Azure Sky ToursOur Brief Travel Guide

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Useful travel tips

–Visa–Money matters– Internet: Pros and Cons–Health issues– Security for Travelers–Telecommunications– Gratuities–Do‘s and Don‘ts (What to do and leave)– Shopping in Myanmar– Power supply– Food and drink

VISA Foreign visitors require a Myanmarvisa and the passport should be valid forat least six (6) months upon entry intothe country. The tourist visa costs 50Euro/US $ and is valid for 28 days afterentry. Business visas cost 70 Euro/US $.Overstay fees ($ 3 per day) will be levied.The total stay with a tourist visa may notexceed 90 days, otherwise immediatedeportation! The easiest way to get avisa is via the internet. Under www.evisa.moip.gov.mm you will find all

necessary informati-on. It is recom-mended to enter thecountry by plane viaYangon, Mandalayand Naypyitaw. For

overland entry (and, of course, regularvisa application) visa can be applied forat the Myanmar embassy in your homecountry. German and Austrian citizensmay contact the embassy in Berlin(www.botschaft-myanmar.de), Swisscitizens the consulate in Geneva. Pleasetake into consideration that theprocessing of the application can takelonger at peak times. In difficult cases,we are happy to help you with the visa.At the time being, overland entry is onlyallowed from Thailand. The borders of allother neighbouring countries are closedto foreigners. The most important border

crossings are Mae Sai/Tachileik, MaeSot/Myawady and Ranong/Kawthaung,where you may enter with e-visas, too. Inline with the promotion of tourism, otherborder crossings at the Thai-Burmeseborder are currently being opened. Moredetails on request.

Customs: If you carry cash exceeding thevalue of USD 10,000 you must declare itto the custom authorities when enteringthe country. The same is true for valuablejewelry and expensive technical items.Burmese money may neither be broughtinto the country nor may it be taken out.There are restrictions on the import ofcigarettes and alcohol. However, theprices for cigarettes in Myanmar areunbeatable and you can meet yourrequirements in the Duty Free Shop (atleast in Yangon) after passing thecustoms check.

MONEY MATTERSThe motto in Myanmar is: Cash is king!Even transactions in the six-digit range(dollars!) are settled in cash! In the bigcities you often see people with biggunny bags full of money! And no onecares about them! Bank robbery isunknown in Myanmar, since the transportproblems after a successful robbery areinsolvable. And if someone – against all

Useful travel tips

odds – manages to get the bags into theescape car, he’ll surely be stuck in thenext traffic jam... Myanmar money (Kyat,pronounced as ‚tcha‘) is circulating invarious denominations of one to tenthousand kyat. The highest face value isabout US $ 7 – which says a lot aboutMyanmar’s economy. You can buy thenational currency on arrival in Yangon atthe airport. The rates there are very good.Please do not believe that you get moreon the black market. Rather, a little less.Or even much less, if you fall for one ofthe numerous fraudsters! But restassured: there are also honest moneychangers! In many places you can findtrustworthy ‘Official Money Changers’where you can change withouthesitation. However, if you areapproached at a street corner andsomeone offers you a very tempting rate,be cautious! Banks and money changersaccept Euro, Dollar, Singapore Dollar andalso Thai Baht. On the other hand, it is agood idea to carry some US $ in additionto the national currency. They areaccepted almost everywhere. Pleasemake sure to bring along very well-preserved banknotes: you cannot dispose

of dirty or kinked bank notes in Myanmar– not to mention dollar notes that arescribbled! Likewise dollar notes with theserial number CB – only the Buddhaknows why ... On the other hand, watchout when you accept dollar notes fromBurmese. They don’t hold off from tryingto get rid of exactly that kind of money…

Credit cards since the introduction ofATM machines, many tourists are usingthose to withdraw cash with their creditcard. You may withdraw up to 300,000kyat (about 250 US $) up to three times a

day. That should be enough! Please notethat sometimes high fees are charged forthe withdrawal of money. Credit cardsissued by the large organizations Visaand Mastercard are accepted. Otherwise,paying with credit cards in Myanmar israther rare and where they are accepted,up to 8 % commission will be charged.And do not rely solely on your credit card.Always carry cash in your pocket!Traveller’s checks are not accepted inMyanmar!

