How much does it cost a trip to Myanmar?
How much is eating, sleeping and travelling in Myanmar?
What can you do with a low budget in Myanmar?
Before we left for our full-time travel, we decided to travel on a low budget (10 euros a day in order to sleep, eat and travel around the countries we’ll visit.
In Malaysia we managed to stay in the budget (here details), but how did it go in Myanmar, second stage of our journey? Was it a Myanmar low cost?
Before we got to this country, we honestly had many doubts, but let’s make some calculations to figure out how it really went.
MYANMAR LOW COST: EATING
Let’s start with food and by saying that we got fatter in Myanmar.
Rich curries, sweet pancakes, coffee, we didn’t really miss anything. (HERE ALL THE DETAILS OF THE BURMESE KITCHEN)
What about the budget? Well, it was really simple. Unlike other countries in the area, we did not have to fall back much on street food because many tea rooms and local restaurants offer a good alternative.
Prices are really low. We go from 700 kyat for a tea leaves salad, at 1000/1500 Kyat for a Shan Noodle Salad, always accompanied by a soup.
As far as drinks are concerned, Myanmar is perfect for low budget travellers because on in every tea house they give free tea… really refreshing, though warm. In any case, coffee and tea have a very affordable cost, 200/300 Kyat.
In Myanmar we spent an average of 2.50 euros each day… not bad, calculating that we definitely didn’t starve!
MYANMAR LOW COST: SLEEPING
Unlike Malaysia, where we were almost always helped by Booking.com, in Myanmar we preferred to find places to sleep directly on site.
This is because we realized that, except for large cities, the structures on the site were only a small percentage of those available on site.
Choose directly upon arrival, if on one hand it takes some time and patience, on the other hand it certainly allows you to have more choice at lower prices.
In Myanmar, excluding the hostel in Yangon, we have always slept in double rooms with shared bathroom. On several occasions breakfast (toast, jam, eggs and fruit) was included in the price.
The most expensive accommodation was in Mindat, where we spent 20.000 kyat for one night.
Throughout our stay in Burma, we spent an average of 16.000 kyat per room, i.e. about 5 euros each.
MYANMAR LOW COST: TRAVELLING
In Myanmar we travelled a lot, often at night.
The most economical mean of transport is the train (even if it’s the slowest). There are 2 classes: the ordinary with wooden benches (not recommended) and upper class (on one occasion we found comfortable seats, but once some uncomfortable benches.. It depends on your luck!).
The train ride is very noisy and uncomfortable. And, the night could be very cold.
But you travel for 8 hours at the incredible price of 2 Euros, so you can’t complain!
As far as buses are concerned, however, we have realised that the word “bus” in Myanmar indicates different types of vehicle. From the truck to share, to the minivan, to the bus with reclining seats to end up sitting in the back of a car. Until the last one you will not know how and when, but eventually you will arrive at destination.
Attention: night bus trips are much faster than they will show you in the various agencies. Be prepared, you could be left in a deserted station at 2AM, even if the arrival was scheduled for 5AM. Our Solution, in these cases, was to sit in a terrible tea room and wait at least until 6 before heading to the guesthouse.
During our trip to Myanmar we spent an average of EUR 1.50 per person per day for transportations.
MYANMAR LOW COST:: OTHER EXPENSES
The voice we were most concerned about was this one, in particular government taxes that foreign tourists have to pay to visit some attractions. An example is the 25.000 kyat to visit the temples of Bagan or the 10.000 kyat for the Shwedagon Pagoda of Yangon, or still the 13.500 kyat for Lake Inle. Fortunately, the average we spent is 1 euro per person per day.
So, this is what we spent each day in Myanmar:
EATING € 2.50
SLEEPING € 5.00
MEANS OF TRANSPORT € 1.50
GOVERNMENT TAXES: € 1.00
Total: 10 euro a day p.p.