Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
By plane
In addition to state-owned
Myanma Airways
(
myanmaairways.aero
), which has a poor
reputationfortheconditionofitsaircraft,anarrayof
privateairlines
-amongthemAirKBZ
(
airkbz.com
), Air Mandalay (
airmandalay.com
)
, Air Bagan (
airbagan.com
)
, Asian
Wings (
asianwingsair.com
)
, Golden Myanmar Airlines (
gmairlines.com
) and Yangon
Airways (
yangonair.com
)
- run services on domestic routes and have offices in major
towns and cities.
Given the long journey times overland, travelling by plane can be an attractive choice if
you're not on a tight budget (one-way airfares from Yangon to Mandalay start from $120),
and in a few cases, such as visiting Kengtung, air travel is the only option as overland routes
areclosedtoforeigners.Manyservicesflyon
circularroutes
,stoppingatseveralairportson
the way, and it may therefore be easier to make a journey one way than the other.
Besides Yangon and Mandalay, the most useful regional airports for visitors are
Bagan
(NyaungU)and
Heho
(forInleLake,KalawandPindaya).Notethatflightsarealwaysheav-
ily booked over the Thingyan Water Festival, when you will need to book well in advance.
The luggage weight limit on domestic flights is 20kg per person.
There are a number of
downsides
to domestic air travel. For one thing, it may not save you
much time as schedules are subject to change at short notice and delays are common. For
another, most domestic airlines still do not sell tickets online - although they may allow you
to make an online reservation and then pay once in the country. In addition, travellers should
avoid flying if they are trying to limit the amount of their money that ends up with the gov-
By bus
Buses are usually much faster than trains, and are generally the best way to get around on a
budget. There are many different bus companies and most are privately owned. Taking buses
can be quite tiring, however, since most long-distance services run through the night, stop
roughly every three hours for toilet or food breaks (not all the buses have toilets on board),
and arrive before dawn.
Most
long-distance buses
are reasonably comfortable, and an increasing number offer lux-
uries such as small television screens in each seat and complimentary toothbrushes and
snacks. Do make sure you bring warm clothes, as they tend to crank up the air-conditioning,
and earplugs if Burmese pop music isn't your thing. On major routes, it's often possible to
take a slightly faster and more comfortable “VIP” or “
express
” bus service for a small addi-
tional fee.
Ordinary buses
also run segments of longer routes, such as Taungoo-Mandalay
(rather than the full Yangon-Mandalay trip); these are usually in worse condition but are
cheaper for shorter trips, as on long-distance buses you will pay the fare for the full journey