INTERNET: Pros and ConsIt’s no secret anymore, that nowadayseverybody can save a lot of money bybooking directly on the internet – be ithotels, be it flights, or whatever. But it isno secret either, that the internet hidesmany traps: untrustworthy providers,incomprehensible small print etc. oftenmake bookings on the internet a gamble.Not a few people were more thanamazed, when they arrived in their room,which looked so beautiful on the picture:fish-eye and wide-angle lenses as well asphoto shop are capable of producing truemiracles! The matter is furthercomplicated by the fact that Myanmarcannot be compared with other, moreadvanced countries in many ways. Be itthe payment modalities, be it theinternet connection, not to mention theelectrical power supply... For example,you book a domestic flight to Myanmarin the internet. You may save ten percent(i.e. the commission of the local travelagency). The air traffic market inMyanmar is highly regulated: althoughwe had more than ten domestic airlines,their prices hardly differ. Competitionsimply doesn’t exist! ‘Good relations’between the airlines’ owners andauthorities make sure no one breaksranks. You will not find cheap flights (forexample late evening flights) on the web,since they are usually offered at shortnotice and quickly sold out. And what, ifthe flight you’ve booked on the net is

delayed? Or cancelled? The travel agencysurely learns about it. But what about thetraveler, who is on a trekking tour andrealizes only at the airport that his flightis already gone? Or has been canceledaltogether? He’ll be left out in the cold!The same can happen to hotel bookings,e.g. when you arrive at your hotel andthey tell you that they just can’t find yourname, unfortunately! Or they gave yourroom away because they thought youwouldn’t come anymore as it was so late.And the room, therefore, was ‚passed on‘.A complaint to tripadvisor after the tripdoesn’t give you a bed for that night. Butit’s a different story if you book with us:we take care of the booking, confirm itseveral times. And if all else fails, we‘lltake care that you find a place where youcan rest your tired head. And the pricedifferences usually aren’t that big: afterall, we have the same contracts andsimilar conditions with our partnerhotels as the providers on the internetand we can keep up with those in thenet. And inquiries with us are free ofcharge! To avoid misunderstandings: ofcourse, 99 % of internet bookings gosmoothly, even in Myanmar – but whowould like to be among the 1% whosebookings went wrong?

HEALTH ISSUESA stay in Myanmar does not present agreater health risk than in Thailand orother countries in Southeast Asia. The

people here are dying of the sameillnesses or diseases as the people of theWestern world (cardiovascular diseasesare in the first place) and not of snakebites or cholera! The dreaded malariadoes not present a general health risk forthe inhabitants of Myanmar. It hardlyoccurs in the areas visited by tourists.Dengue fever, transmitted by mosquitoes,exists in all countries of Southeast Asia,even in Singapore. Unfortunately, there isno vaccination against it yet. The bestprotection against mosquitostherefore is a mosquitonet and clothing thatcovers the body. Formore informationplease refer to thetravel hints websiteof your country’sembassy or guidebooks. Medical care inMyanmar unfortunately leaves much tobe desired, although in Yangon the SOSclinic operated by foreign doctors is quitereliable. The Australian Embassy‘s clinicalso offers a very good standard. Thereare some VIP hospitals with goodfacilities, too, in Yangon. And if it youshould develop a serious condition, it isfortunately only a short trip to Bangkok,where there is a good medicalinfrastructure. However, a foreign travelhealth insurance is usually not veryexpensive but can save you a lot oftrouble. It usually includes emergency

transport to your home country, should itcome to the worst. Vaccinations are notcompulsory when entering Myanmar, butit is not a bad idea to make sure beforethe trip that the usual immunizations(polio, wound arrest, hepatitis, etc.) arestill effective.

The heat in Myanmar definitely can takeits toll on visitors! Always wear asunscreen (hat or umbrella) and don’tforget to apply sun tan lotion with a high

sun protection factor at thebeach. At Inle Lake and

elsewhere on largerwater bodies keepin mind that thewater reflects thesunrays. Quite a few

travellers whothought that wearing a

hat would be enough toprotect them from the sun contracted

painful sunburns. Make sure to ingestsufficient amounts of liquid because youare sweating permanently without evenknowing it. It is a good idea to have asoup for lunch as it contains both liquidand salt. On the other hand it should notbe forgotten that it is as easy to catch acold as it is to get sunburnt in Myanmar.For longer bus rides a warm jacket oreven a blanket can be rather useful.

