72YANGON
some English (although it’s advisable to have
someone write out your destination in Burmese)
and are almost universally honest and courte-
ous. All licensed taxis have a visible taxi sign on
the roof. The less expensive licensed taxis are
the usually older, midsized Japanese cars, many
missing their door handles and other ‘extras’.
Most drivers charge about K1000 for a short
hop, K1500 to K2000 to go from one part of
town to another, and K2500 or K3000 to go
across town. From downtown to either bus ter-minal, drivers ask for K7000 and the trip takes
from 45 minutes to an hour. You can also hire a
taxi for about K4000 an hour or about $25 for
a half-day. For the entire day, you should expect
to pay approximately $40 to $60, depending on
the quality of the vehicle and your negotiating
skills. Be sure to work out all details before you
agree to a price and itinerary.
For all types of taxi the asking fares usually
leap by 30% or so after sunset and on weekends,
when rationed petrol isn’t available. Late-night
taxis – after 11pm or so – often cost double the
day rate, mainly because the supply of taxis is
considerably lower than in the day, so the drivers
are able to charge more. Train
Yangon Circle Line loops out north from Yangon
to Insein, Mingaladon and North Okkalapa town-
ships and then back into the city. For more info,
see p 50. Trishaw
Every Asian country seems to have its own in-
terpretation of the bicycle trishaw. In Myanmar,
trishaw passengers ride with the driver, but
back-to-back (one facing forward, one back-
ward). These contraptions are called saiq-ka (as
in side-car) and to ride one across the city centre
costs about K500.RAISING BUS FARESPrior to the summer of 2007 most
local bus fares used to be K5, but over-
night, due to government fuel price
hikes, prices rose by 2000% to K100.
The majority of Yangon workers, who
earn just K9000 a month, suddenly
found themselves forking out K6000
for transport to and from work. It was
anger over these price increases that
eventually led to the huge September
protests. Depending on fuel prices, the
cost of bus tickets may also fl uctuate in
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