Myanmar, India, China route ideas? (traveling to Myanmar by land/ necessary visas) ADVICE NEEDED

Hi,

Thailand is certainly the easiest way to enter Burma by land. The easiest border crossing - with overland access to the country's main sights - is Mae Sot/Myawaddy. Mae Sot is a day's bus ride from either Bangkok or Chiang Mai.

I believe you can enter Burma and leave Burma by any valid border crossings. I don't think they restrict you in this.

Crossing the India/Burma border requires a permit. Much has been written about this on this forum.

Traveling between Burma and China (there's one border crossing open to foreigners - Muse/Ruili) involves some kind of a permit, and a private taxi on the Burmese side. Because of this, it seems no cheaper than flying from Kunming to Mandalay.

Visiting all three countries - China, Burma, and India - overland will be a hassle. If you're only doing this to save money, don't bother; it will probably be cheaper to add a flight or too. If what you're really interested in is overland travel, then good luck!

Hi,
I have been planning the same route, however my starting point is India. Travelling from India (Moreh) to Myanmar (Tamu) requires a MTT permit (can be easily purchased through local travel agents in Myanmar, currently priced @ 80-100USD). This part is quite an easy task by itself.
Now, travelling from Myanmar to China overland (the popular Muse-Ruili land border crossing) is getting tougher these days. The latest news being that apart from an MTT permit (particularly for Myanmar-China land border crossing), one should travel with a guide. The traveler should also bear the cost towards the transportation and accommodation of the guide. The MTT permit shall cost 80-100USD. But, once the transportation and accommodation charges (better say 'overhead' charges) are taken into account, there is simply no point to do overland tour.
As replied by Giora above, a flight from Mandalay to Kunming shall be much cheaper, and save the time.
The sudden changes implemented by the govt. has forced me to re-think my entire plan on overland journey, atleast it is not cost-saving !

@sama23 --

The first rule here is to search before you post. There is plenty of information on these matters in the Myanmar branch.

As @Giora has said, there are many reports on how to cross between India and Myanmar:

• https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/forums/asia-south-east-asia-mainland/myanmar/myanmar-india-land-border-crossing-at-tamu-moreh-open

Work backwards from the last page of posts on that topic. There are other posts on travel between China and Myanmar, and there are thousands of posts on visa issues.

For budget travel from Asia, Air Asia and Golden Myanmar Airlines offer flights into Myanmar that can work out cheaper than overland travel. If you arrive by air, you can take advantage of the e-visa option:

• http://evisa.moip.gov.mm/

Otherwise, visas are easy to obtain in most other capital cities. You can enter and depart Myanmar by different means, but you can only use the e-visa if you enter by air.

Also search the forum for discussions on whether or not to carry cash in Myanmar, and the costs of using ATMs.

India has made unhelpful changes to its visa rules, esp for people not in their country of residence. I don't know the details, but believe BKK is not an option.

Visas for China often require proof of flights in and out plus accommodation bookings. Once you have your visa, you are free to enter and stay where you like.

There are 5 land borders open between Myanmar with Thailand, and all land travel okay for 4 of them...the 5th, in the very north Thailand at Mae Sai-Taichileik requires an internal Myanmar flight due to one section of road closed to FITs.
You can enter and exit Myanmar via ANY mix of borders...air and or land...the only issue is if using an E-visa you have to fly in (but can still exit via land).
For India-Myanmar border requires MTT permit, as noted above, and can be done by all land travel.
Myanmar-China has been made harder again very recently and would be cheaper to fly between Mandalay and Kunming.

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