Hidden gems of Myanmar
Myanmar’s newfound political freedom has brought on a surge in tourism to the once isolated country, making it last year’s travellers’ hot spot, and a place worth getting up to speed on.
Here are 11 things you should know before heading for myanmar.
1. New Year celebrations last four days
The Burmese make a big deal of the new year. Thingyan, known as the “water throwing festival”, is celebrated in april.
Everything shuts down over the fourday new year – banks, restaurants, shops. The biggest celebrations are in yangon and mandalay.
During the new year water-throwing frenzy everyone throws and sprays water at each other as water symbolises the washing away of the previous year’s bad luck and sins.
On new year’s Day, the fourth day of the festival, fishes and birds are released as acts of merit and feasts are held for monks.
2. Myanmar has fantastic beaches
myanmar has about 2,000km of coastline and some of the finest stretch of beaches in asia.
many along the Bay of Bengal and andaman sea remain undiscovered by tourists and unspoilt by development. many face west and produce great sunsets.
The best known is ngapali Beach, a 45minute flight from yangon, where almost two miles of white sand are lined with palm trees overlooking the andaman sea.
Less developed is ngwe saung, an unspoilt beach that’s a five-hour drive from yangon.
also called silver Beach, its 13km stretch makes it one of the longest beaches in asia.
3. the internet isn’t censored anymore, but it’s still slow
The Internet arrived in myanmar in 2000, but high prices and slow connections mean it’s still not widely used.
Far more popular are mobile phones, but they too, are expensive compared with other asian countries.
4. You’ll need plenty of cash – and make sure it’s clean
There are few aTms in myanmar, so visitors need to bring plenty of spare cash.
The higher the denomination, the better the exchange rate.
your notes should be squeaky clean – no creases, stains, marks or tears – or they are worthless.
at present, credit cards are accepted only in five-star hotels and up-market shops and restaurants, usually with a two to three per cent fee added to the bill.
The local currency is the kyat (pronounced “chat”) and rm1 will get you about 300 kyat. The new 10,000-kyat note is the highest denomination – be prepared for a bulging wallet.
Crime against foreigners is rare and the Burmese – the vast majority of whom are Buddhist – are generally honest.
. a kissing sound gets you a beer
When the Burmese want to get a waiter’s attention they make a kissing sound, usually two or three short kisses. It sounds like a rude cat-call in malaysia.