs), although on the hottest days I ended up wearing shorts. The best thing to do is either buy a Longyi or carry a wide scarf in your back pack so that you can wrap it round like a skirt when needed.
Speaking of back packs, having one is handy if you don’t want to leave your shoes at the temple entrance (although bring a plastic bag in which to put your shoes so as not to get dirt in your back pack) and to carry water, which you’ll need (there are small markets located near the largest and most popular temples where water and other drinks can be purchased). Some temples do have clothes you can loan whilst walking round if needed, there are also loads of locals selling ‘elephant pants’ this seemed to be a must have for any backpacker in South East Asia, I ended up buying a pair (even though I was not backpacking), and they were great.
Before going to Myanmar I was also concerned about offending the locals with my western clothing, particularly as a women in a fairly conservative country. I need not have worried, there were loads of people wearing shorts above the knee but not too short and vest tops, just don’t go too skimpy.
Travelling around Myanmar has become easier, and some would say safer, over the past few years as the number of tourists and domestic Airlines has grown. We travelled exclusively on Air KBZ flights throughout Myanmar, mainly because I could book online, from overseas, for flights almost a year in advance.
Flights in Myanmar operate more like buses. They continuously run a certain route and you may have to stay on the plane for several “stops” before you reach your destination. Therefore, it’s important you board the correct plane, which may not be labelled with your destination (remember that the flight stops at several airports but the boarding signs will only note one, check the flight number carefully), and that you get off the plane at the right airport.
We took a fairly typical route around Myanmar. Starting in Yangon (RGN) we first flew to Nyaung-U (NYU, serving the Bagan area), then to HeHo (HEH, serving Lake Inle), on to Thandwe (SNW, serving Ngpali) before returning to Yangon for an international connection. This may look like an inefficient route on the map, but it’s well served by the airlines and direct flights are available regularly along the various legs (meaning you don’t have to remain on the plane whilst other passengers board and unboard, along with their luggage, at other airports). Using well served routes also gives you some contingency for when, inevitably, flights are delayed.
Having spent a few days in Yangon we headed to Yangon Airport (RGN) for our first domestic flight to Nyaung-U airport (NYU), which serves the Bagan area.
Yangon CIP Lounge
At the time of flying, Yangon domestic terminal was housed in an older building next door to the brand new international terminal building. Check in was quick and efficient and it was the only flight for which we had printed board cards and seats allocated. We were also given a sticker each as once you have cleared security there are no departure boards. Instead, when a flight is due to board a member of the airline will walk around the departure lounge with the flight number written on a board, this is your cue to line up for boarding. There were a couple of occasions where some passengers had missed the call to board, this is where the stickers come in handy as each sticker identifies which flight you are due to be on. The ground crew simply walked around the departure lounge looking at the stickers to identify the tardy passenger. It was also reassuring to see other passengers with the same sticker as you still in departures – if you’re the only one left with your colour sticker, you’ve probably missed your flight. We had quite the collection of stickers by the end of the trip.
The ground crew also manually transported checked bags to a small cart for loading on to the aircraft – no luggage belts here! The flight was delayed by about 20 minutes which was not a huge issue but a bit of an annoyance and added to the sense of uncertainty surrounding boarding.
Yangon Domestic Terminal Departures
All of the planes were ATRs of various ages (propeller powered aircraft), but none were so old I was worried and all appeared well maintained. The crew were friendly, efficient and spoke moderately good english. Even though the flight was only 1 hour 20 minutes we were served a meal, which was a tasty fish paste roll along with a boiled sweet for landing and a slice of cake. The aircraft are single class, all economy, and the ticket cost approximately £100 per person.
Baggage collection in Bagan was basically a room to which some porters bought the baggage on trollies then put in the middle of the room for people to collect. When you exit the baggage claim area right next the the exit of the terminal is a desk where you are required to buy a Bagan Archaeological Zone pass for 25,000 Kyats per person.
The next flight we took was to HeHo (near Lake Inle) from Nyaung-U (NYU to HEH). Check in here was again very efficient, this time the luggage is weighed on a scale and a tag placed on the bags which are then stacked together in front/next the the check in desk, it felt a bit weird to do this especially if you are used to belts whisking away your luggage, that said we never had an issues. Again you collect your sticker and boarding card – this time it’s a hand written card as seen in the picture. The departure lounge in Nyaung-U is basic but air conditioned. There was little to no information available in the departures lounge and in fact our flight was 45 minutes late, with no communication from the airline to inform us of this. Once we were eventually up in the air we were again, despite the short flight time, provided a snack in the form of a a pastry. The cost of the flight was approximately £80 per person.
Heho is the nearest airport to Lake Inle, which deserves a separate post, so look out for it. The drive from Heho to the hotel (Sanctum Inle) was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. We arranged transport through the hotel, which attracted a premium but took the hassle out of finding a taxi. On arrival we also had our first experience of immigration (even though this was a domestic flight) which was quick and efficient given the relatively small number of passengers.
After a few days in Lake Inle our next destination was Ngpali, a beach resort. We flew in to Thandwe Airport (SNW), about a 15 to 20 minute drive from the beach where all the hotels are located. Check in again was efficient and similar to that at Nyaung-U. Departure at HeHo was a little more chaotic, there were a number of airlines with flights departing within minutes of each other meaning the departures lounge was busy and overcrowded. Our flight was delayed by about 30 minutes and again there was little information available. Due to the number of flights leaving at the same time I found you had to be especially vigilant to ensure you didn’t miss the call to board. You can see from the video how boarding works.
