brads92
Junior Member
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2011
- Posts
- 45
I know quite a few AFF'ers have taken up the mistake fares ex-RGN for later this year, so I thought I would give you all a quick update on the current status of both RGN airport and visiting Yangon itself. I was in Myanmar for a few days last week.
I apologise for the lack of photos - didn't really want to give the Myanmar police and customs a chance to pull me up.
RGN airport itself: I can confirm that Visa on Arrival (VOA) is available for all flights - I can't remember the exact prices, but it was around $20 (US) for a 24 hour transit visa, and around $50 for a 28 Day 'Entry Visa'.
The VOA booth sits directly before the immigration counters at the airport and is very well signed.
The taxi counter will ask for $12 into the city, you can easily haggle it for $9-10US. The city to airport is slightly less ($6-8), but in local currency - 6-7000 Kyats (pronounced ch-yats).
Lounge:There are three lounges airside, two of them both for SilkAir/Thai passengers, the first (and largest) being to the left directly after immigration, and a smaller, second lounge located right at the end of the airside area (just keep walking once you clear immigration and you'll find it). When I was there on Monday, the primary lounge was completely full, whilst I was the only one in the small lounge at the back. I found the small one completely by accident, and it's not clearly signposted, so if you want some peace and quiet, go there!
Also, the lounges were very basic with minimal food (stale sandwiches and some fruit platters) and a small bar - only marginally better than just sitting in the terminal.
Yangon: I highly recommend venturing into Yangon, even just for the day.
Also, cars pretty much don't have seatbelts in Myanmar - some taxis even give you the luxury option of seeing the road through holes in the floor... get used to it and hang on.
The city is a strange mish-mash of Indian culture with British infrastructure coupled with a Buddhist mentality. It is an incredibly safe city (and this is coming from a reasonably paranoid traveller) and I felt totally fine carrying round upwards of US$200 + Kyat whilst walking through the backstreets.
At very least, have a look at the Shwedagon Pagoda ($5 for entry, 30min taxi ride from airport, also suggest paying the between $5-15 for a guide, depending on how good their English is). You will get chronically stared at by the locals, but the Pagoda is amazing!
The Pagoda
Luxury hotels in the city are no different from most other Asian countries, prices range from around $120-240 for a basic room, but dining is cheap ($10-20 for a full lunch/dinner course).
Other than the Pagoda, the National Museum is a very 'interesting' experience... The only (deserted) national museum i've ever been to that has handwritten plaques such as 'large pot' and 'old dish'. You should go, there are a few good displays.
Also almost every taxi driver knows the 'Aung San Market', probably the biggest (semi) organised market in Yangon. Make sure you barter or you will pay some pretty inflated prices.
On a dining note, I highly reccommend La Planteur resturant (apparently the only Michelin Star restaurant in Myanmar), where a roughly 6 course (I lost track) gourmet dinner cost me just $80US, including drinks! (http://leplanteur.net, menu: http://leplanteur.net/?/welcome/menu_pdf)
If you want to properly explore Yangon, I'd probably allocate at least three days.
Let me know if you have any specific questions, happy to answer them!
I apologise for the lack of photos - didn't really want to give the Myanmar police and customs a chance to pull me up.
RGN airport itself: I can confirm that Visa on Arrival (VOA) is available for all flights - I can't remember the exact prices, but it was around $20 (US) for a 24 hour transit visa, and around $50 for a 28 Day 'Entry Visa'.
The VOA booth sits directly before the immigration counters at the airport and is very well signed.
The taxi counter will ask for $12 into the city, you can easily haggle it for $9-10US. The city to airport is slightly less ($6-8), but in local currency - 6-7000 Kyats (pronounced ch-yats).
Lounge:There are three lounges airside, two of them both for SilkAir/Thai passengers, the first (and largest) being to the left directly after immigration, and a smaller, second lounge located right at the end of the airside area (just keep walking once you clear immigration and you'll find it). When I was there on Monday, the primary lounge was completely full, whilst I was the only one in the small lounge at the back. I found the small one completely by accident, and it's not clearly signposted, so if you want some peace and quiet, go there!
Also, the lounges were very basic with minimal food (stale sandwiches and some fruit platters) and a small bar - only marginally better than just sitting in the terminal.
Yangon: I highly recommend venturing into Yangon, even just for the day.
Also, cars pretty much don't have seatbelts in Myanmar - some taxis even give you the luxury option of seeing the road through holes in the floor... get used to it and hang on.
The city is a strange mish-mash of Indian culture with British infrastructure coupled with a Buddhist mentality. It is an incredibly safe city (and this is coming from a reasonably paranoid traveller) and I felt totally fine carrying round upwards of US$200 + Kyat whilst walking through the backstreets.
At very least, have a look at the Shwedagon Pagoda ($5 for entry, 30min taxi ride from airport, also suggest paying the between $5-15 for a guide, depending on how good their English is). You will get chronically stared at by the locals, but the Pagoda is amazing!
The Pagoda
Luxury hotels in the city are no different from most other Asian countries, prices range from around $120-240 for a basic room, but dining is cheap ($10-20 for a full lunch/dinner course).
Other than the Pagoda, the National Museum is a very 'interesting' experience... The only (deserted) national museum i've ever been to that has handwritten plaques such as 'large pot' and 'old dish'. You should go, there are a few good displays.
Also almost every taxi driver knows the 'Aung San Market', probably the biggest (semi) organised market in Yangon. Make sure you barter or you will pay some pretty inflated prices.
On a dining note, I highly reccommend La Planteur resturant (apparently the only Michelin Star restaurant in Myanmar), where a roughly 6 course (I lost track) gourmet dinner cost me just $80US, including drinks! (http://leplanteur.net, menu: http://leplanteur.net/?/welcome/menu_pdf)
If you want to properly explore Yangon, I'd probably allocate at least three days.
Let me know if you have any specific questions, happy to answer them!
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