718 YANGON8YANGONGETTING AROUNDAUNG MINGALAR BUS TERMINAL (Highway
Bus station; Map p 38 ) Located about 3 miles
northeast of the airport as the crow fl ies, Aung
Mingalar is the only offi cial bus terminal for all
150 bus lines leaving for the northern part of
Myanmar, as well as for Kyaiktiyo (Golden Rock),
Mawlamyine and destinations to the south. A
taxi here costs $7.
Keep in mind that journey times can diff er
immensely from the estimates we’ve given, and
depend on road conditions and the health of
your bus.
HLAING THAR YAR BUS TERMINAL This is
the bus terminal for travel to the Delta region
(often called Ayeyarwady Division) and to des-
tinations west of Yangon. By taxi (K7000) the
terminal is 45 minutes to an hour west of the city
centre on the other side of the Yangon River on
Hwy 5 (Yangon-Pathein Rd). More than 20 bus
lines operate out of here.
From here you can catch buses to Chaung Tha
Beach (K8000, six to eight hours, departure
6am, air-con bus), Ngwe Saung Beach (K8000,
fi ve to seven hours, departure 6am, air-con bus)
and Pathein (K6000, four hours, departures
5.30am to 2pm, non-air-con buses).
Car
Many people choose to forgo both public trans-
port and package tours by hiring a guide and car.
For some this combines the best of both worlds:
relative comfort and safety, and fl exibility and
personalised itineraries. Rates run approxi-
mately $60 per day within Yangon and $100 per
day upcountry. Yangon-based Zayar (%09-519
8486; [email protected]) speaks English
well, knows every road in the country and is a
good driver. Otherwise, a driver can be arranged
through a travel agent or hotel front desk.
See p 378 for information on car rental.
Train
Yangon’s train station (Map p 42 ; %202 178;
h6am-4pm) is located a short walk north of
Sule Paya, although advance tickets must be
purchased at the adjacent Myanmar Railways
Booking Offi ce (Map p 42 ; Bogyoke Aung San
Rd; h7am-3pm).
See p 381 for more information on rail travel
within Myanmar.8 Getting Around
To/From the Airport
Taxi drivers will approach you before you exit the
airport terminal. The standard fare for a ride from
the airport to anywhere in the city is $7. It’s best
to have a few single bills so that you don’t have to
change money in the airport. From the city centre
to the airport it can cost slightly less ($5). Bus
With taxis in Yangon being such a fantastic deal,
you’d really have to be pinching pennies to rely on
buses. They’re impossibly crowded, the conduc-
tors rarely have change, the routes are confusing
and there’s virtually no English, spoken or written.
If you’re determined, there’s a useful poster
(Map p 42 ) near Sule Paya that describes the
various bus routes. The typical fare within cen-
tral Yangon is K100 (use small bills – again, bus
conductors don’t tend to have change). Prices
often double at night, but they’re still cheap and
still crowded.
Some useful bus routes from the Sule Paya stop:
S h w e d a g o n P a y a Bus 43 (^43 ).
Yangon Airport Bus 51 (^51 ), 53 (^53 ), 132
(^132 ), 136 (^136 ), 231 (^231 ) all go to 10th Mile
bus stop, from where it’s possible to transfer to
a pick-up truck to the airport.
Aung Mingalar Bus Station Bus 43 (^43 ). Ta xi
Yangon taxis are one of the best deals in Asia. Al-
though the meter and air-conditioning are never
turned on and you might see the street through
the holes in the fl oor, most drivers speak at leastTRAINS FROM YANGONDESTINATIONFARE ($) ORDINARY/
UPPER/SLEEPER DURATION (HR) DEPARTURE
Bago 2/4/- 3 5am, 5.30am, 6am
Kyaikto 3-4/8-10/- 4-5 2am, 6.30am, 7.15am
Mandalay 11-15/30-35/33-40 15½ 5am, 5.30am, 6am, 12.15pm
Mawlamyine 5-7/14/- 9-11 2am, 6.30am, 7.15am
Pyay 5/13/- 7-8 1pm
Taungoo 5/13/- 6 5am, 5.30am, 6am, 8am, 11am
Thazi 9/24/- 12 5am, 5.30am, 6am