Myanmar accomodation problems???
Replies: 11 - Last Post: Nov 17, 2012 6:50 PM Last Post By: hilron
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Myanmar accomodation problems???
Hello!We are a couple who want to go the week of Christmas and January (about 28 days) to Myanmar.
I've been reading the forum and we are thinking changing the destination for the problem of accommodation.
The problem of find accommodation is really so bad? all cheap places to sleep are full?. Is it posible sleep on a mattress in the floor in the hostel/guesthouse, if the problem is so bad?
We haven't a closed plan, so we can't book in advance.
You see some solution for go without reservation or doing it the day before?
Thanks so much!
1
You will be traveling at the absolute busiest time of the year. Not just the cheapest places will be full, but the most expensive as well. If you are unwilling to book ahead, you'll have to take what you can get - maybe the floor of someone else's room, maybe tables in a tea shop, maybe a shed, maybe a roof. We are hearing reports of people sleeping on the floors of monasteries. If you can't find a place to stay, perhaps you'll have to cut your trip short and fly out of the country as people did last year and some people have done this year.Remember that many options are not available in Myanmar - you cannot camp, you cannot stay with locals in their homes (except for some exceptions for trekking and perhaps the Inle lake area), you cannot stay at guesthouses that are not licensed for foreigners.
2
Cassie, Monty just wrote today that "they are allowing homestays at moment"So the sleeping thing looks a bit less uneasy.
But still...
In a week I'm off and for Hsipaw, Pyin o Lwin and Bagan I don't have accommodation yet. I'll try to call ahead or ask a taxi driver. (the last time I asked a taxi driver for hotel was in Delhi many years ago. That gave a pretty bad experience, but I recken the Burmese taxi drivers are nice people too)
I fear with all the groups coming that my wanted boat trip from Mandalay to Bagan will be a bus trip. I'll try it anyway.
3
Hilron, I saw his post, it referred only to the Inle Lake area.Good luck to you, hilron. I hope you are able to find reasonably priced accommodation without too much difficulty. Do report back to us on how you do!
4
Thanks Cassie I will report back here, wait until late december for that.I guess that if the ministry of hotels and tourism opens up only Inle for more sleeping possibilities, that they think that there is no action needed for shortage elsewhere.
Anyway, for Inle backpackers don't have to fear to sleep on tables, reception-areas, roofs, subways and under bridges.
5
We got a message from friends yesterday that travelers were sleeping in the streets in Nyaungshwe this week, so perhaps the word really hasn't gotten out about homestays, If that is true, it'll be a wonderful breakthrough. These folks are traveling by bike and have full camping gear, so if it were possible, they would be sleeping elsewhere besides the very overpriced hotels ($50 for a dump in Kyaukse!).7
Yes, basically the problem is everywhere. In smaller. less-visited places there may only be one or two guesthouses and they are fully booked. This info has been posted for months, but many people say they just "can't" book ahead so they decided to wing it. They are finding out what it means to wing it these days.Mrauk U is not open to foreigners right now. If you could actually get there, there would be plenty of open rooms.
8
I can't bear those Cassiepostings anymore.Now to something completey different: Who says Mrauk U would be closed by the way?
9
try MGM Hotel in Yangon through Agoda. i've got 4 nights there from 29thDec !10
Omoomo ,cassiecat is right, I am in Myanmar now ,( Began ) writing this now. I have seen lots of desperate people trying to get rooms in Yangon. Book before you get here, or your holiday will be spent finding rooms. Don't shoot cassiecat for the message, but do try and get here. It's worth the effort.11
For the end of november 12 I just got the confirmation from Myanmar Shalom (mr. Sammy) of 6 midrange gh/hotels (13 nights), in Inle, Mandalay, Hsipaw (yes), Pyin Oo Lwin and Bagan. I am very pleased with that considering the fuzz about getting rooms in this TT. I will leave next week. Compared with what I was counting on, he saved me a couple of hundreds usd.ADVERTISEMENT
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