377TRANSPORTBUS^lay and Bagan (from $280)
to 10-day itineraries includ-
ing sights along the Chind-
win River (from $3150).
Journeys Myanmar (www.
journeysmyanmar.com) Yan-
gon-based tour agent that
can arrange river trips on a
wide range of luxury craft,
including those listed here,
and other options.
Pandaw Cruises (www.
pandaw.com) Offers various
high-end cruises aboard a
replica of the teak-and-brass
IFC fleet, such as a 14-night
trip between Pyay and
Mandalay (from $3683 per
cabin, all inclusive) and a 20-
day itinerary that charts the
Chindwin and upper reaches
of the Ayeyarwady ($5828).
Road to Mandalay (www.
orient-express.com) Part of
the Orient Express group,
this joint-venture operation
offers cruises from three
(from $2290) to 11 days
(from $3330), which centre
on Bagan and Mandalay.
Bus
Almost always faster and
cheaper than trains, Myanmar
buses range from luxury air-
con express buses, less luxuri-
ous but nice buses (without
air-con), local buses, and mini
32-seaters. Most are operated
by private companies.
Also see p 381 for informa-
tion on pick-up trucks, and
the boxed text, p 123 , for more
about the luxury Elephant
Coaches that can be hired for
transport around the country.
Classes & Conditions
Many long-haul trips, such
as those from Yangon to
Mandalay, allow the greatest
comfort, with new(-ish) air-
conditioned express buses –
some of which are quite nice.
A lot of bus activity happens
at night, with buses leaving
between 4pm and 10pm or
later, and arriving at the fi nal
destination in the wee hours
(often 5am or 6am). There
are a couple of reasons for
this: local people can’t aff ord
to waste a working day on a
bus so prefer to travel over-
night; and the buses don’t
overheat as much by avoiding
the punishing midday sun.
If you want extra air-con
comfort but don’t want to
go the whole way on one of
these routes, you usually have
to pay the full fare (eg going
from Mandalay to Taungoo
you pay the full fare to Yan-
gon) and will have to deal with
the middle-of-the-night arrival
time. Similarly, by paying the
full fare for the route, you can
jump on a bus at a stop along
the way, for example catch
the Mandalay-to-Yangon
bus at Meiktila. Staff at your
guesthouse or hotel should
be able to help with this.
Similar sized but older bus-
es, with no air-conditioning,
make shorter-haul trips, such
as direct links from Yangon to
Pyay or Taungoo to Yangon.
Local 32-seat minibuses
bounce along the highways
too. These tend to use the
aisles, if not for blokes, for
bags of rice, vegies or (worst)
dried fi sh. Sometimes the
fl oor in front of you is fi lled
too, so you’ll fi nd your knees
to your chin for some bouncy
hours. Getting up to stretch
your legs while moving justisn’t an option. (Try to sit
in the front couple of rows,
which sometimes have fewer
bags stored, and better
visibility.)
Trip durations for all forms
of public road transportation
are very elastic and buses
of all types do break down
sometimes. Older buses often
stop to hose down a hot en-
gine. Some roads – one-lane,
mangled deals (read: very
rough) – don’t help matters,
and tyre punctures occur too.Costs
You can pay kyat for all bus
fares. Note, foreigners will
pay more than locals – and
on occasion the price is ‘set’
on the spot. Generally mini-
buses, local 32-seaters, ex-
press buses with no air-con,
and air-con luxury jobbies
charge roughly the same on
overlapping routes. The table
above shows sample foreign-
er fares and trip times.Reservations
From November to February,
it’s wise to pre-book buses a
couple of days in advance for
key routes, such as Bagan–
Inle Lake. Seat reservations
are made for all buses. Ask toBUS ROUTESROUTE FARE (K) DURATION (HR)
Bagan-Taunggyi 10,500 10
Mandalay-Bagan 6500 8
Mandalay-Hsipaw 5000 6
Mandalay-Taunggyi 6000 12
Pyay-Taunggok 10,000 11
Yangon-Bagan 15,000 15
Yangon-Bago (Pegu) 6000 2
Yangon-Chaung Tha Beach 8000 6-7
Yangon-Kyaiktiyo 7000 4½
Yangon-Mandalay 11,000 12-15
Yangon-Pyay 4000 7
Yangon-Taunggyi 11,000 17
Yangon-Thandwe 12,000 17-18