372TRANSPORT
GETTING AROUND^
Aung San Rd) Daily to/from
Singapore.
Thai Airways (airline code
TG; %01-255 499; http://www.thaiair.
com; Sakura Tower, 339 Bogy-
oke Aung San Rd) Daily to/
from Bangkok.
Vietnam Airlines (airline
code TG; %01-255 066; http://www.
vietnamairlines.com; Sakura
Tower, 339 Bogyoke Aung San
Rd) Five times weekly to/
from Hanoi and twice weekly
to/from Ho Chi Minh.Tickets
Airlines off er discounted tick-
ets via the internet depend-
ing on how far in advance you
book. Good deals are often
available from Bangkok,
Kuala Lumpur and Singapore
on budget airlines such as
Air Asia and Silk Air. If you’re
fl ying around the region, look
into Bangkok Airways Discov-
ery Airpass.
Once in Myanmar you can
only buy international tickets
from travel agents or airline
offi ces in Yangon.Reconfi rming Tickets
It’s important to reconfi rm
your outgoing tickets from
Myanmar a few days in ad-
vance for all airlines other
than Thai Airways and Silk
Air. If you’ve forgotten what
time your fl ight is, the inside
back page of the Myanmar
Times lists the week’s inter-
national fl ight schedule.GETTING
AROUND
Much of the mountainous
areas of Myanmar near the
borders is closed, due to
confl icts with minority groups
or sometimes due to dodgy
infrastructure. We have
highlighted these places in
the destination chapters but
situations could change, with
routes opening (or closing).
In unrestricted areas,
travel methods are remark-
ably open to visitors. No set
itineraries are required and
you can pick and choose
how you go as you go – tak-
ing a bus, plane or train, or
crammed pick-up, or hop-
ping onto a giant ferry that
drifts at ox-like speed.
Speaking of which, local
transport also comes ped-
powered, often with trishaws
greeting you for rides around
town and rental bikes await-
ing you at nearly all accom-
modation. There are horse
carts too.
It’s worth trying to go by
land in Myanmar. Airlines
have higher fares – thus more
tax money that reaches the
government (see p 21 ) –
than a bus, not to mention
higher carbon emissions.
Many places that are re-
stricted actually can be visited
with permits provided by the
government’s Myanmar Trav-
els & Tours (MTT) and a guide.
Sometimes this takes several
months of advance planning.
So don’t expect to cross Chin
State’s rough highways by
showing up and asking.
The bulk of this book, of
course, focuses on places
you can go on your own with-
out any pre-planning. See the
map on p 380 for transport
routes that were open at
research time. Reaching
some isolated towns such as
Kengtung or Sittwe requires
jumps by air or boat.Air
Myanmar’s domestic air
service features a handfulof overworked planes that
have busy days, sometimes
landing at an airport, leaving
the engine on, unloading and
loading, and taking off in 20
minutes! This doesn’t yield a
spot-free safety record (see
p 367 ).
Between the main destina-
tions of Yangon, Mandalay,
Heho (for Inle Lake), Nyaung
U (for Bagan) and Thandwe
(for Ngapali Beach), you’ll
fi nd daily connections. In
many other places, there are
spotless, largely unused air-
ports serving, well, no fl ights
other than visiting dignitaries
on occasion.
As with international
fl ights, domestic fl ights
involve immigration and
customs checks.Airport Codes
Many posted fl ight schedules
around the country only
use domestic airport codes,
shown in the following table.AIRPORT CODE
Bhamo BMO
Dawei (Tavoy) TVY
Heho (Inle Lake) HEH
Homalin HOX
Kalaymyo KMV
Kawthoung KAW
Kengtung KET
Lashio LSH
Mandalay MDL
Mawlamyine MNU
Myeik MGZ
Myitkyina MYT
Nay Pyi Taw NPT
Nyaung U
(Bagan)NYUPathein BSX
Putao PBU
Sittwe AKY
Tachileik THL
Thandwe (Nga-
pali Beach)SNWYangon RGNDEPARTURE TAXMyanmar locals pay
K500, but foreigners
pay $10 departure tax,
which is not included
with your air ticket.
Have the US dollars
in hand when leaving
the country. You pay
at the window in the
entrance hall, before
you check in. Kyat are
not accepted. There is
no departure tax for
domestic fl ights.