Myanmar’s Golden Triangle Hill Tribes

My specs to our Travel Agent or Tour Operator usually go something like this:

- Is there someplace safe to travel that isn’t completely Westernized?

- Do we have to stay in tents or are there reasonable facilities available?

- Is there any shopping? (I do love to shop.)

After those questions are answered, we’re easy. Food isn’t an issue. If it’s awful, there is plenty of reserve fat on our bodies to sustain us…I don’t think famine will set in…and if we’re really concerned, we can always bring 20 lbs. of candy, toss in a few cans of tuna and survive easily.

Thoughts of Myanmar (Burma) came up. We had visited “Burma” , as it was known then, in 1988. That trip involved over a week’s worth of discomfort, terrible food, a repressive government – but a wonderful group of people to travel with. (I’ll write about that trip in the future…funny, funny, funny.)

Things have changed since then and, once again, we decided to use Diethelm Travel . Diethelm has a huge presence in South East Asia. They are extremely reliable, honest, and have an excellent reputatiion – so important in that part of the world. There are lots of other Myanmar tour operators but we like Diethelm.

Ex-Marine decided revisiting Myanmar would be a good place to celebrate his 65th birthday. This kicked-off months of e-mailing back and forth to Diethelm, putting an itinerary together.

We decided on a one-week trip, flying to Yangon (formerly Rangoon), in and out of Bangkok, with a day to revisit the Shwedagon Pagoda, then fly to Kengtung (Kyaing Tong), Myanmar’s gateway to the Golden Triangle which has huge amounts of different ethnic minority communities (pretty much unwesternized).

view of Swedagon Pagoda

Air? Some of the airlines services to Myanmar are: Myanmar Airways – you don’t want to use – deplorable safety record!; Thai, Silkair, Malaysia Airlines, Air China, Indian Airlines and Air Mandalay (operates Chiang Mai to Yangon). It just depends where you are flying from. We flew Thai – from Bangkok, a one-hour flight.

Health? The usual innoculations for travel: Hepatitus, keep your Polio booster up-to-date, Tetanus, etc. None of these compulsory for entry but we always take precautions. It is also advisable to take Malaria pills so ask your Dr. which one he recommends.

Visas? Yes, you must have one. Diethelm obtained our Visa-upon-arrival for a small surcharge, but you can also go on-line Embassy of Myanmar, download forms, fill out, and mail off your passport to get a Visa. The Embassy had on-line applications for Visas in 2004, but it was discontinued last year. Who knows, perhaps they will reinstate it because it was so easy to do.

Travel Insurance? We always take out travel insurance! There have been three separate incidents in the past (two for medical reasons, one for death in family) that would have cost us mega-bucks if there wasn’t insurance on these trips. Travel Guard provides coverage for medical expenses, trip cancellation, baggage damage, and much more.

The best time to visit Myanmar is from the end of October to beginning of May. Fine with us.

There are no credit cards accepted in Myanmar (with the exception of a few hotels), and no ATM’s. Their currency is Kyats (pronounced “chats”). You do NOT want to exchange any money at their “official rate”, something like 450 to 1. The “alternate market” rates, which everyone uses and is safe, is something like 10,000 to 1! Show me the money! They want Euros or $$$$. It’s not advisable to change more than $100-200 U.S. at one time for several reasons…you can develop a hernia carrying around wads of money….and everything is very cheap! We only changed $100 U.S., and tipped our guide in U.S. $ which, believe me, they’d rather have.

Water? Only bottled or boiled. If I’ve forgotten anything you’d like to know, e-mail me. I’ll be happy to respond.

Our basic itinerary: some time in Yangon; fly to Kengtung; visit the various hill tribes for the next few days; fly to Heho; drive to Inle Lake for two days; return to Yangon; evening flight back to Bangkok. Cost? $1,120/person. That included: our guide, Toe, who travelled throughout the entire trip with us; all sightseeing, tours and transfers; hotels (very nice hotels) ; All meals (three a day); domestric flights; entrance fees, including camera fees to take photos; private a/c car; and international airport departure tax. Come on folks…it costs within the same ballpark to go to Las Vegas, Arizona, Florida, fishing camps, and definitely more expensive than a spa! And infinitely more exciting! Granted, this doesn’t include trans-Pacific air, but watch for “moment-of-madness” sales, if you have enough free air miles – use them….or not.

Once again, you can certainly do a trip like this for even less but we like the security of someone handling all the inevitable hassles.

more Swedagon Pagoda

The trip begins….