Lonely Planet Country Guide Myanmar (Burma) (Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma)) [ペーパーバック]

This review is for the Dec 2011 edition of LP Myanmar (Burma). I traveled around Myanmar in early December 2011 with the 2009 guide. This guide came out two weeks after my return, and I bought it out of curiosity; I have some comments on the update. More comments may be added as updates later.

CHANGING MYANMAR

Have you been watching the news?

Aung Sun Suu Kyi released, Oct 2010
NLD Party (Aung Sun Suu Kyi's party) Ends Boycott on Myanmar Tourism
Hillary Clinton becomes first secretary of state to visit since the 1950s, in December 2011
651 political prisoners released, January 2012

Myanmar is changing rapidly in what is supposed to be a transition to openness and democracy. There is wide-spread hope that "The Lady" will be able to run again for the top office in 2015, and unlike 1990, allowed to run without interference from the military junta. People are putting up pictures of "The Lady" and even her father without recrimination from the current government.

Tourists have little to fear from the current government, so long as there is no suspicion that you are a journalist. I carried three cameras and other equipment with no problems. Indeed, the government requires more income, and is exploiting tourist fees (get used to it) as a means of getting it.

THE UPDATE: LPMB 2011 (my abbreviation for this book, LP Myanmar (Burma) 2011)

It makes a lot of sense for LP to update the book at this time: much has changed since the 2009 edition was published. This book has always had discussion about whether to go. Obviously with the boycott lifted and other political changes, there is no reason not to go, and plenty of reasons to do so soon.

The exchange rate for kyatt to US dollars changed dramatically, and continues to change. It is more expensive now than in 2009, and I expect the kyatt to continue its rise in value. When LPMB 2009 was published, the grey market exchange rate was 1,200 kyatts to the US dollar. LPMB 2011 lists 785 kyatts to the dollar. One could expect an increase of 1200/785 or about 52% increase on average between the prices listed in 2009 and 2011 editions. When I visited in early December 2011, it was around 770 kyatt to the dollar, so I guess that the book went to press just a couple of weeks before I arrived.

Many businesses catering to tourists will take payment only in crisp, clean, new US dollars or Euros. Since the exchange rate changed, as you can imagine, the places taking dollars now charge more of them.

Unfortunately, LPMB 2011 does not seem to be up-to-date on dollar costs for important things like the cost of a taxi to or from the Yangon airport to the Bogyoke Market area. In one place, they say $8, in another, they say $7. $8 is the price listed in LPMB 2009 - in other words, LP is saying the price has not changed. I tried to get this rate from taxi drivers four times (twice of each to and from the airport) and was informed that the price is now $10. I don't think this is a matter of haggling: I think the taxi drivers have agreed on the new price. It could be a very recent change, but I think LP missed this one.

The prices listed for Teakwood Guest House in Nguangsche (Inle Lake area), which is a "TOP CHOICE" place - are also out of date. LP MB 2011 says that rooms are $10-25. Mrs. Tin showed me rooms at $50, $40, and $35 per night. She explained that prices were higher because it was high season. Personally, I think this place is way above market rates and is not a good value at these prices, in part because it has been TOP CHOICE for 2009 and 2011. I know I could have gotten a better room in a better cared for hotel for the same price. I have more to say about this place in my review on tripadvisor dot com.

These are just two examples which may or may not be typical, but they are prominent. One cannot expect a travel guide to have accurate prices a year after it is published, especially in a land going through such rapid change, but I am surprised that my experience was so much different from the book, which was published two weeks after my return, so it must have gone to press a month or so before. The main lessons: prices will be unpredictable; money must be paid in new US$ bills; you won't easily get them in Myanmar; therefore prepare by bringing more than you think you'll need.

MORE ABOUT CURRENCY AND EXCHANGE RATES

IMPORTANT. The book says this, but I will re-state because it is crucial: currently, there are few if any ATMs (I think I saw one on the road from the airport, but I bet it is local cards only), and nobody will take credit cards. You must bring US dollars or Euros in brand-new, unwrinkled, unmarked condition (they are VERY picky about this!), and change money to local when you get there. Hotels, plane tickets, and government fees require US dollars or Euros (not local currency). Bring several denominations for convenience because your change will be at a poor rate. For changing money, US$100 bills give more kyatt/$ than lower denominations, but having lower denominations gives you flexibility when you must pay in dollars.

Some say the currency exchange at the airport is said to offer a decent rate, others say not so good; I did not check it. You can also search for the going rate for trading currency at Bogyoke Market, Yangon.

Read up on scams related to changing money, which mainly occur outside of Bogyoke Market; I suggest you simply igore and avoid all change money offers outside of the market.

MORE ABOUT LONELY PLANET MYANMAR 2011

The book is well-written and offers a lot of practical advice for visiting this interesting country. There is ample description of the most common places to visit (Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay, Inle Lake) as well as of many places off the beaten track. It also discusses areas closed to tourists, and certain restrictions such as being able to visit Taichilek only from the Thailand border, and the inability of tourists to otherwise enter or exit at this border. There is excellent coverage of the history of Myanmar and the current political climate, the latter being especially important for visitors.

