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nuetravelling
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Hello everyone,
Finally I like to provide some feedback about our successful and great road trip (with own vehicles) through Myanmar hosted by Mutu from myanmarexperttours.com in October 2014.
Upon booking our travel group consisted of six people travelling in three cars (all 4WD).
Crossing the border from Mae Sot (Thailand) to Myawaddy (Myanmar) took three hours in total (basically because of slow working customs and queues at the counters). When crossing the bridge you switch from left-hand driving to right-hand driving. Read here why:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right-_and_left-hand_traffic#Burma_.28Myanmar.29
On the Myanmar side we were welcomed by Ye, who is a Burmese travel guide and was hired by Mutu and by the MTT official who also is an experienced and relaxed guy and basically responsible to notify the ministry about our movements. They provided ‘temporary number plates’ which we had to place on the windscreen. After changing some money (change rates for USD in MMK were pretty good) we left Myawaddy and fortunately we were allowed to pass the customs bay behind town without the cars getting checked. We then started the first stage of our tour to Kin Pun, a village at the base of Kyaiktiyo Golden Rock (on the way there we did a short stop at a pagoda near Thaton). The single line road between Myawaddy and Kawkareik which is only open every second day (oncoming traffic the other day) is very windy, often unpaved and trucks are slow and there are only few spots allowing to pass them. You pass several military checkpoints along the way. You definitely have to be at the border very early to actually finish this stage of the tour on time (we arrived in darkness and most Burmese drive without using lights at all!). We skipped visiting the Golden Rock in the following morning and moved on to the capital Nay Pyi Taw with a stop at the market in Waw. The two-lane highway is very good and allows cars to drive 120 km/h. Nay Pyi Daw is a clean city with heaps of empty hotels and roads. Seeing the government buildings was not possible. On the afternoon of our arrival we visited the Uppatasanti pagoda which was inspired by the famous Shwedagon pagoda. As a tourist we found this a very nice place and unlike Shwedagon there are no crowds of people.
The Myat Mingalar hotel was a nice place to stay and we were almost the only guests at that time. In the evening another participant and I drove by ourselves to a close-by mall to get some beer and food since the hotel’s restaurant was a bit too expensive. The next day we learned that we actually were not allowed to drive without a guide in front even though having the license plate, visa, passport and so on with us. Seeing Nay Pyi Daw as foreigner was interesting albeit surreal. As we learned you cannot get here with public transport (only with a licensed tour operator). On the late afternoon around 5pm we did see a group of road workers who just finished today’s work shift and immediately were picked up by soldiers in an army truck…
After two nights in Nay Pyi Daw we moved to Bagan with stops at a palm sugar station and driving to the first stupas and watching sunset from one of them. In the evening we got to know Mutu who is a really nice guy, knows a lot about the country and is the perfect mate to have a beer with. The next day we spent the morning with visiting some more stupas, using the hotel’s swimming pool in the afternoon and did a river cruise on the Ayeyarwady in the early evening.
The next morning we moved on to Monywa with seeing the Phowintaung caves which actually were hundreds of holes in a sandstone outcrop containing carved Buddha statues.
The following day we went to Kalay via Gangaw (which is the main road between Kalay and Monyaw used most of the time of the year). Along the sometimes very windy and very muddy ‘road’ we passed lots of stuck trucks and also our guides 2WD Toyota Hiace used to have difficulties getting up the hill sometimes (unlike us with our 4WD). For us it was sheer driving pleasure!
The stage between Monywa and Kalay was the longest and most exhausting one of all but has to be done at once since there are no places with hotels along the way and sleeping in the cars is still strictly prohibited.
From Kalay we moved on to the border town Tamu where people only have power from 6.30pm til 8.00am in the morning. On the way we crossed the tropic of cancer. Exiting Myanmar took about half an hour while entering India was more time and nerve consuming (read on).
Finally I can say that all six of us enjoyed the trip very much. Mutu even managed to let one of the participants bring its dog in (and of course out of) the country. Ye was a very nice guy and both Ye and Mutu managed to organize the trip to our full satisfaction. Actually we would have stayed longer but four of us are on a road trip from Australia to Europe and we had to keep the trip short for budget and time reasons. But Myanmar is a very beautiful country with amazingly friendly locals and except of the major tourist attractions like Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake and Mandaly the country is still very unexplored by tourism.
We definitely can recommend Mutu and his team to everyone who is also interested visiting and crossing the country with his own vehicle.
Nevertheless Myanmar is still very expensive to travel. Accommodations are more expensive than in its eastern neighbouring countries (also due to USD regularly used as second currency) and the government charges high fees to travellers (sightseeing, permissions to see certain areas, obligation of using a licensed tour operator, …). There are news found online about a Trans-Asian highway to be built through Myanmar to connect India with SE Asia but I hardly believe this project will ever be realized / finished. Furthermore since the government makes a lot of money with tourism possible due to the whole tricky system of ‘special permissions’ and so on it is hard to believe that it ever will be more easy to get in and explore the country. And still there are riots and conflicts going on in the country, like in eastern and northern Mon state and also in the far north of the country which still will make it almost impossible for tourists to travel to these regions for a long time. But if there is a chance to actually visit a certain area as foreigner, Mutu can bring you there.