SECURITY FOR TRAVELERSMyanmar may be considered as a verysafe place! On the other hand, I recentlyread in a statistic that Myanmar had thehighest murder rate of all of Eurasia. Itcould almost be compared with those ofthe ‚leading‘ crime countries in Africa andSouth America. I was amazed that thesepeaceful people should be so murderous.After some investigation, the full truthemerged: It turned out that the victims of

domestic conflicts were simply included.Amazingly, this was not the case in Syriaor Iraq ... Don’t worry: Myanmar is one ofthe safest countries in the world and ifyou should notice that you have left yourwallet somewhere, most probablysomeone will already be on the way toreturn it to you. However, there are areasin Myanmar (especially in Shan State,Karen State and Kachin State) where theBurmese army fights against variousrebel groups. These areas are located inthe outlying areas of the country andusually closed to tourists. If conflictsshould occur in the area you’re visiting,the authorities will make sure that you

leave immediately. For all areas ofconflict a permit is usually required andit will only be granted if the location issafe. It is possible that areas that wereopen for tourists one day will be closedthe next day. But these are exceptions.Please let us know where you want to go,and we will take care of the permit –success, however, can’t be guaranteed!

Helpers in need: If you should really getin distress, you can contact the touristoffice. If there is no such thing, ordinarypolice officers will help you, too. Theofficials are friendly and always eager toassist those seeking their help. In amedical emergency, you should contactthe nearest doctor. Your hotel will behappy to help you find the right person.Larger hotels may even have an in-housedoctor. In Yangon, the SOS clinic (phone:01 657922) is reliable. Pls. don’t forget toask for a receipt, which you can submitlater to your insurance company.Especially, if the treatment is expensive.The embassy of your home country canalso help you. And, of course, we’ll bethere for you! Do not hesitate to call usat any time, even at night! This is part ofour service! We also arrange contact withyour relatives and friends in your homecountry.

TELECOMMUNICATIONSThose bad old days, when you had towait several hours at the Yangon

Telegraph Office until you were able tomake a rather expensive overseas call –and then could hardly understand a

single word – are fortunately long gone.Myanmar has caught up with the age ofmodern communication! In addition tothe state-owned MPT– which has greatlyimproved its service in the face ofcompetition – the foreign ownedcompanies Oredoo and Telenor arecompeting to win over the clients. Theirservices and prices are pretty much thesame. One company may offer cheaperphone calls. While the other may becheaper when it comes to internetaccess. After arrival in Yangon you canbuy a rather reasonable priced SIM card(about one Euro) and immediately startmaking phone calls. The prices are higherthan in the neighbouring countries butyet reasonable. If your credit is used up,you can top it up without any problems.Roaming with your own foreign phonecard usually works, but will beconsiderably more expensive than a localSIM card. Tablet & Co. rang the deathbell for most of the internet cafes thatsprang up like mushrooms a few years

ago. They belong to the past, as networkaccess has become so easy. Most of thehotels have well equipped businesscenters, should you require a desktop. Inthe cities and the main touristdestinations the network is usually o.k.but in the countryside you may findyourself offline more often than you like.

GRATUITIESMyanmar is a service society where evenlower class people have their maids.While in Europe even the clients ofbetter hotels usually have to carry theirsuitcases to the room themselves, inMyanmar a simple guesthouse will

provide a baggage porter. There is amultitude of waiters, doormen, roomboys etc. at the guest’s disposal.Sometimes even more than you think youneed. And they all expect a tip from you.All have in common that they areunderpaid and therefore dependent onyour tips in a way. But: how much isappropriate? Well, that depends onwhere you are! If you give the boy in a

tea shop a hundred Kyat, he’ll bedelighted. The baggage porter in a luxuryhotel might be a little disappointed withthat amount: one thousand Kyat wouldbe more appropriate in this case. In arestaurant one should give 5 to 10%. Butof course not, if you go out with a groupof friends and the bill is rather high. Inan exclusive restaurant – Yangon hasquite a few of them – you might end upwith a bill of 500.000 Kyat. Then, ofcourse, a tip of ten percent would bemore than inappropriate. A waiter in sucha place earns about 200.000 Kyat andyou wouldn’t give a waiter in your homecountry one quarter of his monthlyincome as tip. Or would you…? Upscalerestaurants will have a service charge ontheir bill. I usually bring up the bill to around figure, e.g. from 8,500 Kyat to9,000 Kyat. Quite often porter fees arefixed as on the airports where theycharge 300 Kyat per piece of baggage. Ofcourse, they have no objections if yougive them 1.000 Kyat… When youdisembark from a ship in Bagan they’llcharge 500 Kyat per piece. If you hire atour guide, a tip of 5 dollars per dayseems to be a reasonable amount to me– total, that is, not per person! Due to thefact that the driver often has a morestressful job than the guide, I consider itappropriate to give the same amount tohim. For a larger group, which meansmore work for the guide, you may feelobliged to give 10 dollars per day.

