Traveling in Myanmar in 2024

Important: I’ve been living in Myanmar for several years now, and I speak and write Burmese correctly (though I still have a strong French accent). I really don’t want this post to make you think that traveling in Myanmar right now is easy. It’s crucial to understand that the country is unstable—this isn’t the place for a relaxing vacation. The security situation and areas open to tourists are constantly changing.

I started my trip in Bagan. Flights were fully booked, so I took a VIP overnight bus from Yangon. Along the way, we encountered 4 checkpoints run by the military. The bus conductor announces that it’s forbidden to use your phone during these stops. Each time, the conductor hands over the passenger list to the checkpoint, and sometimes one or two passengers are asked to step out for questioning before we’re allowed to continue. I didn’t have to interact directly with the soldiers.

In Bagan, there are quite a few local visitors but very, very few foreign tourists... I remember my trip in December 2019 when I’d hear French spoken regularly...

I’m staying at the Bagan Thande Hotel for 130,000 kyats, or about thirty dollars at the current exchange rate.

From Bagan, I took a one-hour taxi ride to Mount Popa. There’s an army-run checkpoint at the exit of Bagan—no particular issues. They just asked the driver where we were going and didn’t even glance at my passport.

View of Mount Popa from the Popa Mountain Resort.



Today, I hiked up to Mount Taung-ma-gyi, an ancient volcano. View of Mount Popa in the distance.

Thanks, your journal is a great way to see current images of this country. Hopefully things will improve for the people there, but it won’t be easy.

Thanks. I’ll post more photos, but I don’t know what of yet... I decide where I’m going last-minute during my trip. In the meantime, you can check out my 2020 travel journal where I traveled through the heart of Myanmar during the pandemic.

Thanks, I’ll check it out with interest.

Hello Definitely my favorite in Asia during my 2015 trip—I’ll be following along to get an "inside" look! Bruno

A few photos taken from Mount Popa itself. Lots of monkeys—unless my memory is playing tricks on me, in three years in Myanmar, this is the only place I’ve seen monkeys outside of Yangon Zoo. A ton of people asked me for money during my visit. I’m not complaining; I’m aware of the country’s situation.

Hi Richman,

I’d saved this travel journal to "read for later" since I was traveling myself at the time.

I’m also really interested in getting a glimpse of life in Myanmar today—and not just the touristy side of Myanmar 😉.

You’ve been living in Yangon for three years now, right? I’m dying to ask what you do there, but that’s probably too nosy 😉.

Christelle

Hi there,

Yes, I’ve spent a total of 3 years in Burma (in two separate stints). I first arrived to live in the country when I was 18 and ended up spending a big part of my adult life there.

Hi Richman,

As I mentioned in another post (which I read first), I often think about Burma and the Burmese people—this country really touched me. I’ll definitely be following this thread with great interest! 🙂

Hi there, We also fell in love with Myanmar—we’ve been four times and can’t wait to go back. Our last trip was January–February 2020, just before the borders closed due to COVID. So many memories from 2008 at the Bagan Thande Hotel by the Irrawaddy. Thanks for sharing updates—we’ll be following your journey! Best regards

After that, I took a minibus from Bagan to Nay Pyi Taw. When I arrived in Nay Pyi Taw, I had some trouble at a checkpoint run by the military and police. The "checkpoint" was basically a wooden hut, and I was made to go inside and given a plastic chair to sit on. A detective in a tracksuit spent ages examining my passport and made several phone calls to his superior. After 45 minutes of this circus, the "detective" told the bus driver to pay 20,000 kyats to "release" me. Of course, I reimbursed the driver the amount. It’s hard to know if the detective really suspected me or if he was just waiting for me to offer a bribe. Just to say it again: traveling in Myanmar in 2024 is doable, but it’s not an easy or relaxing destination. There are plenty of other beautiful landscapes in Asia where you can travel safely and much more stress-free.

Well, Richman, it could be interesting for a travel project with a "checkpoint" theme 😏! No chance I’ll be going back there anytime soon, but I really appreciate getting a recent update on this such a captivating country—so thanks. Christelle

Hi there,

Thanks for this report! I thought it wasn’t possible to travel there anymore! Would it be possible to see more photos of Bagan as it is today? Especially of Nyang-U (Old Bagan)? That would help compare the vibe with how it was a few years ago. Mount Popa looks deserted; that’s so strange.

Hi there,

Tourist visas post-COVID and post-coup resumed in mid-2022. Sorry, I don’t have any more recent photos of Bagan. That said, the landscapes haven’t really changed since 2019—there are just a lot fewer foreign tourists now.

The landscapes with the pagodas—I guess not much has changed there, but you don’t see a single soul in the photos; it’s a little eerie. Where is everyone? Are there still locals living there, or has it turned into a ghost town?

There’s still some activity in Bagan thanks to local tourism... I read that about 30% of hotels have closed their doors since 2019. Otherwise, apparently since an attack on December 27th, Mount Popa is now closed to visitors. I came really close to not being able to go there. Just goes to show how quickly the situation changes right now.

In Nay Pyi Taw, I drank palm wine with a friend—it was served in clay pots. He’s on the military conscription list, and the police have already visited his parents’ home. Because of that, he doesn’t dare go back to his family’s house anymore.

A week later, in mid-December 2024, I unfortunately have to leave Myanmar for confidential reasons. Yangon International Airport is a ghost town.



Thanks to my Priority Pass card, I have free access to the lounge, and I down glasses of Double Black whisky to drown the sadness of leaving my adopted country.

An hour later, I arrive in Calcutta with Myanmar Airways International. I stay at the 233 Park Street Hotel, where I’m given the same charming room as during my 2019 stay, complete with a four-poster bed.

Walking through the streets of Calcutta that evening, seeing a Subway and a Starbucks, I realize that—for better or worse—I’m back in globalization.

I guess your departure wasn’t planned, but welcome back anyway, Richman. Hope it’s just a see-you-later for you (and for us) 😊 Christelle

Thanks so much for this lovely and concise travel journal. Has the situation deteriorated around Mount Popa? Silly question, but what are the planes like? Are they old models or modern airlines to get there?

Hi there, Unfortunately, since the December attack, I don’t have any recent updates on the situation around Popa... Domestic flights are usually operated by ATRs, and on the Yangon-Mandalay route, there are sometimes Airbuses.

Thanks for the details. I hope you’ll get the chance to visit that part of the country again—it doesn’t seem possible at the moment.