Planning to go somewhere always involved a bit of budget. A backpacking trip is no different, and there is always the uncertainty of the amount exactly spend given all the little extra we enjoy during our holidays.
The length of the trip was a good 17 days, plus 4 days in Bangkok. To keep the figures clean, we only display the cost for Myanmar.
We took a number of taxi, including moto taxi, these cover short distance trips within the city. It is relatively cheap. The maximum we have paid for was in Yangon to go to the bus station. Cost: 10.000 MMK.
Once we took a boat between Mandalay to Bagan, this one was rather expensive for the journey: 40 USD.
More details about transport in a dedicated post http://offwegoto.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/transport-in-myanmar.html
Our budget for a double bed room in a guesthouse relatively well located (next to the city center) is around 40 USD / night. Breakfast is always included but quality vary.
The cheapest was in Yangoon, for around 25 USD, the most expensive in Mandalay for 50 USD. To cut on the accommodation cost, we traveled twice on a night bus; the VIP one.
More details on accommodation on dedicated post http://offwegoto.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/accomodation-in-myanmar.html
In Kalaw, we did a 3 day trek that includes the guide, the nights and the food in villagers house. As we formed a group of 6, the price was reduced to 36 000MMK / pp, down from 54 000 MMK/ pp if the group if formed of 2 only. We really enjoyed the group and helped each other during the trek. So, it was one of the good experience in Myanmar with the best possible value!
In Inle Lake, we hired a boat for 15 000 MMK. Again we shared the price with the group we formed during the trek.
I will not emphasize here all the activities we have done, as we will publish these in a new post.
In most places, restaurant and beer are very cheap. A meal for 2 in a local restaurant (on the street) is for less than 7000 MMK in most places, can be a bit higher in touristic areas.
Also, in a most sophisticated restaurant, or lounge bar, where you don't see a lot of locals, the price is more oriented for tourists.
A bottle of water ranges from 300 to 500 MMK a liter
A coke for 1000 MMK
A beer (Myanmar) 2000 MMK
Another beer (Dagon) 1500 MMK
To provide a better estimate, here are the costs we faced per category.
Context
Before speaking about figures, here is a bit more context about our trip.The length of the trip was a good 17 days, plus 4 days in Bangkok. To keep the figures clean, we only display the cost for Myanmar.
Level of comfort
Regarding our comfort requirement, we don't look at the cheapest flight / accommodation but rather at value for money. For instance, we do not sleep in dormitory, nor travel in local buses with no comfort. It is just our style of holidays, and also given the country is cheap, we can afford a little extra.Exchange rate
All accommodation and most buses were paid in USD. Other activities and restaurant are in MMK which the exchange rate from the airport was at the time 1USD = 964 MMKExpenses
Transportation
Flights
The main expense was the flight. We booked a flight between London and Yangon at least 6 months in advance. There are many options with different companies and lay over. We deliberately went for a stop over in Bangkok on the way back, so it was a bit more expensive. Flight with Thai Airways was 800 GBP / pp.Local transports
Once arrived you need to book some buses to travel from one big place to another. There are some VIP buses where you can sleep and entertainment system for up to 40 USD.We took a number of taxi, including moto taxi, these cover short distance trips within the city. It is relatively cheap. The maximum we have paid for was in Yangon to go to the bus station. Cost: 10.000 MMK.
Once we took a boat between Mandalay to Bagan, this one was rather expensive for the journey: 40 USD.
More details about transport in a dedicated post http://offwegoto.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/transport-in-myanmar.html
Accommodation
Accommodation doesn't come cheap in Myanmar and the comfort is nothing like home. The country opens up to tourist and there is a lack of infrastructure. As a result, guesthouses are relatively expensive for the quality they offer. Often they are fully booked too.Our budget for a double bed room in a guesthouse relatively well located (next to the city center) is around 40 USD / night. Breakfast is always included but quality vary.
The cheapest was in Yangoon, for around 25 USD, the most expensive in Mandalay for 50 USD. To cut on the accommodation cost, we traveled twice on a night bus; the VIP one.
More details on accommodation on dedicated post http://offwegoto.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/accomodation-in-myanmar.html
Activities
During our trip we did a lot of activities such as visiting the local zoo (Yangon), the pagoda etc. In some places such as Bagan and Inle Lake, tourists have to pay a fee up to 15 USD to visit.In Kalaw, we did a 3 day trek that includes the guide, the nights and the food in villagers house. As we formed a group of 6, the price was reduced to 36 000MMK / pp, down from 54 000 MMK/ pp if the group if formed of 2 only. We really enjoyed the group and helped each other during the trek. So, it was one of the good experience in Myanmar with the best possible value!
In Inle Lake, we hired a boat for 15 000 MMK. Again we shared the price with the group we formed during the trek.
I will not emphasize here all the activities we have done, as we will publish these in a new post.
Food and drinks
The pleasure of eating local food, drinking different beers and some wine.In most places, restaurant and beer are very cheap. A meal for 2 in a local restaurant (on the street) is for less than 7000 MMK in most places, can be a bit higher in touristic areas.
Also, in a most sophisticated restaurant, or lounge bar, where you don't see a lot of locals, the price is more oriented for tourists.
A bottle of water ranges from 300 to 500 MMK a liter
A coke for 1000 MMK
A beer (Myanmar) 2000 MMK
Another beer (Dagon) 1500 MMK
Other expenses
Other expenses range from souvenirs to medication if needed. Of course, it depends of what you want to buy and bring back home. So, I will not emphasize this point.Summary
In summary, I would say that this trip was more expensive that a similar holiday in Romania a couple of years ago.To provide a better estimate, here are the costs we faced per category.
| Category | USD |
| Accommodation | 381.5 |
| Attractions | 269.7 |
| Food & drinks | 185.6 |
| Laundry | 3.2 |
| Medicine | 1.8 |
| Souvenirs | 71.8 |
| Transport | 263.9 |
| Total | 1177.5 |