Once again about the prices: travelling to Myanmar is and will be expensive. Basically a bigger group with more participants should make such a trip more affordable, but also more exhausting because the more cars / people need to travel along the roads / need to be checked the more time consuming it will be.
At the end we all were happy with the size of our group (three cars).
For a group of six people including all permits, fees and so on (excluding food and fuel) one will hardly find an offer charging less than 750 USD per person. But it is definitely worth the trip.
The following Google Maps link shows our basic route through the country:
After we left Myanmar using the bridge over the little river and switching back to left-hand driving we arrived at a military checkpoint where we had to provide Passports and open the cars for a simple inspection. It was around 10am (after time change) and the military pointed us to the police station in Moreh were it took us some time to actually find a present police officer to stamp our passports. To get the Carnet documents stamped he pointed back to the border. The customs office (a white building complex) is situated between the border bridge and the military checkpoint. We then had to wait once more for the customs officers to show up (Indian officials are known for starting working very late at the day). Stamping and checking the cars was done very quickly and at the end we left Moreh. They whole border crossing took us three hours. Mainly caused by non-presence of customs and asking around where to actually find police and customs.
The road from Moreh makes its way through the mountains (windy but properly paved) and you pass three military checkpoints where one always has to stop and provide personal details.
Once one makes it into the valley behind the mountains traffic gets more and cows and goats sit, walk and lie everywhere along and on the roads.
When travelling in Manipur and Nagaland it is not unusual to get stopped by the police and following them to their police station for general interrogation and providing personal details and travel plans. We even were asked to follow a police man to the police station when walking along a main road when looking for a restaurant in Bongaigaon, Assam.
Finally I hope this information is helpful to anyone interested in visiting amazing Myanmar by own vehicle. I will publish travel reports on my blog www.nue-travelling.com within the next days.
Best regards to everyone from Delhi, India.
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@wilcopops
Basically you still need to have a local licensed tour operator guiding you the whole trip through the country, no matter if you travel alone or in a convoy!
The border security at the Myanmar border will not let you get into the country unless there is a tour operator picking you up at the border!
But since there are more affordable tour operator this should all be no problem at all anymore. Especially if you have a group of six people or more.
Did you read my above posts? The tour operators Tin from brightviewtravel.com and Tar Aye from burmasenses.com are still quite expensive. But there are cheaper tour operators like Mutu from myanmarexperttours.com which we chose for our tour through Mynamar.
What are your detailed travel plans for Myanmar? I am currently building up a group for crossing Myanmar coming from Thailand (crossing at Mae Sot / Myawaddy) and going to India (Moreh / Tamu border) on a six or seven day trip with a stop over at Bagan. We are currently definetely six maybe seven or even eight people. The trip start is scheduled for middle of September but could be rescheduled for another one or two weeks (depends on the arrival of all participants in Bangkok / the Thai Myanmar border).
If you are interested in joining us let me know. You need to have a Carnet the Passage and evidence for a health insurance ready when tour booking / tour start will take place.
We will wait until second half of August before we book the trip to allow to get a better idea of when we actually can do it.
Total tour price including all fees, taxes and accommodation is 3600 US$ for a group of eight people. Not included is fuel, meals and personal expenses.
Kind regards from Dili, Timor-Leste
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UPDATE:
According to our latest research the crossing is not as expensive as I / we thought it is.
To quickly summarise:
Next to the German guy Jörn Schlag whose latest price for an extensive trip through Myanmar was 2000 Euros (~ 2750 US$) per car (independent of the number of cars building the convoy) we already found three licensed travel agencies situated in Myanmar who offer crossings through Myanmar (all following prices are based on a four or five day crossing):
1st was Tin Maung Shwe from www.brightviewtravel.com who basically provided the following prices (includes everything except of own fuel, any sight seeing and personal expenses): for 1 car / 2 pax : 2163 US$ per pax; for 2 cars / 4 pax : 1287 US$ (costs are getting cheaper the more people join the group)
2nd was Thar Aye from www.burmasenses.com who offers the crossing as follows: for 1 car / 2 pax : 2000 US$ per pax; for 2 cars / 4 pax : 1060 US$ (costs are getting cheaper the more people join the group). Furthermore we found a
3rd tour operator whose costs vary significant from those of Tin and Thar Aye:
His name is Mutu Suresh from www.myanmarexperttours.com and who recommends a six day crossing due to the more difficult road situation on the rainy season for the following (costs are in total, NOT per person!):
1 Person - 900 US$
2 People - 1060 US$
4 People - 1700 US$
6 People - 2250 US$
Includes three meals per day and five nights' accommodation. Not included as already mentioned above: own fuel, sightseeing entrance fees on the way, personal expenses and road tax (no more than 50 $US per vehicle).
I was wondering how this high price difference is possible. But I only found few reviews only of people travelling with him (all were very satisfied with his work) and he assured me that no extra costs would apply (except the ones mentioned). If anyone can give any reviews about Mutu Suresh this would be very welcome!
