Bangkok-Burma-Malaysia?

Meathlass

I've have one month to spend in Burma, probably in November. Most flights to Rangoon and Mandalay seem to transit through Bangkok and Kuala Lumpar. Seems a shame not to spend a few days at these stopovers but will it drastically increase my flight price?

Does anyone know of any other countries that I can get direct flights to Burma that I could transit through - maybe somewhere in the Middle East?

Mods, I inadvertantly posted this in the wrong section. Could it be moved to Independent Travel?
Thanks

killbillvol2

You can fly into Burma from China but it wouldn't make much sense as you'd need two visas. I'd imagine you could fly in from India as well but I've never investigated that option.

Meathlass

killbillvol2 wrote: »

You can fly into Burma from China but it wouldn't make much sense as you'd need two visas. I'd imagine you could fly in from India as well but I've never investigated that option.

Thanks, yeah China is out. The hassle of the extra visa for what would only be a 2 day stop and it's much further east.

Have you been to Burma yourself?

killbillvol2

I've been twice, the last visit in August last year. It's a mixed bag. Great people and some spectacular sights but some hellish journeys. It can be a frustrating place to travel with regular power cuts, poor infrastructure and some awful weather at times.

Weather should be perfect in November though and infrastructure is improving. The downside is that prices seem to be going through the roof since it became more accessible.

jackbhoy

I flew Bangkok to Yangon when I travelled there a few years ago. I was in SE Asia anyway so it was the obvious option for me. You could buy a return flight to Bangkok and buy a flight to Burma separately. Bangkok is cheap so wouldn't push your budget too much.

Burma is a fantastic place to visit and now is probably a good time to see before the masses arrive and it gets overrun with tour groups.

Meathlass

killbillvol2 wrote: »

I've been twice, the last visit in August last year. It's a mixed bag. Great people and some spectacular sights but some hellish journeys. It can be a frustrating place to travel with regular power cuts, poor infrastructure and some awful weather at times.

Weather should be perfect in November though and infrastructure is improving. The downside is that prices seem to be going through the roof since it became more accessible.

Thanks. Yeah I've heard you can take the prices in the guide book and triple them for accomodation but that food and govt. taxes seem to have remained the same.

Meathlass

jackbhoy wrote: »

I flew Bangkok to Yangon when I travelled there a few years ago. I was in SE Asia anyway so it was the obvious option for me. You could buy a return flight to Bangkok and buy a flight to Burma separately. Bangkok is cheap so wouldn't push your budget too much.

I know I can't get there direct from Europe so think I will definitely transit through Bangkok heading there and stay a few days. Presume I can probably get a visa on arrival?

Would like to come home through a different country though so that's why I suggested Kuala Lumpar, again just for 2 days or so. I'll probably have to book it all here before I go as I couldn't depend on organising flights in Bangkok in a short time frame.

hairyleprechaun

Hong Kong is a great city you could have a stopover there, dragonair have 4 flights a week to yangon.

Meathlass

hairyleprechaun wrote: »

Hong Kong is a great city you could have a stopover there, dragonair have 4 flights a week to yangon.

Thanks, another option to consider.

jackbhoy

Meathlass wrote: »

I know I can't get there direct from Europe so think I will definitely transit through Bangkok heading there and stay a few days. Presume I can probably get a visa on arrival?

Would like to come home through a different country though so that's why I suggested Kuala Lumpar, again just for 2 days or so. I'll probably have to book it all here before I go as I couldn't depend on organising flights in Bangkok in a short time frame.

Air Asia fly Bangkok to Yangon so that's easy to book ahead anyway.

Are you asking about Burmese or Thai visa? The latter is on arrival but there is no visa on arrival for Burma (unless it has changed in last couple of years). I got mine in Burmese embassy in Beijing I think, can get them in their Bangkok embassy though.

Meathlass

Spent my lunch hour on the phone to travel agents (Trailfinders etc). Seems it increases the cost considerably to transit through 2 separate countries, so I'm probably going to go through Malaysia and add on 4 days in Kuala Lumpar at the end of the trip. I'll save Bangkok for another time.

I know I have to get Burma visa in advance (probably through London) and I think Malyasia is just VOA.

