One of many weird things about Burma is that there is no licensed money changer here. You can change money at the airport, but the rate is very low. I decided to change in the city instead.

I arrived at Kenneth’s place at around 6pm. According to him, the money changer he knows is closed already. As he was cooking us dinner, I wouldn’t have to spend money. By cooking, Kenneth meant ordering fried rice from outside, and boiling the hot pot ingredients he bought in the afternoon. He didn’t even put salt into the boiling water, but well, it’s another story. I was hungry & exhausted, his courage & good-will should be highly appreciated  

After dinner, we walked around downtown. I was taking some pictures while keeping my eyes on everyone to see if there was any undercover policeman anywhere when an Indian man approached me. He asked if I wanted to sell dollars at the rate of 1 USD : 1000 Kyat. I didn’t know the exact rate so I wanted to check first. Another guy soon approached and offered 1 USD : 950 Kyat, so I returned to the first guy. I told him I wanted to change $100, and he said it’d be 970; 1000 only if I changed $200 or more. I didn’t like the way he worked, so I walked away. He called after me to say 980.

I realized that if you walk around with a camera in hand or you look like a stupid tourists, there will be a lot of men like approaching you to offer money exchange. Most of them are Indians. They work as middle men between you and black market money changers. The rate ranges from 1 USD to 950 or 1020 Kyat. This morning, as I walked out of my friend’s place, another guy approached me. He offered 1000 for $100. Kenneth asked if he’s sure, he said yes at first, but after few questions, he said that he had to ask his boss. He had us walked for about 10 minutes from our place to his boss’s place. Below is his boss’ place. There are a lot of money changers and travel agencies there.

His boss offered the rate 1020 for $200, and refused to accept $100. Another guy passed by and told me 980 but I was already sick of those middle men. I decided to go to Central Hotel to change instead. There they offered me 970. I gave her $100 but she didn’t give me kyat back. Kenneth and I thought that the money was on the way so we waited. After about 15 minutes, Kenneth decided to ask if she forgot. Her face turned red and her eyes directed to a man sitting there. It turned out that she was doing the money exchange illegally and that man was her boss, so she couldn’t do that when he was there. Finally he went up and she gave me the money. I must say, I was shocked! I’ve never had that much money in my life. Inflation is worse in Vietnam, but we have big note. The biggest note here is 5000, but it’s not widely used so most people use 1000 note. I got 97 of them. They are too big & too thick to be put inside my wallet, and it’s too flaccid to put it anywhere. Now I understand what my friend meant when he said that when he left Myanmar, he didn’t know what to do with the money so he used it to make paper planes. Myanmar Kyat is only valid inside Myanmar.

Thanks God I only changed $100. But things are not that easy for Kenneth. Debit and credit cards are no longer used in Myanmar, so Kenneth has to receive his salary in cash. Imagine that you receive 1kg of cash every month!

I’m in Burma!

I still can’t believe it, I’m here in Burma – a close country, hard to get in and hard to get out; one of few countries that are still under dictatorships; the only country in SEA that the Vietnamese need visa to visit; yet I’ve also heard that it’s an amazing & beautiful country. 6 months ago, I tried but failed. I planned to go to Yangon from Kuala Lumpur, transiting in Chiang Mai but then all flights to Yangon this week were cancelled which gave me an unexpected trip around Chiang Mai.

This time, I planned to cross border from Thailand to Burma, and then from Burma to India or Bangladesh. After few researches, I soon realized that crossing border both in and out of Burma is impossible as all border lands are locked (you can cross Thailand – Burma border to visit some places in Burma, but you won’t be able to travel deep into Burmese territory). I had to take flights instead. However, since Burma is under sanction of most countries, flights to and from Yangon are extremely limited. There used to be direct flights from Yangon to Kolkata by Indian Airlines but the route was terminated for some reasons that I don’t know. The cheapest way to go from Yangon to Bangladesh or India is to transit in Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur by Air Asia. I booked the tickets during promotion time and it cost me 100USD for both tickets from Yangon to Kuala Lumpur & from Kuala Lumpur to Kolkata.

Burma’s government just issued a new law that allows tourists to apply for visa on arrival, provided that you have a return flight ticket, 2 passport photos, reservation at a licensed hotel and at least 300USD. The process turned out to be very fast and easy. You just need to fill in a form and pay $30, they don’t even ask for your return flight ticket or hotel booking. Unlike in other country, people at Yangon airport are friendly and they smile all the time I think the government is trying to attract more tourists.

You might want to ask why I use “Burma” instead of “Myanmar”. I just had a talk with Chan – a Burmese friend of mine about that. Chan doesn’t like the word “Burma”, as it stands for only 1 ethnic group while there are 153 (or 154?) ethnic groups in Burma. She’s right.

Wish me luck!