Burma

How easy is it to go to Burma? I was thinking 2-3 weeks october

I'm not sure if they have a consulate in london for Visas? and do you have to give them a complete Itenery of were your going/staying? - Is there any reliable agencies that you can use for getting a tourist visa?

Thanks

Make sure you do your homework well before going. Things like there are NO ATM's and you cannot change travellers cheques - so you need to take enough cash for the whole of your journey. Check you have comprehensive travel insurance for getting out in an emergency. Medical emergencies often require cash up front etc etc.

If your from the UK there is an embassy in London in Berkley Sq.

See here for lots other helpful info:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and ... ania/burma

Another thing - if you have a conscience about these things - is that all your tourist money is going straight into the pockets funding a brutal and murderous regime almost as bad as Zimbabwe in terms of mass suffering - you may want to read up on this too. It is is a difficult decsion whether to go or not, because despite everthing, the burmese people are lovely and still want tourists to visit so that word is spread in the western world of what is happening there.

BootsnAll also has a ton of articles on Burma to help you with your research/decision.

Met a traveler in Panama, last winter, who had been there the year before & highly recommended going so will be visiting at some point this winter!

The visa situation is always in flux, but usually it isn't too much of a chore to get a tourist visa. Bangkok is a good place to arrange it. I got a one-month visa there in 2003 for about $60 US. You can't enter overland anywhere but Mae Hong Son - Tachilek, and you can't travel onward from Tachilek, so plan on flying into Yangon. Travel in Burma is generally restricted to the quadrangle encompassing Yangon, Inle Lake, Mandalay, and Bagan. You can travel outside of that, but the further afield you get, the more hassles involved. Certain places, like much of Shan State, and all of Chin State, are off-limits. You can't approach any of the border areas either, although I've heard stories about overland travel from Burma into Yunnan, China.

As for the ethics of travel to Burma, there's a lively debate around that. I found Burmese people universally happy to see foreign travelers, and hungry for news from the world outside their country. I bought a pile of secondhand English-language books and magazines in Bangkok before flying into Yangon, and distributed them during my stay in the country. It's amazing how tightly news is controlled there - I flew in the day after ASSK was arrested in Mogok, in 2003, and very few people in Burma knew about it. Stupidly, I arrived with that day's copy of the Bangkok Post, which had news of it on the front page. While finishing the newspaper at my guesthouse in Yangon, I noticed the owner staring at the paper as I read it. It took me a while to realize that this news from Thailand told him more about the situation in his own country than he knew.

You can limit, but not eliminate the money you spend on government-owned enterprises while in Burma. All air and rail travel puts money in government coffers, but there are private bus companies. Obviously, they are taxed, and any expenditures will fund the abominable junta to some degree. At the same time, the few dollars you spend at a guesthouse in a place like Kyaiktiyo or Bago or Nyaung U can mean the difference between hunger and a meal for the owners. Burma was easily one of the most memorable countries I've visited, and I can't recommend it highly enough. The Burmese were easily my favorite nationality of any place I've been, in terms of hospitality and friendliness.

As someone above noted, you'll need to bring cash for your entire stay in country. US dollars are best. Travel is ridiculously cheap there, just remember to change your money on the black market (not as scary as it sounds - just about everyone in contact with foreigners will be willing to do a dollar-kyat transaction). Bus travel is long and arduous - you're looking at several 16-hour trips on bumpy roads.