Best price I've gotten so far is €900 for Dub-KL-Yangoon and Yangoon-KL (Stopover) - Dub. Dearer than I expected.

hairyleprechaun

Meathlass wrote: »

4 days in Kuala Lumpar at the end of the trip.

Petronas towers are the best thing about KL for me, they look unreal! If you have a couple of days in Malaysia, you could try the perhentian islands, in the north east, you fly from KL to Kota bharu take a bus or taxi out to Kuala Besut and speedboat from the pier there. Beautiful islands!

Meathlass wrote: »

I think Malyasia is just VOA.

Yup, when you land in KL you will get stamped with a 90 day visa.

Meathlass wrote: »

Best price I've gotten so far is €900 for Dub-KL-Yangoon and Yangoon-KL (Stopover) - Dub. Dearer than I expected.

That price looks pretty good to me, but I normally fly home at Christmas so I suppose that's a dearer time for flying. I don't think you'll do better than €900 Ireland to Burma return!

Meathlass

If you have a couple of days in Malaysia, you could try the perhentian islands, in the north east, you fly from KL to Kota bharu take a bus or taxi out to Kuala Besut and speedboat from the pier there. Beautiful islands!

Thanks I'll look into that.

That price looks pretty good to me, but I normally fly home at Christmas so I suppose that's a dearer time for flying. I don't think you'll do better than €900 Ireland to Burma return!

Ok, thanks for info. I've seen rtn fares to Bangkok for €600 so wasn't sure if I was getting screwed or not

edeldonlon

Just in relation to the china visa situation mentioned in one of the earlier posts. You can now enter Beijing for 72 hours without a paid visa. I did it at Xmas and it was no hassle. Fill out a form and get in a separate queue and away you go! Makes stopping over in china very easy.

killbillvol2

Meathlass wrote: »

Spent my lunch hour on the phone to travel agents (Trailfinders etc). Seems it increases the cost considerably to transit through 2 separate countries, so I'm probably going to go through Malaysia and add on 4 days in Kuala Lumpar at the end of the trip. I'll save Bangkok for another time.

I know I have to get Burma visa in advance (probably through London) and I think Malyasia is just VOA.

Best price I've gotten so far is €900 for Dub-KL-Yangoon and Yangoon-KL (Stopover) - Dub. Dearer than I expected.

Flying Air Asia into Burma would save you money - just book the long haul flight with the travel agent and the Burma return separately. Bangkok-Yangon return is €100 max.

edeldonlon wrote: »

Just in relation to the china visa situation mentioned in one of the earlier posts. You can now enter Beijing for 72 hours without a paid visa. I did it at Xmas and it was no hassle. Fill out a form and get in a separate queue and away you go! Makes stopping over in china very easy.

Stopping in Beijing on the way to Burma is a bit extreme.

Meathlass

UPDATE:
Dublin-London-KL-Rangon rtn with a 2 day stopover in KL is now €720 for my dates in late oct to late nov. Stopping over in KL is making up €100 of that total as their airport taxes are high.

Also Trailfinders now will do the Burma visa which means no trip to London. The visa costs €18 and Trailfinders charge €40 for processing it.

token101

Meathlass wrote: »

UPDATE:
Dublin-London-KL-Rangon rtn with a 2 day stopover in KL is now €720 for my dates in late oct to late nov. Stopping over in KL is making up €100 of that total as their airport taxes are high.

Also Trailfinders now will do the Burma visa which means no trip to London. The visa costs €18 and Trailfinders charge €40 for processing it.

Hi can it be done online or do you have to go in person?

Meathlass

token101 wrote: »

Hi can it be done online or do you have to go in person?

I think you have to call up to them in Dublin in person (not sure about Cork). You need your passport, a few passport photos and you need to fill in some forms. It can take 15 working days to get the visa back.

I'd advise ringing their visa section though for exact details. They might take it by registered post.

Naid23

I did a stop over in Bangkok to get my Burma visa. Am actually in Burma at the moment and its amazing.

If youre not interested in doing anything in bangkok then get your visa at home and dont bother with the stopovers.
One thing I will say is accom in Burma is pretty expensive, theres no real dorm style rooms if your doing it on a budget, its low season at the moment and were paying 30-45 US dollars a night here.

Happy travels

Meathlass

Naid23 wrote: »

One thing I will say is accom in Burma is pretty expensive, theres no real dorm style rooms if your doing it on a budget, its low season at the moment and were paying 30-45 US dollars a night here.