DO‘S AND DON’TS – WHAT TO DO ANDWHAT NOTThe shoe question: ...has an outstandingsignificance in Myanmar and may evenbe regarded as the trigger for theindependence struggle. If you visit apagoda, you must take off shoes andsocks. Even if you have an artificial leg,like one of my customers. He was reallyoutraged when the pagoda people forcedhim to take off his socks. In this regard,there is ZERO tolerance in Myanmar!Sometimes, visitors – especially if theyhave some knowledge of Buddhism –can’t help but feel that taking off shoesat the pagodas and putting gold leaf onBuddha statues seems to be the veryessence of Buddhism in Myanmar. Thereis a strict dress code, too: an overzealouslocal guide donated posters at manypagodas, which tell the visitors exactlywhat dress is not allowed on thepremises: short trousers are asundesirable as sleeveless blouses andtank tops etc. for women. But don’t worry:you can borrow a longyi (the nationaldress) to cover your naked legs. The

booklet ‘Do‘s and Don‘ts in Myanmar‘,which is even available free of charge insome places, tells you how to avoidembarrassment. Even though the authorsexaggerate a bit sometimes, if you askme… Photographing: is relatively easy inMyanmar. Most people have no problemwhen a foreigner wants to take a photoof them. However, you should try to get

the approval of the person you want totake. This can be done by acorresponding gesture, you don’t have tospeak Burmese for that… Be cautiouswhen taking photos of Muslims! Andnever take photos at railway stations,airports, bridges, not to mention militaryinstallations, where photography isstrictly prohibited!

SHOPPING IN MYANMARMyanmar is not exactly what you call ashopping paradise when it comes toluxury items from the Western world. Butif you are looking for local products, youwill find them everywhere. The marketsoffer a wide range of textiles andsouvenirs such as wood carvings,

mother-of-pearl items, lacquer products,etc. Very popular with tourists are monks’umbrellas, rattan ware, musicalinstruments and the famous Thanakapaste, which makes the skin of Burmeseladies so smooth. Gold and preciousstones should only be purchased fromauthorized dealers (with certificate) asyou may encounter problems at customs.The same applies to antiques – hereeven more caution is suggested!Especially when it comes to Buddhastatues and other religious items theBurmese are particularly sensitive ... Weare happy to advise you! As a generalrule, it is best to buy the souvenirs at theplaces where they are made: Bagandefinitely has the best selection oflacquer ware while wood carving andother popular souvenirs are best inMandalay. In Myanmar it is customary tobargain but don’t expect the samediscounts as in India.

Mail: The Burmese snail mail is rightlynotorious! Some are still waiting todayfor the postcard they’ve sent to theirmother in Germany twenty years ago.After all, a post office clerk doesn’t earnvery much, and with a little inventivenessthe stamps can be re-used ... Better giveyour postcards to your hotel or give themto us. We’ll take care that they are dulysent – i.e. with a small gift to the clerk! Itis rather expensive to send overseaparcels from Myanmar. Maybe, it’s a good

idea to wait until you are in Bangkok andto send them from there. If you want tosend a letter or a parcel inside Myanmarwe advise you to use one of thenumerous courier services (Royal Mailetc.). Larger consignments are sent alongas additional load by bus. Very reliable!You’ll have to deliver it to the bus standand pick it up at the bus stand at yourdestination. If you should want to sendhome bulky souvenirs you may confide in(generally reliable) cargo agents whowork with the relevant shops. We willalso assist you if necessary.

POWER SUPPLYAs a rule, you will find alternatingcurrent (220-240 V) in Myanmar.However, it is a good idea to ask, whenyou check in. Current variations are quitecommon in Myanmar and you often comeacross ‘voltage regulators’ that aresupposed to keep the voltage relativelyconstant. If the fluctuations are toostrong, the device switches offautomatically. So-called safeguards donot regulate the current flow, but simplyswitch off when the voltage exceedscertain limits. Pls. make sure that yoursensitive devices such as laptops etc. areprotected. Power cuts represent a furtherproblem: even in Yangon they are aregular occurrence. A multitude of privategenerators outside shops bear witness tothis. Therefore, charge your mobilephones and laptops if you have the

