Off We Go to Burma

Next trip we plan is going to Burma. Only a couple of weeks away.
So this post will go over our plan, a little bit of budget and resource that helps us to plan our trip.

For the first time, it will be a full backpacking trip as we don't have much hotel or hostel booked, nor any transportation. The whole idea is to get there and travel around for almost 3 weeks.

Why Burma? 
We always wanted to travel far and go to Asia. However we don't like places where there are many tourists as you don't really enjoy the local life.

Burma is on a process of being a full democratic country. The liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi, a famous Burmese activist, is the proof of these recent changes. Consequently, there is not yet many tourists, and most places are free of them, except for the most adventurous.

So we are looking forward to our first Asian trip

1 - Plan

Like other tourists, we would like to visit the most beautiful places of Burma:

• Yangoon
• Mandalay
• Bagan
• Kalaw
• Inle Lake
• (then back to Yangoon)

It is basically the itinerary we will follow. Given that we have nothing booked, it may however change.

1.1 The resources

To assist us in planning our trip, we bought a traveller book, Le Guide du Routard (http://goo.gl/lpxyX3), available on Amazon.
As we are French speaking (but no, we are not French!), we opted for this one given that it is the most recent edition, compared to the English version of the Lonely Planet (http://goo.gl/8e6XOd).

In addition, we went to many online forum such as:

• Le Routard http://www.routard.com/
• Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum http://goo.gl/jJKnYh
• Trip Advisor tripAdvisor.com

All of these help us out to organise our trip and provide all the necessary advice.

1.2 Before going

Before going, there are always a couple of things to check out, especially since it is a full backpacking trip. We don't have much experience, so we do not want to take any risk

• Visa is needed for Myanmar
• Injection are more than recommended
• Have the right medicine with you
• Have a good travel insurance

1.2.1 Getting a Visa

There is a good forum thread on Trip Advisor (http://goo.gl/2fX7tK) speaking about the visa process. I can tell you, it is really useful. If you have still any question, you can contact silverswimmer He seems to be a travel expert on Burma, he will always answer you.

So regarding the visa, we did the application via the Myanmar Embassy in London, as we live there. The process is straight forward and takes a week to complete.

Official Visa Application form Myanmar

For the application you need to join:

• The application form  
• Official Website of the Embassy of Myanmar London http://www.myanmarembassylondon.com/
• Link to the PDF application form http://goo.gl/Xh2fGv
• 2 photo ID
• 14 GBP / person
• Valid passport for at least 6 months

Send your application form with your details in a envelope and include an envelope for the embassy to return the visa to you. 

Ask at the post office for "Special Delivery Guaranteed", it means that the receiver has to sign to get the documents, and the delivery is guaranteed by the next day. Also ask for the same service for the return document. The Royal Mail will be able to help you. 

Albeit a bit more expensive, this service is really good as you can track your important documents to the embassy and to home, once the embassy has done all the paperwork. I was scared to send my passport through the mail at first, but having them back in a week, all tracked means it was really worth it.

Note that your visa will start at the date you will receive it back from the embassy. So don't hurry to send it to them, it only takes a week to process it.

1.2.2 The flight

Even before applying for a Visa, we booked our flight. There are many options available on the market, and we decided to go for a Thai Airways flight from London Heathrow to Yangoon. 

Flight starts at around 500 GBP for a return ticket, with good airlines but the catch is often the delay at the airport to get the corresponding flight. Up to 24h. 

As it was not worth it, we opted for a direct flight to Bangkok, having a corresponding flight to Yangoon. On the way back, we do a lay over to Bangkok for a couple of days, so we can relax in the city as well. Our flight is around 800 GBP.