Thanks for that, it's what I expected alright. What kind of standard are those rooms? I was hoping to do 4 weeks on a budget of about €40 a day.

Naid23

Meathlass wrote: »

Thanks for that, it's what I expected alright. What kind of standard are those rooms? I was hoping to do 4 weeks on a budget of about €40 a day.

Standard is pretty good, most places have plenty of rooms now as its the low season so depending on when you are travelling you may need to book ahead.

Are you planning on just doing the 4 main places - yangon- mandalay- bagan and inle lake or will you be going further out!?

Meathlass

Naid23 wrote: »

Standard is pretty good, most places have plenty of rooms now as its the low season so depending on when you are travelling you may need to book ahead.

Are you planning on just doing the 4 main places - yangon- mandalay- bagan and inle lake or will you be going further out!?

I'm going late oct to late nov so definitely high season. I'm there for a month so hoping to travel a bit further afield than the main 4. I'd love to go to Maruk U out west but think its off limits at the moment.

I'd perfer to stay in dorms to meet people but I like clean sheets and hot water. Other than that I'm not particularly fussy. I think I will have to book ahead along the way which is very annoying as the whole point of backpacking is the lack of a schedule.

Any other advice would be great!

Naid23

Meathlass wrote: »

I'm going late oct to late nov so definitely high season. I'm there for a month so hoping to travel a bit further afield than the main 4. I'd love to go to Maruk U out west but think its off limits at the moment.

I'd perfer to stay in dorms to meet people but I like clean sheets and hot water. Other than that I'm not particularly fussy. I think I will have to book ahead along the way which is very annoying as the whole point of backpacking is the lack of a schedule.

Any other advice would be great!

Its mainly guesthouses as far as I know but I could be wrong. High season is going to be expensive alright and travelling between places takes best part of the day depending where you are going.

Me and my friend did Yangon, mandalay, bagan and inle lake in 10 days - just back in thailand today. 4 weeks is a long time in burma as you are restricted from someplaces. We were gonna do 3 weeks but changed our plans as it was pretty quite at this time.
Be prepared for everyone constantly staring at you, I had people stopping me for photos as they have never seen someone with Ginger hair - was a strange experience to say the least but they harmless.

Joziburg

What are the highlights in Burma (trying to plan my SE Asia trip for early next year)..currently thinking Yangon and Inle Lake, Bagan? cheers

Naid23

Joziburg wrote: »

What are the highlights in Burma (trying to plan my SE Asia trip for early next year)..currently thinking Yangon and Inle Lake, Bagan? cheers

I think 2 nights in Yangon is plenty imo. Bagan was great, depends how you view things i think, me and my friend managed to get everythig done in 2-3 days and then moved onto Inle lake.

Mandalay was great for me, motorbike tour for the day is a definate must and pretty cheap to.

Meathlass

Joziburg wrote: »

What are the highlights in Burma (trying to plan my SE Asia trip for early next year)..currently thinking Yangon and Inle Lake, Bagan? cheers

i think 2 weeks would be sufficient for Burma, particularly if you're just looking at the big 4 (Rangoon, Lake Inle, Bagan & Mandalay) and travelling overland everywhere.

Joziburg

Meathlass wrote: »

i think 2 weeks would be sufficient for Burma, particularly if you're just looking at the big 4 (Rangoon, Lake Inle, Bagan & Mandalay) and travelling overland everywhere.

Thinking about going to Beijing for a week and then flying on to Yangon - of course doing this would require two visas, would it be possible to obtain Burmese visa in Beijing, would that work out expensive?

killbillvol2

Joziburg wrote: »

Thinking about going to Beijing for a week and then flying on to Yangon - of course doing this would require two visas, would it be possible to obtain Burmese visa in Beijing, would that work out expensive?

Ask in the Burma section of the Thorn Tree forums. You'll get the most up to date info there.

Joziburg

Anybody who has been to Burma if they can help out with these Qs I have, muchas gracias!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057037507

Meathlass

Joziburg wrote: »

Anybody who has been to Burma if they can help out with these Qs I have, muchas gracias!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057037507

I'm heading to Dublin to get my visa in Trailfinders on Monday so I'll post back with costs then and the process.