Kuan Yin's Guestbook

Hotels
I stayed at the Hotel Accord in Yangon, and would happily stay there again. It is clean, and the staff is pleasant and helpful - and English speaking. It is a bit outside the center of town, but is an easy walk to Dagon Center and just a bit further to Schwedagon Pagoda. If you don't want to walk as far as Bogyoke Market and the center of town, the taxi is inexpensive, and the staff at the hotel will negotiate one for you, and tell you a fair price for the return. It's kind of nice to be in a non-tourist neighborhood. In Bagan I stayed at the Thante Hotel in Nyaung U, which is sometimes called Old Bagan. The rooms are big and clean, and the staff is fantastic. The manager even put on a barbecue on New Year's Eve, just so the guests wouldn't feel lonely at the start of the New Year. They also arranged an English speaking guide for me for a day. Again, you are away from the tourist district, but close to the local market were people actually live and work. As far as money, I only used cash. I changed money at the airport in Yangon, and the exchange rate was fair. There are ATMs all around, but I never tried to use one. Other than your hotel, most places are not set up to take credit cards. By the way, Myanmar is HOT. Every place I stayed had air conditioning, but some hostels may not. Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any other questions that may come up.

Thanks!
Thank you for your kind words.

Outdated
One of my frustrations is that many websites do not show when they were last updated. Even the website of the Burmese Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is showing an outdated entrance fee for Bagan.

Myanmar vs Burma
I got the impression that Myanmar is the preferred name. Without getting too deep into the country's history, "Bamar" or "Bama" is actually the name of the largest ethnic group in the country. The Portuguese, then the British, then the Japanese all called the country by some variation of "Bamar" or "Birmah." The name "Mranmah" or "Myanma" dates back to the 12th century. In the post colonial era, it was decided to change the country's name to Myanmar to be more inclusive of all ethnic groups. In April 2016, soon after taking office, Aung San Suu Kyi clarified that foreigners are free to use either name, "because there is nothing in the constitution of our country that says that you must use any term in particular."

It depends....
You and Denise are well traveled, and I think you would enjoy going now. I've talked to some people who seem to think they can just rent a motorcycle and travel through the north into Thailand. That is a bad idea. There is some interesting history here, with the whole story of the British considering Myanmar a division of India. Throw in the story of General Aung San, and you have the makings of a pretty good movie. The temples are stunning, particularly in Yangon, and if that interests you, you'll have a field day. The people are welcoming, especially the older ones, and even as a single woman, I never felt uncomfortable. So, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Myanmar to you, but people who are expecting the conveniences of a developed country will be disappointed.

Thanks!
I really didn't travel outside the typical tourist areas of Yangon and Bagan, and tourism in those areas is a source of much needed hard currency. It will be interesting to see how Myanmar evolves over the coming years.

Books
My understanding is that when the military was in control, English language books were kept under wraps. Now that the National League for Democracy is in power (though the constitution decrees that the military hold 25% of the seats in Parliament) information is flowing much more freely. Still not a lot of interaction with the West, but a little more open.