Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
for example catch the Mandalay-to-Yangon bus at Meiktila. Staff at your guesthouse or
hotel should be able to help with this.
Similar-sized but older buses, with no air-conditioning, make shorter-haul trips, such as
direct links from Yangon to Pyay or Taungoo to Yangon.
Local 32-seat minibuses bounce along the highways too. These tend to use the aisles,
if not for people, for bags of rice, vegies or (worst) dried fish. Sometimes the floor in front
of you is filled too, so you'll find your knees to your chin for some bouncy hours. Getting
up to stretch your legs while moving just isn't an option. (Try to sit in the front couple of
rows, which sometimes have fewer bags stored, and better visibility.)
Trip durations for all forms of public road transportation are very elastic and buses of all
types do break down sometimes. Older buses often stop to hose down a hot engine.
Some roads - one-lane, mangled deals (read:
very
rough) - don't help matters, and tyre
punctures occur too.
Costs
Bus fares are in kyat and foreigners will pay more than locals - and on occasion the price
is 'set' on the spot. Generally minibuses, local 32-seaters, express buses with no air-con,
and air-con luxury jobbies charge roughly the same on overlapping routes.
Reservations
From November to February it's wise to pre-book buses a couple of days in advance for
key routes, such as Bagan-Inle Lake. Seat reservations are made for all buses - you
should be able to check the seating plan with the reservation agent.
