Myanmar: Tips on preparing for your vacation

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Here I am sitting on top of a temple in Bagan during my April 2014 vacation.
1. No Visa anymore for Filipinos to travel in Myanmar; No Exit Fee of crisp ten dollars.

2. There are banks and money changers in Myanmar but they accept crisp dollar bills only. As far as I can recall, the money changer at the airport only accepts Singapore Dollars and another currency aside from US Dollars for exchange to kyat. There are atm machines too.

3. There are budget hotels that can cater to backpackers with rates of about $10/person but they have no websites. Big hotels are the ones which can maintain websites. (I will post the top ten budget hotels in Yangon, Bagan and Mandalay which I got from the local maps in the next post).

4. Myanmar trip is one for culture exploration. You will be heady with temples after days if you are not prepared yourself. No beach as Myanmar is landlocked and has lakes and rivers only. No classy malls too. Look at me who can explore a temple like a mall.


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5. Be prepared to part with your sandals and explore the temple bare-footed. Plain and simple.


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6. Bring skirt or wear pants. Or better buy some Longyi, local skirt worn by both males and females.


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7. Aside from cheap native Myanmarese cloths, bring home jades and rubies. Leather products, hand-made embroideries and low-grade to top-grade jades can be bought anywhere in Mandalay (and anywhere else in Myanmar). Lacquerware is also an admirable handmade craft from Bagan if one's interior home design is Asian-inspired.

Embroideries in Mandalay

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Wood Carvings at the entrance of the temple in Bagan

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Marionettes

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Paintings

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  8. Wood carvings, Marble carvings, Marionettes, and other home furnishings can also be found in Mandalay and in the temple markets in Yangon.

Toy turtle wood carvings

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Marble and jades in all sizes and forms

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9. Yangon is like any other capital city, it is not exactly clean with uncovered ditches and garbages. But tall buildings and five-star hotels are surely mushrooming.

10. Yangon is tourist-ready. It's highway connecting Yangon, Bagan and Mandalay is admirable. Well lighted at night with flashing neon-light road signals. Its Yangon airport is spacious, clean and comfortable.

Go home with what these girls had.
They brought home the national musical instrument of Myanmar, 
a harp with a bird as its body.




Location: Republic of the Union of Myanmar

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