Published April 7th, 2016

I was lucky enough to visit Bagan in 2005 while studying abroad on Semester at Sea. At that time, US sanctions had prevented US travelers from entering Myanmar but as students on Semester at Sea, we were given special educational visas.  As a result, myself and 600 other students pored into Myanmar with no idea what to expect.

With this visit in 2016, I read a ton of blogs and online forums but I still found a lot of the information to be outdated. This country is changing so quickly that it’s best to read more recent blogs and articles to get information. Hopefully the information in this post will be helpful to you on your travels!

Now, visiting 10 years later, so much has changed and yet a lot has stayed the same.

2005 vs 2016 visit – What’s the same?

The Friendly Culture – The people are still so incredibly warm and friendly and always willing to help you find your way. On both visits I had a number of experiences where I was walking or riding down a street with people waving or screaming hello from their houses.

The Views – The destinations and scenery within Myanmar is still so incredibly beautiful. For those with a passion for photography, it’s a dream to take pictures of the stunning views.

No Western Brands – You still won’t find western brands (except coca cola, a few hair shampoos and ice cream bars). No McDonald’s or 7-11s here!

Human Rights Violations – It’s important to note that while life has changed and now looks like it will continue to improve for so many Burmese people, there are still intense ethnic clashes going on in regions outside of the zones tourists are approved to go to. Ethnic minorities – especially the Rpjomgua muslim minorities are still facing severe oppression and in some cases violence and human rights violations.  This USA Today article gives you a little more insight into these minority internment camps that still exist in Myanmar.

What’s changed?

Political Rule – In recent years, a lot of political and social changes have happened in Burma that have since opened it up to the world. When I visited 10 years ago the military dictatorship that has ruled Myanmar with fierce oppression was in power and since that time the country has slowly been moving to become a more democratic nation. This BBC article has a much better timeline of pivotal events that have occurred during this transition from 2011 to 201 in this BBC Article.

Freedom of Speech – In the past there had been intense restrictions on freedom of speech to the point where people were easily thrown in jail or concentration camps for speaking out against the Military Junta. Now, Aaang San Su Kyi (known to many Burmese as “The lady”) can be openly revered by the Burmese people who consider her their chosen leader. Her pictures as well as the picture of her father, the great general, hang in many tea shops throughout Burma. 10 years ago, many people took me aside to express how much they hated the military dictatorship and how they feared for the future of themselves and their families. They said these things to me even though they could risk punishment for speaking out in that way. This visit I had conversations with many Burmese people and only heard their excitement for the future with democracy slowly creeping into their society.

Media Censorship – The Burmese people seemingly are no longer censored from Western media. I had CNN in one of my hotel rooms and never had any problems accessing any online websites. My SIM card gave me access to data on my smartphone wherever I was in Burma. This is such a change from when I last visited and the only media was propaganda newspapers put out by the media and most websites including google were blocked.

Access to Smartphones – Anyone that I saw with a phone had a smartphone. And one of my guides told me that in the last year and a half, smartphones and data plans are affordable for most middle class people so most people have them.

Facebook Access – “Everyone is on Facebook”, said one of my guides and that seems to be confirmed by a lot of commercials I saw that mentioned Facebook as well as hearing it mentioned by a few other guides I had along my stay in Burma. One guide laughed “maybe that’s not a good thing because we waste so much time.” I suppose there is always repercussions to the digital revolution but the Burmese people were cut off for such a long time and held back from growth because of this lack of access that I think it has already and will continue to bring more opportunity for the Burmese people moving forward.

Future Dreams – There is a lot of excitement for the future from many Burmese people that I spoke with. One cab driver told me that he is very excited for parliament to change this Spring. Officials who were originally placed by the Military dictatorship are expected to be replaced by democratically elected officials. My driver says he expects this change to help his families opportunity for growth. He said with the military dictatorship, there was no chance his kids could go on to University. And he was scared for them and their future. But now he is excited.

Traveling Tips

If you’re heading to Myanmar in the near future, here are some of my top tips.

• Cash – I brought a lot of crisp $1 American bills but found that everyone accepted Kyat and in some places like Mandalay and Inle Lake, there were quite a few people who only accepted Kyat. In the Bagan area, most prices were in US dollars but they always would take Kyat. The exchange rate was generally better if you just paid in Kyat which I preferred to do and had no problem with.

• ATMS – there are atms in all the main towns – and a fair amount of them. I had one issue with a machine that ate my card. But a restaurant owner helped me call the bank and a guy on a motorbike came right away to open the machine and get my card back! Aside from that I never had any issue getting money.

• Credit Cards – Largely not accepted (maybe at hotels?) I didn’t use my credit card at all aside from booking hotels online. Plan to always have cash.

• Smartphone Data – You can easily buy data SIM cards when you arrive at the Yangon or Mandalay airports as well as in the major tourist cities or areas of Myanmar. I found that my data plan worked everywhere I traveled, even btwn major cities. Not sure if this was a good price or not but I bought 5GB of data good for one month for 25,000 Kyat ($20).

• Wifi – Every hotel I stayed at had really bad wifi connection. I largely used my data package to check in online.

• Google Maps – I also found Google Maps worked very well through the Inle Lake/Mandalay/Bagan triangle.

• Shopping – Myanmar still does not have any western chain stores and very very very few western brands within the country. While that’s refreshing, I did find it a bit difficult to find basic things like IB Profin or conditioner – you had to seek it out.

• Food – I found the food to be very good in Myanmar – but he ready for garlic and grease. I did get one mild case of food poisoning after eating at a well established Myanmar food restaurant that was frequented by tourists. As in any SE Asian country, do not drink the tap water and I would avoid ice even if they say it is filtered. Basically everyone says their ice is filtered water but I really questioned that in some cases. Myanmar has their own cuisine that has many types of salads and curries. They also have a ton of Indian, Chinese and Thai restaurants with a few Western restaurants in between.

• Visa – It’s easy to now get a Visa in Myamar by filling out an e-visa application here.

• Transportation – Traveling between major destinations and places is very easy and in some cases fun! I recommend organizing bus tickets, boat or airline tickets via your hotel or a travel agency in town th as the bus/boat /airports stations don’t always have a ticket office.

• Myanmar or Burma? I’m still going back and forth. I used to call it Burma and after this trip I call it Myanmar. Most signs in Burma say Myanmar as this was the name given by the military dictatorship. Most people I spoke with say they call it Myanmar. Obama just referred to it as Myanmar even though the state department still officially calls it Burma. And I saw a Globetrekker episode that discussed the question with a number of Burmese and they all said Myanmar was their choice. So, I’ve gone with Myanmar for my blog posts.