So far I found another couple with a 4WD who is willing to join us on the crossing. Furthermore I am waiting for the reply of two motor cyclists who also are interested in joining us.
That means currently we are four, maybe six people who will do the crossing together. I requested another offer + itinerary for a six day crossing allowing for visiting Bagan and a seven day crossing allowing for Bagan and Mandalay.
News will be posted.
So far to our situation.
Still looking for more people to join us!
Since we are having travel delays the currently desired departure time (start time) for the crossing will be middle of September.
Best regards to everyone,
Enrico and Nadine
www.nue-travelling.com -
@all
Made a mistake: the 1080 $US are INCLUDING FOOD
@phuketrichard
The price ist for a quick 4 day crossing of Myanmar starting at the Thai border at Myawaddy and finishing at the India border at Moreh / Tamu.
It goes via Nay Pyi Taw, Bagan,Pon Taung, Gangaw and Kalay Myo.
The price does not include any sight seeing but the tour can be changed in any wait to suit all participants wishes.
Are you interested in doing a crossing?
If you have a serious interest please let me know! I can also provide a detailed itinerary.
Best regards to all.
If anyone has any more questions, just ask!
NuE
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Hello to everyone.
In the meantime we have found another tour operator (www.burmasenses.com
) who offers guided tours through Myanmar.
The price per person for a group of 4 people would be 1080 USD excluding food and fuel.
The more people, the cheaper of course.So setting up a group of three or more cars would make this trip much more affordable.
If anyone else is interested in crossing Myanmar from Thai to India in August or September this year please reply!
Cheers,
NuE -
Hello to all the passionated travellers out there!
My girlfriend and me plan to cross Myanmar with our own car in either August or September this year (2014) as part of our road trip with our 4WD from Australia all the way back to Germany. We have found a local licensed tour operator in Myanmar who can organize all kinds of tours with own cars in Myanmar but it is up to us to find other people who are interested in joining us (to make the high costs of such a tour organization affordable). We want to enter Myanmar coming from Thailand and travel on to India. If you are interested in joining us in the second half of August or in September please contact us: nue.travelling[AT]gmail[DOT]com - if anyone has information about other groups already planning something similar please let us know likewise!
Kind regards,
Enrico and Nadine
Hi, you can contact Burma Senses Travel & Tours to compare the price. This company can arrange the private caravan tours with tight budget.
Thank you for the advice! If have just contacted them as request a quote. I will let know if they can offer cheaper rates.
@everyone: Still looking for more people to join us!
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Hello to all the passionated travellers out there!
My girlfriend and me plan to cross Myanmar with our own car in either August or September this year (2014) as part of our road trip with our 4WD from Australia all the way back to Germany. We have found a local licensed tour operator in Myanmar who can organize all kinds of tours with own cars in Myanmar but it is up to us to find other people who are interested in joining us (to make the high costs of such a tour organization affordable). We want to enter Myanmar coming from Thailand and travel on to India. If you are interested in joining us in the second half of August or in September please contact us: <removed> - if anyone has information about other groups already planning something similar please let us know likewise!
Kind regards,
Enrico and Nadine
Driving Own Car In Burma
in Myanmar General Chat
Posted
For the other way it would be the same. You can contact the same Burmese tour operators. They offer both directions, of course! One last time the three licensed tour operators offering guided car convois we found are:
- Tin Maung Shwe from brightviewtravel.com
- Tar Aye from burmasenses.com
- Mutu Suresh from myanmarexperttours.com
There certainly will be more who can offer such tours but the three mentioned above already have experience with this kind of trips and especially Mutu knows a lot about the country. As long as it basically is alowed to visited a certain area in Myanmar, he can bring you there!
phuketrichard is right: as long as you pay the money and start planning far in advance it actually is not difficult (anymore).
About the Carnet: Thailand does stamp Carnets! All of the countries we have been to so far did stamp it! With an Australien registered car with already travelled to Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and now India. They all stamp Carnets! And it is even written on the back site of the Carnet that all of these countries participate in this program. I can only strongly recommened you to always get your Carnet stamped at the customs at every border! This also safes you from stupid questions in case you 'skip' getting an "enter stamp" for certain a country and then once exiting the same customs want to stamp your Carnet and you don't have the "enter stamp". I remember when getting to Indonesia (border between Timor-Leste and West Timor (Indonesia) we had to explain the customs officer who to stamp the Carnet. And finally it is no matter of money anyway stamping a country more than necessary. There are plenty of stamp pages available anyway! And first of all: the Carnet is to safe you from paying custom fees / tax when bringing a foreign registered car to a certain country and is the evidence form for a TEMPORARY import. Not stamping the Carnet would basically entitle customs to charge your import tax (custom tax) which - depending on the value of the car - may be expensive. The Carnet document can be seen as "passport for your car". If you do not have a stamp in your passport, you are in trouble. If a stamp in your Carnet is missing, your "car is in trouble"!
I don't know about cars registered in Thailand. But if they do not issue Carnets at all, you may only travel to several neighbouring countries which allow cars without Carnet.
We will continue our travel to Europe once we got our Pakistan visa. Iran visa already in the passport.