Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Mail Service;
www.ems.com.mm
)
counter offering faster and more reliable international
delivery.
Maps
The best country maps of Myanmar currently available are the ones published by Reise
Know-How (1:1,500,000) and by Freytag & Berndt (1:1,200,000), although neither is gener-
ally available in Myanmar itself. The local fold-up maps of major tourist towns around the
countryproducedfortheMinistryofTourismbyDPSMaps(
dpsmap.com
)arealsouseful;
they'rewidelyavailablefromlocalhawkersfor$1-2,oryoucandownloadreasonablyhi-res
images of the maps direct from the website.
Money
Myanmar's currency is the
kyat
(pronounced something like “chat”), usually abbreviated as
KorKs(or,officially,asMMK).NotesareavailableindenominationsofK1,K5,K10,K20,
K50, K100, K200, K500, K1000, K5000 and K10,000, although the lowest value you are
likely to encounter is the K50 note. There are no coins. The
US dollar
(again, notes only) is
widely used alongside the kyat as a secondary currency to pay for more expensive items and
services.
In the past, dollars were specifically needed to pay for things like train tickets, entrance
tickets to certain sights and other items, although now it's possible to pay for just about
everything in kyat. Note, however, that many touristy places (including hotels, restaurants,
shops and tour operators) quote prices and prefer payment in dollars, and some more upmar-
ket hotels and operators may insist on payment in dollars (it's certainly easier than counting
out huge wads of kyat), although this is becoming increasingly rare. Note that if you do pay
in local currency at such places where kyat are preferred, the kyat price will typically be cal-
culated at a disadvantageous exchange rate (typically $1=K1000), making it slightly cheaper
to pay with dollars - keep some low-denomination notes handy for such occasions. Change
may be given in either dollars or kyat.
Changing money
At one time the official exchange rate for kyat was kept artificially low and most people
changed money on the black market, but today banks and official moneychangers offer a
realistic rate. Avoid changing money on the street, however good the rate you're offered, as
scams are common. Kyat can't be exchanged overseas - be sure to change all your leftover
currency before leaving the country.
Dollars
are the easiest overseas notes to exchange, although you should also be able to
change euros, pounds and other major currencies. Note that you won't be able to exchange
US dollars issued before 2006; high-value notes (particularly $100 bills) attract the best ex-
change rates.
