Myanmar / Burma Travel Tips

With a tropical monsoon climate, Myanmar experiences three mian seasons. The hottest period, with very little or no rain, stretches from February to May. And the wet season is between May to late October. The best time to visit Myanmar is the dry season with cooler weather, from October to February.

You should bring light weight cottons and linens whenever you travel to Myanmar. Because some areas with high altitude is much cooler than average. During the rainy season, a light raincoat or umbrella is necessary. In the best travel time, you also should take warmer clothes for colder days and some evenings.

We suggested that you should get a Myanmar visa before your travel. Commonly you can apply it with your valid passport (at least 6 months to expiry) at your nearest Burmese Embassy or Burmese Consulate in advance. If you can not get a Myanmar visa before the start date but from one of the following 26 countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, China, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States of America), you can get it on arrival at Yangon Airport. For more Myanmar visa information, you can leave your message to us. Like Tibet of China, Myanmar remains some restricted areas that need a prior permission from Myanmar government to visit.

Two currencies are acceptable in Myanmar, the local Kyat and US dollar. The exchange rate is about 1 USD to 860 Kyats. Noticeably, Foreign Exchange Certificate, FEC for short, also can be used in Myanmar, it is a type currency certificate issued by government that always equals to 1 US dollar. The exchange rate of FEC follows the change of the US dollar at most time.

Generally, most of credit cards, like Visa, AmEx, Diners Club, and JCB, can not be used in Myanmar. Except for US dollar, it is difficult to exchange money in Myanmar. So you should bring sufficient cash before get there. But in many high rank hotels and upmarket shops of Yangon and Mandalay, there is exception to use credit cards. And the transaction fee is about 6% averagely.

Myanmar is 6:30 + GMT whereas other countries in Southeast Asia are +7 GMT in Indochina. time. Because Myanmar Time is not adjusted for daylight saving and remains the same throughout the year. Unlike time zones of other countries where commonly the clock is set forward by one hour in summer and backward by one hour during winter to adjust for daylight saving, Burma Time does not change.

Though in recent years, travelling to Myanmar is very safe, accidents and illnesses cannot be avoided sometimes. You are strongly advised to buy comprehensive travel insurance and international travel medical insurance before you travel.

In most cases, electrical sockets (outlets) in Myanmar (Burma) adopt European standard electrical socket types: “Type C” Europlug and the "Type E" and Type F" Schuko, and the sockets usually supply electricity at between 220 and 240 volts AC. If your appliance's plug doesn't match the shapes, you will need a travel plug adapter to plug in.

1. Clothing: During the dry season, it is better to bring a pair of long pants and a light jacket for the mornings and evenings in Bagan, Mandalay, and especially in Inle Lake. During the rainy season, it is wise to take umbrella and rubber-soled shoes with you. Remember to wear long pants, shawl and long-sleeve coat to cover knees and bare shoulders in temples.
2. Medicine: You should bring extra medicines from home, like Aspirin, Cold-symptom relief tablets, antihistamine , cough drops, Ace bandage and so on in a small first aid kit.
3. To avoid mosquito and sun, bring plenty of sun lotion and insect repellent.
4. Bring enough memory cards and batteries for photography fans.
5. Cash and important travel documents.