The flight from Inle to Ngpali (HEH to SNW) cost approximately £95 per passenger.
Again despite the short flight time we were provided with a small snack, this time a pastry with some kind of egg cake. Once we arrived in Thandwe we again had to go through immigration, this time with a longer queue. Bagage collection in Thandwe was interesting and were it not for the driver our hotel provided I would never of guessed you have to leave the main building, turn left, walk 50 metres, and collect your bags from a gate next to the carpark. You can see in the below photo where luggage collection is – it’s not marked or sign posted in anyway so far as we could see.
The location of luggage collection at Thandwe Airport
Our final Domestic flight in Myanmar was the one that caused me the most concern. We had an international flight connection to make in Yangon and given the accuracy of departure times I had experienced so far, I was worried we might miss it. As such the day before we were due to fly I decided to move my flight an hour earlier, having no idea how well the KBZ customer service would be I chose to book the earlier flight using the website, then email to KBZ to cancel the original booking and get a refund. KBZ customer service was very efficient and replied almost immediately to confirm the cancellation and the 75% refund (which arrived in my bank account 2 weeks later – a hit I was willing to take to ensure the international connection). Thandwe airport is fairly new and there was building work still being carried out. There is a two story departure area here with a balcony upstairs however most passenger stayed downstairs as this was where the call to board was made. Again despite the short flight time we were provided with a snack this time a chicken sausage in a roll and a cake. This flight cost approximately £95 per person.
Baggage collection in Yangon Domestic terminal
The flight was again late in departing but my new booking would now allow us 3.5 hours between landing in Yangon domestic terminal and departing to Bangkok from the international terminal. When we arrived in Yangon airport late and waited what seemed like an age to collect our luggage I was glad we changed the flight time – I would recommend leaving more time than you would normally for connections due to the unreliability of the flights and inefficiencies in baggage collection in Myanmar. Once we had our luggage we then had to find the way to the correct part of the international terminal, a helpful taxi driver hoping to pick up some passengers knew exactly where we needed to go (out of the domestic arrivals building, turn left) and pointed it out to us. It was a 2 minute walk and once you are on the path its pretty hard to get lost.
Baggage collection in Yangon Domestic terminal
Overall my experience of domestic flights in Myanmar was a positive one, yeah you can pretty much guarantee every flight will be delayed by some amount of time (every single one of our flights was delayed) but it allowed us to travel great distances in a very short time meaning we made the most of the time we had available in the Country. Do I think we missed out of seeing the world pass us by on a train or bus, maybe, but if you have the budget and are limited by the time you’re spending in the country, I would absolutely recommend flying.
Before travelling to Myanmar I had read that getting cash may be an issue, that the country was moving away from the US dollar and trying to increase the use of Kyats (pronounced similar to “chat”). As we were travelling around South East Asia we took bunch of crisp US Dollars (USD) to both spend and exchange when we arrived in countries with closed currencies. On arrival at Yangon airport (international terminal) there is a row of currency exchangers right outside arrivals with various different rates on show in the windows relating to different currencies. I chose the one with the best and duly asked for the amount I wanted. Now this is the important bit if you have new (the ones with the blue strip down the middle), pristine, dollar bills of higher values (i.e. $100) you will get a better exchange rate. The exchange rate I got at the airport using my shiny new $100 bills was the best I saw in my entire time in the country. I also took bunch of smaller bills which I didn’t exchange to use as well.
So how much kyat do you need? Well we stayed in fairly good hotels which were all pre booked through Agoda. You can guarantee a booking without having to pay until a couple of days before your check in date and the cancellation policies are also pretty good if your plans change, which ours did. As these were all paid for through Agoda I didn’t have to worry about carrying the cash to pay for my accommodation. There were a couple of hotels I had booked direct and all of them took either VISA or Mastercard credit cards with a small fee (about 2-3%), as I said these were all fairly good hotels so I am not sure what others would be like. The only thing I therefore needed cash for was local transport, food, souvenirs etc. When I ate at the hotels or booked something though them they always wanted USD and weighted the exchange rate to Kyat to encourage the use of USD (anywhere from 10 to 30%), however when we were out and about at local restaurants, or in markets, the use of either Kyat or USD was accepted although I always got the impression the USD was preferred even by the locals.
Notwithstanding the above, most foreigners have to pay to enter temples or the reservations at Inle and Bagan and for these, Kyat was the currency of choice.
Transport was cheap, with a taxi ride across Yangon costing around £2. Food varied depending on the sort of restaurants you frequent. You could easily pay £30+ for a meal for two in a decent hotel. Meals in local restaurants were a fraction of that and two people can easily eat and drink for less than £10. The usual warning apply to eating in, and booking things through, hotels. A car from the airport to the hotel cost roughly four times more than a local taxi in Yangon, but you might want to take this option when first arriving for the sake of convenience.
I didn’t actually use all the cash I had with me but there were ATMs in almost every hotel I stayed in and there were a few dotted around in the bigger towns. In terms of my credit card working in Myanmar, I tested all of mine which included MasterCard (with Lloyds Bank), VISA (with Barclay card), my other half also used his HSBC VISA with no issues. American Express was not accepted.
If you do end up with some leftover Kyat when leaving Myanmar you can change it back to USD (at the slightly worse rate) at Yangon airport however you must do this before you go through security. When you are air side there are no currency exchange booths the only way to get rid of it is to spend it in the remarkably well stocked duty free with an exchange rate weighted to discourage you. I found myself in this exact position but luckily needed to replace my sunglasses so was only left with a few souvenir notes and enough for a bizarre Burger King.
