TELECOMMUNICATIONS:
This field has seen a lot of improvement in recent years. Nowadays
travelers can reach their home countries by phone or fax - at least from
the major cities in Myanmar. The formerly exorbitant prices have dropped
quite a bit; however, at US$ 3.20/minute phoning from Myanmar to Europe
it is still far from being a bargain. |
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Whenever making phone calls from Myanmar it is important to ask for the
price first - at some hotels the tariff might be double the official
rate. E-mail is available in the big hotels; again, it should be
remembered that this comes at a price as well. In no way prices can can
be compared with the 'rock bottom' prices in the West. Travelers better
also leave their cellular phones at home; moreover, they are not going
to work in Myanmar anyway...
The local mobile telephone net is practically useless for tourists: A
mobile phone costs over US$ 4,000.-! Finally, the local phone nets are
permanently overload and the quality of the connections leaves also much
to be desired... |
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LETTERS & PARCELS:
What
has been said about telecommunications is also true for the mail service.
However, the postage is definitely a real bargain! The contrary is true,
however, for the parcels which are very expensive! Of course, letters and
postcards take quite some time to reach their destinations but usually most of
them will arrive.
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We recommend to give any letters to your local guide who will take care of it by giving a little tea money to the clerk. Many hotels as well offer this service.
Parcels may be sent and delivered in Myanmar but
again it is rather time-consuming, especially if you want to pick up a parcel at the
Foreign Post Office - bring along a lot of time and patience! Private services
like DHL come at a price but are doing a good job. If you should wish to send bulky
and heavy items home it can be done either by airfreight or by sea. In this
case our guides will be willing to give you the necessary help and assistance. |
MONEY - "PAY CASH!":
The local currency is the Kyat (pronounced 'chat'); recently there have been banknotes
with the following face values: 1, 5, 10, 15(!), 20, 45(!), 50, 90(!), 100,
200, 500 and 1,000 Kyat. Coins are rarely to be found. The Kyat’s official
value is about 6 Kyat per US$ but on the black (or better 'grey') market your
greenback fetches more than 100 times as much, depending on the rate.
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Changing money on the black market is illegal though widespread; shop keepers,
taxi drivers and room boys are all too willing to exchange your valuable Dollars
into Kyat. However, caution is the mother of wit as there are a number of banknotes with rather funny
denominations (15, 45 and 90 Kyat) as well as quite a few invalid ones as for
example 35, 75
and old 100 Kyat. Your local guide will always be willing to help you. The local currency is accepted all over the country
in restaurants and shops, even luxury hotel are not an exception. Many of them
accept Kyat at a rate that is about the same as the black market rate.
Hotel rooms, airline tickets etc. may NOT be paid in Kyat but only in US$ or
FECs (Foreign Exchange Certificates). Recently, FEC seem to have disappeared
from the market.
It is a good idea to bring US$ in big denominations like 100s or 50s as those fetch a better price on the
black market. As the saying goes, 'A Dollar is a Dollar', however, in Myanmar that
is definitely not true! It is very important that your banknotes are clean and
perfectly intact - Burmese are very particular in this aspect! This is
especially true when it comes to accepting money from you.
On the other hand
they just like to palm off their rotten and dirty US Dollars to unsuspecting foreigners. So beware! By the
way, some US Dollar banknotes are rather unpopular in Myanmar! 'Big head' 100 Dollar notes printed in 1990
as
well as those with initials “CB” are especially unpopular, not only in Myanmar but in South East Asia generally - there are a lot of
fakes around!
Only authorized money changers, hotels, banks and the government’s travel
agency MTT are to deal in foreign currency.
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With a suitable receiver you might also be able to view some of your national channels in the short wave range.
While some might take the rather limited choice of TV programs as a welcome opportunity to get away from it all, others
definitely do not need to suffer to be totally cut off from the outer world. In
many hotels the guests can choose from several channels like CNN, MTV, HBO and
Star Sports (WWF being especially popular!) as well as from those of
neighbouring countries. Even Germany’s Deutsche Welle, France’s TV 5 or
Italian and Spanish TV stations are available in some hotels, not to mention
Korean and Japanese channels. |
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ENTERTAINMENT:
Compared to neighboring countries the entertainment sector in Myanmar is rather
underdeveloped. That doesn’t necessarily mean that one can’t have fun in
Myanmar!
On one hand there are numerous cinemas all over the country which show
local or Indian Bollywood movies. Recently quite a few Western movies which are
not too outdated have found their way into Myanmar. The Burmese like action
movies, Rambo and Arno (Schwarzenegger) are trade names and popular all over
the country.
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Videos
are at least as popular as movies. Videotheques can be found in the most
remote villages all over the country. Variety and topicality are as amazing as
the quality; it is only too obvious that many a video has been shot in the
local cinema - even the crackling of peanuts
may be heard on those videos...but who cares!
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A nightlife as we know it doesn’t exist in Myanmar. However, in Yangon a few
discos can be found by those in need. Most of the restaurants close early and
even in the international hotels the lights are out early. Those who want to
see the most popular form of entertainment in the country should visit a tea
shop. There must be hundreds of thousands of them in the country. The tea shop
is the Myanmar equivalent to our pubs, with one important exception: Strictly no
liquor! But lots of fun! |
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Even
though Buddhism disencourages the consumption of alcohol it is not a problem to
get a drink. It seems that many local Buddhists - nearly all of the males -
don’t take the fifth commandment (no intoxicating drinks!) too serious. One
can choose from a number of local brands of beer as well as from a range of extremely cheap locally-made liquors. A
bottle of rum might be cheaper than a bottle of beer! The cheapest alcoholic
drink of all must be toddy - the common man’s favourite, an extremely cheap drink. In this aspect, one might call Myanmar a drinker’s
paradise! |
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ELECTRICITY:
The usual voltage in Myanmar is 220 Volts. However, fluctuations can be amazing: Be
prepared for anything between 80 and 300 Volts! That’s why no Myanmar
household is complete with at least one if not a battery of voltage regulators.
Make sure to protect your electrical appliances from overvoltage - your laptop
might take it rather ill...
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In the big hotels the
voltage usually should be o.k., even though you can
never be completely sure. There also exists a
bewilderung multitude of different plugs and sockets in
the country; extension sockets for three different types
of plugs are the rule. Don’t believe in world plugs and
sockets - in this aspect Myanmar is not a part of our
world! However, if the need arises you can find what you
need in any roadside shop - the problem is all too
common in the country.
Power cuts are all over the
country more the rule than the exception, even though
one has to admit that the general situation has improved
during the last years as the former high subsidies have
been cut back dramatically. That’s why many hotels and
even shops have their own generators to ensure a
permanent power supply. However, that doesn’t
necessarily mean 24 hours of power supply as many hotels
switch on the generator only after sunset and switch it
off at around 11 p.m.! |
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