I was surprised at the amount of information LP provided on how to avoid paying gov fees for visiting tourist sites, etc, such as by sneaking in via off-beat entrances where the fee-paid ticket is not checked. This is justified by way of saying that the current government should not be financially supported. I think that's really questionable, especially today. Would you justify sneaking into museums or jumping over train gates in US or UK by saying you disagree with their foreign policy? I think tourists should avoid trouble by being honest, and if financing the government is a concern, don't go, because it is often unavoidable. But the government appears to be improving, and at some point skipping the tickets starts to seem opportunistic and dishonest.

This book follows the new LP structure, which is an improvement in many ways, but why not have a table of contents near the beginning? The closest they have is a list of destinations on page 34. I guess they decided the Index is all you need. Maybe that's so, but I keep looking for the table of contents as a way of learning the structure of any new book.

There are TWO sections for the Bagan area - one for lodging and other logistics, another for exploring the temples. Given the importance of the Bagan temples, I can see the sense in dividing the content, but it is really inconvenient that they are not next to each other in the content: there are 23 pages between them!

Still, the LP Myanmar book is a great starting point and is worth bringing with you. I recommend considerable research on the current state of affairs for anywhere you want to go. Keep up with the news, learn the history (like on wikipedia), read lots of reviews for hotels and restaurants, find out about currency rates, etc. You cannot expect ANY book to be as up-to-date as Internet reports, so be sure to do additional research.

Myanmar is somewhat more challenging to visit than other southeast Asian countries at present, yet there is ample tourist infrastructure, including reasonably-priced airlines with good safety records to save time compared to buses or trains. Airlines can be delayed substantially, and certain precautions should be used. For example, do not assume that you can fly back to Yangon and then make a departure flight from Myanmar on the same day: better to schedule these for two consecutive days.

INTERNET IN MYANMAR

In Dec 2011, the Internet was still painfully slow. I heard somewhere that the government restricts it to 256 kbps, but the worst of it is poor response time due to resolving Web site addresses (via DNS).. Internet was available in Yangon and Mandalay, a little around Inle Lake, but not commonly available in Bagan.

Hotels that offer Internet generally have weak Wifi infrastructure. Wifi will come and go. In one hotel, it only worked if I sat on a specific spot of my bed. I noted that my hotel in Mandalay had working Internet on the cable-based computer you have to pay for, but their wifi was not working; they blamed the wifi not working on the government, which is obviously bogus.

The new government has reduced the number of blocked sites in Myanmar. I was astonished to discover that Facebook access was allowed, for example, but equally surprised that various innocent-seeming sites were blocked.

BOTTOM LINE

Myanmar is more open than it has been in years, and was certainly a safe place to visit during my recent visit. I believe it will continue to be more open. There are many tourists visiting Myanmar now (especially: Europeans and Canadians) and the locals say that they are seeing more Americans and Brits than before as well.

This is a very good travel reference that has room for improvement, hence four stars. The only other one I have seen is in German.

The people of Myanmar are welcoming, and the culture is fascinating. Go see it before there are even more tour buses everywhere!

Having just returned from 3 weeks of travel through Burma, with the Dec 2011 LP as our guide, my boyfriend and I were disappointed with this book. It seemed like a rush job - maps were incorrect and poorly labeled, sections (especially "Around Hpa-An, p108) were poorly edited and confusing, the text is not without its typos, rates and advice on exchanging money were out of date (though this is forgivable given how quickly things are changing in Burma), train and bus times were incorrect (also forgivable).

If you're using this book to budget for your trip, keep in mind that accommodation rates have increased. Prices for all but one of the guesthouses where we stayed were 10-50% higher than what is listed in the guide. Also, it is no longer advisable to exchange money on the black market, as the book suggests. Many fellow travelers fell victim to scams when doing so. Exchange in established banks, which now give comparable rates.

If you're planning a trip to Burma, select a different guidebook or wait for this one to be updated (we have sent a list of our recommended changes to LP).

This is the best travelguide on Myanmar available. It gives background information on culture, nature, history and more; and it gives lots of practical information and tips on transport, hotels, what to see and what to do, and much more.

(updated in april 2012:)
After visiting Myanmar in march/april 2012 I still believe this is the best travelguide available at the moment. In some aspects the previous guide of Lonely Planet is better (published in 2005, especially some of the maps are better and there is more extensive background information on temples etc in the older version).
The prices are sometimes a bit (app. 15%) higher than mentioned in this book, possibly because there is a rise in the number of tourist coming to Myanmar. The prices you pay will also depend on your ability to negotiate. Prices mentioned in this Lonely Planet do give a good indication though.

If you're going to Myanmar I do recommend reading this Loney Planet guide before you go and taking it with you, you'll find it to be a valuable source of information.

Highly recommended!