Travel during the Water Festival 14-17th April

Thorn Tree forumCountry forumsSouth-East Asia MainlandMyanmar
Enter custom title (optional)
This topic is locked
Last reply was
30
…
Send as an e-mail
Send as an e-mail
MyNona
MyNona

We arrive in Yangon on the evening of 14th April which I now find is the first day of the Water Festival which lasts until 17th April.

My question is: will we be able to find public transport to leave Yangon during that period as we had only planned on staying one day then were going to travel out to other parts of the country. Will buses, trains or even taxis be travelling out of the city during that time? If not when will normal transport services resume?

Or should we book a few more nights in Yangon and just enjoy the festival?

View last reply
Report
1
rivaltribal
rivaltribal

The holiday period is around 10 days all up, but the water splashing I think is around 4 to 5 days...
Buses are very limited/stop during that period...trains till run, and domestic flights still go...taxis around the city will be available (eg. from airport to your accommodation..). most businesses close, but you will find some restaurants open.
If travelling anywhere in taxis, or trains, keep your window up...

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
2
MyNona
MyNona

Thanks for this....

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
3
forum2233
forum2233

The same thing happened to me a couple years ago. I booked a trip to Yangon not realizing the entire second half was the water festival. It's really a huge holiday for the Burmese, which is about being with friends and family, as an outsider you'll probably find it interesting for the first hour or two, after that you'll have seen everything. It will make everything impossible, as soon as you go outside you'll get soaked, and almost everything is closed. I took a taxi to the airport and taxi had to literally drive through a gigantic festival of dancing people. It can also get extremely hot during that time of year, imagine 40-42 degres celsius, so if you go be prepared to stay in your room all day. If you can I highly recommend you reschedule, even taking a loss.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
4
LongestBusRide
LongestBusRide
blog
In response to #0

Hi! I noticed this too, after planning my 3 week trip in April. I'm thinking of going to Pyin O Lwin or somewhere similar, where it's cooler and just spending 5 days in that area.
http://www.myanmartravel.cc/myanmar-travel-destinations/pyinolwin

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
5
Thorn Tree

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.

This topic has been locked by a moderator.

Pro tip
Lonely Planet
trusted partner