Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma)

This is the best handbook I found while preparing for my trip to Burma, although it must be noted that there is not a lot of competition. Burma's political isolation renders it attractive in many ways, not the least of which is that it has what seems to be a hundredth of the tourists that Thailand has. That in turn makes this handbook all the more valuable, since one doesn't have fellow tourists on every corner to turn to for help. Those who complain that the prices are out of date are being a little absurd, since even a doubling of the rate on a twelve dollar hotel (which is about average) still leaves it on the extreme cheap end of international standards. Lonely Planet Myanmar's real strength is its discussions of Burmese culture past and present, within the context of a travel guide. Thus, while having great beach time at Sittwe, I could track down the birthplace of Saki (the writer, not the wine), and muse that British merchant ships were just beginning to come into its harbor around the time their influence in Boston was beginning to wane. I tried but failed to get into one of Burma's nature preserves to see one of the world's remaining free tigers. Not that they want my advice, but it seems to me that the military government could burnish their reputation and bring in tons of foreign currency at the same time by arranging tours of the domains of these vanishing cats. By doing so, it seems to me they could far outstrip places like Costa Rica, which are raking in billions of eco-tourism dollars even without the benefit of so-called "charismatic megafauna". Say what you will about the tiger, but if there's one thing it's got over the rest of us faunae, it's charisma. In the course of my travels I met a guide by the name of Aree. She was from the vicinity of Mandalay, and specialized in the ancient capitals of the north. I didn't know any way of verifying her claim to be descended from one of the last royal families of Burma, but she certainly looked every inch the princess, in spite of the Kia she drove. And I can thank this Lonely Planet guide for the privilege of her company, since without the warnings on pages 54 and 106 against public displays of affection, I would undoubtedly have alienated her and had to traipse through the ruins by myself. As it was, I learned an immense amount from her about Burma and its history, all delivered in intermediate English with the Southeast Asian accent that is so charming. I recall in particular her spiel on the ailing Kia, which needed "a blake job and a toom up and a hando for door... all these things vely expenshiv". I can only hope my halting Burmese sounds half so winsome. On the subject of language and pronunciation, LP Myanmar could be improved by the addition of International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation guides in the glossary and for the major place names. It would be nice, when buying tickets in Yangon to know how to pronounce Mrauk U and Shinbithalyaung and Wetkyi-in. Still and all, it

I toured Myanmar in January of 2005 using the 2002 edition. I discovered the new edition of 2004 too late. Still, the older version was quite serviceable--so good one hotel proprietor offered a substantial discount if I would leave the book with him when I left the country; he had never read so much information about his homeland before, and the book is unavailable in Burma(and a little seditious). I think some of the negative reviews above are a bit finicky. Any experienced tourist knows to check the internet just before his trip to get the latest on hotels, exchange rates and the like. No book can keep up with those protean details. You get a guidebook to guide you through the basics. Most of us go to places like Burma to see what has been there for 100s of years and not to find the latest in accomodations. Any hotel will have the information you need on further transportation. I would, however, like to see what Eyewitness does, one day, with Myanmar, but until then, any recent edition of LP is indispensible for touring the Golden Land.

First and foremost, it is important to know that Myanmar is an extremely unpredictable place. Things do happen overnight. Laws can change suddenly. Exchange rates fluctuate daily (esp. unauthorized money exchange rate) With the promotion of tourism in Yangon and Mandalay in the late 1990s early 2000 (Visit Myanmar Year), new hotels were being built and home owners converted their houses to "guest houses" to accomodate tourists. Sadly, Myanmar did not receive as many tourists they would have liked or even predicted. Hence, guest houses shut down. Hotels are now typically empty. The Burmese economy is very volatile. Small (private) buinesses can go out of business, and can be shut down by the government w/o notice. I guess my point is that it would be really hard to write a tourist guide book for Myanmar that would seem up-to-date. I am glad that lonely planet has continued to write Myanmar travel book while others like Fodors have stopped. Best (if you could afford) is to hire a guide while in Yangon. The book is still an excellent resource for figuring out where to go and what to see, as well as what you are seeing. Just don't rely on things like train schedule, rates, hotels to find, etc. I still admire Lonely Planet for trying.

I don't know if or when any of you is going to find himself / herself in this particular area, but anyway here it is...This is the latest edition (8th) that was released only about a year ago. Things really changed in this edition compared to its predecessor; more authors are involved and new and updated information is added (though many sections remain).Important note: When it comes to Myanmar, things can change for better or worse overnight due to the nature of the ruling government, while some other things tend to stay the same. Especially here, pay close attention to all the small details given in the chapters "Facts for the visitor", "Getting there and away" and "Getting around" - they matter greatly. =============================================================As a whole, the guide will be a valuable asset for you if you're planning on traveling there, and there is absolutely no doubt whether to buy it or not - it's an essential purchase. To a great extent it will help you plan your budget, your destinations, how to get there and when, what to bring and so forth. You should know that there are some beautiful places to visit in the country. One of them, the Shwedagon Paya in Yangon, strikes me as one of the most beautiful man made structures in the world. Imagine a 100 meters high Stupa (Buddhist religious monument), all covered with golden leaves, set on top of a hill, in the center of smaller golden temples and Buddha statues. The sight was breathtaking and alone was worth coming. Another famous place, yet less astounding, is Bagan, the city of Stupas in the north. There you can find numerous Stupas some of which were built more than 1000 ago. And yes, almost in every city and town you will see at least one golden Stupa (that immensely contradict the poverty of the people) that give Myanmar the name "The Golden Land". The tagline on the cover of this book is "should you go?" It is misleading due to the fact that the answer they give inside is "yes". If you want to go - go, the political status is not of your concern, you're a traveler not a world freedom fighter. You wouldn't help the local people by avoiding the country - they benefit from your staying there - and that is all that you should care about.Nevertheless, the authors don't really prepare you for the level of poverty you're going to meet there (the same way another author hasn't done in the Cambodia book yet); this is one of the poorest countries in the world and that's why you should always be careful and never trust anybody - they're there for your money (mostly). I really don't like, after being around, the attitude of "the locals are so nice and we can learn so much from them"; some of them are really nice and helpful, but others are nice because you spend your money there and it's downright blatant. Expect it; don't fall for it and BE CAREFUL of forced and immediate friendliness. Remember that as a tourist you're regarded as very rich and compared to them you are. I want to