opportunity and don’t wait until you areback at the hotel – there may be a powercut… Budget hotels often have nogenerator, but they provide the guestwith a candle if necessary – which won’thelp you very much with your mobilephone… If you are lucky these places mayhave an ‘inverter’, i.e. battery supported

power. Bring a torch light! Even most ofthe budget hotels nowadays have aircondition but that doesn’t help you inthe case of a power cut. Lack of air concan be particularly unpleasant in the hotseason. Plug sockets may be anotherproblem. Myanmar offers an incrediblevariety of those. When I moved into myhouse I found six different types! Byreplacing most of them I managed toreduce the number to three. And if you

trust that your ‚universal plug‘ won’t letyou down, don’t forget that Myanmar is auniverse of its own in many aspects…Needless to say: electrical installations inMyanmar are not safe. Not at all! Burnt-out plug sockets etc. everywhere tell thestory. Tourists just love to take photos ofutility poles in the big cities – a maze ofpower supply lines and one wonders howin this world the electricity board keepstrack of them. Generally, Myanmar peopleare very ‘inventive’ when it comes toelectricity– beware!

FOOD AND DRINKIn Myanmar as well as in other tropicalcountries the old rule applies: ‘Cook it,peel it – or forget it!’ Fortunately, thetimes when the infamous ‘Burma Belly’caught almost every tourist are longgone. But still, you should be cautiouswith what you eat and drink! Don’tbelieve that street food in Yangon is assafe as in Bangkok! So better avoid it!But you wouldn’t eat street food in Indiaeither, would you? Bottled water isavailable everywhere and you better stickto it! Avoid ice cubes, unless you are in afour-star-hotel. As a rule, avoidexperiments and stick to restaurants thathave the reputation of being safe.

Burmese cuisine: It’s not easy for theBurmese cuisine to hold its groundagainst her neighbours (India, China,Thailand) whose cuisine enjoys

worldwide reputation. Generally,Burmese cuisine is oriented more to thewestern neighbour: Curries dominate!Even though they are not as spicy and –contrary to India – pork is very popular.Many describe the cuisine of Myanmar as‚oily‘, and in fact the Burmese housewives are not mean, when it comes to oil.But maybe it’s just that, which makesBurmese curries so delicious! Personally,I find it amazing that there is only oneBurmese restaurant (in Cologne) inGermany and not a single one in Paris!On the other hand, in Europe there arelots of restaurants serving food from

regions that (rightly) are not sorenowned for their food, such as Arab orAfrican cuisine. Not to mention Anglo-American cuisine… But that’s my personalopinion, of course! Maybe it is due to thefact that very few Myanmar people live inthe West…

Staple food, as could be expected, is rice.Myanmar people hold the world record inrice consumption: if I believe a statistic Iread recently, the Burmese eat no less

than 600 grams (uncooked!) of rice dailyper head: including the elderly andchildren! There are rumours, however,that quite a lot of it is fed to the animalsas the price of rice is heavily subsidizedby the government. Many visitors believethat the typical Myanmar greeting is‘Mingalaba!’ (Auspiciousness to you!).Wrong! Much more often you will hear:‚Htamin saa bibilaa?‘ And that means,‚Have you already eaten rice?‘ Since thepreparation of the traditional Burmesecuisine is very time-consuming, thehousewives of the country rather oftenswitch to Chinese cuisine, which givesconsiderably less trouble. The sameapplies to Indian cuisine, especially inplaces where many Indians live. Thedifferent peoples of Myanmar of coursehave their own specialties: Shan noodlesare not only popular with the Shan and

the fiery Rakhine cuisine often can befound outside Rakhine. In Yangon youcan make a culinary journey through thecountry: whether Intha cuisine from InleLake or Karen cuisine – everything isavailable here. Do not miss the

opportunity to attend a cooking course inMyanmar with subsequent tasting (e.g. atthe Inle Lake) – an adventure of a specialkind. In the bigger cities nowadays manyThai restaurants can be found, which

offer the tasty cuisine of theneighbouring country. There is a wideselection of Italian, Japanese, Korean andIndian cuisine near the major touristattractions. In Yangon there is even aGerman (!) Restaurant. Mahlzeit offersauthentic German food from Krautwickel(stuffed cabbage) to Sauerbraten andSchnitzel! In the supermarkets of theCity-Mart chain, homesick travelers willfind a wide selection of wellknownproducts such as Nutella and Ritter-Sport-Chocolate! Even half-decent breadis available in some hotels... But if you’relooking for shoelaces you certainly willnot succeed: so please bringreplacement!