Myanmar

Who has been there lately, did you use a private tour co. And we're you pleased? Going in Feb. and SS has not posted anything about tours. Thanx.

When we were there we used the ships tour for the cruise line we were on. I felt a lot safer on a cruise tour. Quite an amazing city.

Keith

We were on SS's first visit to Burma, about five years ago. It was absolutely fascinating. We had a two night overnight excursion to Mandalay and Bagan. Everything was first rate, and we definitely felt cossetted, safe and well educated by excellent guides. Just about everyone from the ship went on this land adventure. They really pulled out all the stops. Such a spellbinding experience. You will love it!

I am very excited about it but annoyed that SS has not yet posted any overnight tours. Been e-mailing private companies.

One of the tours that was offered on our ship was an overnight tour. They gave you a driver, and a vehicle and the tour also included hotel and meals.

Just as an FYI when you go into some of the religious sites; no shoes and also no socks. Bring wipes.

Keith

One of the tours that was offered on our ship was an overnight tour. They gave you a driver, and a vehicle and the tour also included hotel and meals. Just as an FYI when you go into some of the religious sites; no shoes and also no socks. Bring wipes. Keith

duct tape: Myanmar. Who has been there lately' date=' did you use a private tour co. And we're you pleased? Going in Feb. and SS has not posted anything about tours. Thanx. [/quote']

 

As always, great info and background from Keith. Best to duct tape in doing this trip and visiting this country that is just now opening up more and more to the outside world. Know people who have been there and others who have upcoming trips planned. Hope that duct tape and others share more on their visit to Myanmar when they return. It's a place of interest for me in the future after doing Australia-NZ in Jan. 2014 and a couple of other high priority places.

 

From the Sunday morning New York Times travel section in August 2012, they have this feature and headline: "Visiting Myanmar: It’s Complicated" with these highlights: " Companies that once struggled to persuade clients to visit Myanmar have been deluged: Abercrombie & Kent saw a 90 percent increase in the number of Myanmar-bound tourists between the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012; Indochina Travel, headquartered in San Francisco, reported that its Myanmar business has grown from 15 percent of bookings to 35 percent over the past 18 months. With its lush landscapes, Buddhist culture and the mysterious allure of a country that for decades has had limited contact with the outside world, Myanmar has long held a special attraction for adventurous travelers. Tourists began trickling into this former British colony, bordered by China, India, Thailand, Bangladesh and Laos, in the late 1970s when the going was far rougher than it is today. Back then, the government usually issued one-week visas and restricted visitors to a prescribed itinerary. Today tourists typically receive visas that are valid for up to 28 days. Luxury hotels have sprung up, and only a few areas are inaccessible to travelers."

 

Full story at:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/travel/visiting-myanmar-its-complicated.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 119,025 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Who has been there lately, did you use a private tour co. And we're you pleased? Going in Feb. and SS has not posted anything about tours. Thanx.

Hello

My wife and I are on the same cruise.

The Silversea tours for Rangoon (Yangon) have been on the website for a couple of weeks - there are 11 different tours listed. There appears to be a technical hitch on the website though - the tours show for the Voyage 3404 under Find your Voyage, but are not showing within the My Voyage section.

We will probably make our own arrangements in Yangon, with the exception of a SS evening tour to the Shwedagon Pagoda, which looks spectacular at night.

There is also an overnight tour to Bagan (Pagan). We are currently evaluating this and have asked our TA to look into the feasibility of a privately arranged overnight tour. We VERY MUCH want to see Bagan, including a balloon trip, but are not clear yet on what our arrangements will be. It does look fantastic - 3,000 pagodas to see - in one day !! :eek:

We are told by those who know, that the tourism infrastructure is still very undeveloped and the demand far outstrips supply. I understand that it is difficult trying to obtain satisfactory private guide/driver services, in the way that one would next door in Thailand for example.

Our trusted TA, and her local agents in SE Asia, advise that cruise ships arriving in Yangon can sometimes be delayed by tides. Therefore if one books and pays for a private tour, and the ship is delayed, things wont work out.

There is one other consideration - to what degree one wishes to try and support local people directly, versus using transport/ accommodation/ guides that are part of the government set up. This is a personal thing - maybe read what Aung San Suu Kyi has to say about this and make ones own mind up.

I hope this helps a little.

In October 2013 we are cruising up the Irrawaddy River on one of the smaller boats (16 cabins) of the Irrawaddy Steamship Co. (Pandaw). Some of their larger boats are used for group tours by US/European operators, Grand Circle? Vantage?. Viking and I think Uniworld will have their "own ships" there in 2014. We want to see the Irrawaddy before it is as crowded as the Rhine.

We have arranged pre and post land content through one of the many local travel operators recommended on Trip Advisor; airport transfers, driver and guide for each our destinations, as internal air, and some accommodation. Other hotels I have booked direct on line.

These local operators will no doubt see oportunities in providing services to ocean cruise ships. Late arrivals and early departures always add an element of excitement to the day out.

There seems to be a lot of new 4 & 5 star accommodation at tourist places but with the huge influx of tourists availability can be a problem. We are spending a few nights in a family run guest house, en-suite and mosquito nets guarranteed, A/C at the mercy of the power supply.

Thanx, hotspur and HDS. Yes, I see the daily excursions but iam waiting for the overnights. We will probably book privately also, since I sometimes have trouble keeping up with a crowd. Thanx again for the input.

Duct Tape, I do hope that you'll have the opportunity to overnight in both Mandalay and Bagan. Of the two, we were more fascinated by Mandalay, but viewing a plain filled with temples as far as you could see was also thrilling.

We are probably scaredy cats, but Burma is still an outlaw state, so we would absolutely choose to travel under the considerable protection of SS. Yes, it is opening up, but we can't forget the massacre of more than 2,000 Budhist monks shortly after our first visit about five, maybe six, years ago. Now the government is attacking northern villages. It seems that the rulers want to open up, but have been paranoid and ruthless for so long that it is going to be a tale of starts and stops. They want the commerce tourism brings, probably because they have figured out that they need it..and they've been closely watching Vietnam's and Cambodia's progress, but more than $$ they want control.

This is too much of a long winded way of saying: for the foreseeable future, stay receptive but cautious. Stick with SS. Their accommodations, busses, flights, and guides were first rate..and surprisingly candid for people in a far from free country. We were also very impressed by their English.

All in all we had a GREAT trip. Probably our #1 favorite. Next time we will be making a few more small purchases from sellers set up around our stops, and we plan to take a lot of crayons, pencils, coloring books etc. to give to local schools. As they say; Little things mean a lot.

Are things more settled now? We were thinking of hiring a car with English speaking driver / guide for our trip in November 2014. Thank you.

We were there for 3 days last year. Did day trip in Yangon, the overnight to Bagan. All with Silversea. Make sure to take the balloon ride.