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So maybe shoulder season, and maybe take a good long look at the 'triangle' and see if I can work around it. I'll bet that once you get off the Inle/Bagan/Mandalay route the crowds drop off.
Best go soon though... Cheers all, interesting chat.
Totally agree .. I was there around Thingyan and had no trouble finding accommodation, although the prices in Yangon are very much higher than what I paid for before. This hype of a tourist surge is definitely causing the prices of accommodation to sky rocket.
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15
Yeah, I'll still do it, but I think going at Xmas and New Year is probably a bad idea.So maybe shoulder season, and maybe take a good long look at the 'triangle' and see if I can work around it. I'll bet that once you get off the Inle/Bagan/Mandalay route the crowds drop off.
Best go soon though... Cheers all, interesting chat.
16
There is a reason people want to go to Bagan and Inle. It would be a shame to skip them because you're afraid there will be too many people.18
I was in Burma in July 2011 and I felt like there were hardly any tourists around. I don't know if it just happened to be that month or what, but it was delightful. Even the temples at Bagan had only a handful of people every now and then, definitely not like Angkor Wat. But I can imagine that with Burma opening up and becoming more popular, it is definitely starting to lose its mystique. I pray it doesn't turn into another Thailand!!19
Tales of Burma being swamped by tourists and being passe are greatly exaggerated..20
Another Thailand? Hardly, LOS had 29 Million visitors last year...22
Tales of Burma being swamped by tourists and being passe are greatly exaggerated..Totally agree .. I was there around Thingyan and had no trouble finding accommodation, although the prices in Yangon are very much higher than what I paid for before. This hype of a tourist surge is definitely causing the prices of accommodation to sky rocket.
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So last year LOS had 29million visitors and Myanmar had about 900,000 visitors (not all tourists) (I can't find an official figure at the moment and already a huge increase on previous years). 2010 has just under 800,000 foreign visitors of which 297,000 were tourists. The point I'm making is that it still has a long way to go before it gets anything like Thailand. Its just the lack of carrying capacity and infrastructure that's causing tourist bottlenecks and if you factor in much of the country being closed off to tourists and those tourists only going to visit 3 or 4 main sites then you see the crowding. Once away from those areas you're very quickly on your own and the adventure is still there.25
I'm planning a visit to Myanmar this November 2012. I really don't want to book ahead, but if it's suggested I'll do it. One time in San Sebastion, Spain I pre-booked at a hostel during a summer festival, but when I showed up they didn't have a room for me so the hotel owner had me stay in his mother's guestroom. It was a really neat experience, better than being in a crowded hostel. I also had a similar experience in Mongolia when the hotel I was going to stay at didn't have enough beds, so they gave me the keys to an apartment a couple blocks away and I had the whole place to myself. Maybe, things like this could happen in Myanmar. It seems people find a way to make things work, especially if it benefits their income. Just a thought.26
Myanmar is not Spain nor Mongolia. Tourists must stay in hotels and guesthouses that are licensed to take foreigners. Homestays are illegal, other than those few on the trekking routes that are licensed. You are traveling during high season. If you want to be sure you have a place to stay, book ahead.27
- 9, Ikombazana: I went to Myeik and Dawei - Myeik as a city on the waterfront is very scenic, there is a nice river front restaurant up north, apart from the market place, but: one has to stay in or near the town. Dawei: no real river front, visually less attractive but 1 beach to the north and 1 (more remote) to the south - attractive. Take your time, have a free schedule as booking on flights were not quite fixed.
