BREAKING NEWS:

Thandwe Airport will be partially closed also in March and April 2010:
The airport in Thandwe will be partially closed on certain days also in March and April 2010, due to construction works. The airport will operate according to the following schedule while the construction is ongoing.

Monday: Closed all day
Tuesday: Closed until 12:00 – flights will operate only in the afternoon
Wednesday: Open
Thursday: Open
Friday: Open
Saturday: Open
Sunday: Closed all day
Our team is currently checking all affected bookings and attempting to rebook flights without disruption to the itinerary, where possible. If it is necessary to make adjustments to existing bookings, then we will get back to you as soon as possible with suggested alternatives.

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RIVER CRUISES BETWEEN MANDALAY AND BAGAN

AYRAVATA CRUISES, operated with the vessels RV PANDAW 1947 and RV PAUKAN 2007 is forced to change the cruise program of short cruises between Mandalay and Bagan due to very shallow water level between Myin Mu and Mandalay starting from 26.01.10 (Tue.)

For the 1 night river cruise from Mandalay to Bagan / departure every Thursday

For the 2 night river cruise from Mandalay to Bagan / departure every Sunday

For the 2 night river cruise from Bagan to Mandalay / departure every Tuesday and Friday

Also all other cruise ships and also the express boats are not able to continue to Mandalay and had to change the program as well.

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LATEST NEWS

NEW AIRLINE CONNECTION:

TAIPEI – YANGON:
For Myanmar travelers there is a new, attractive journey possibility. Instead of flying via Bangkok or Singapore you can fly now with China Airlines via Taiwan to Yangon. The distance between Frankfurt and Yangon is served at present four times per week via Taipei. Comfortable jumbo jets are used for the long distance from Frankfurt to Taipei and modern machines of the type Embraer E90 serve the distance from Taipei to Yangon. China Airlines founded in 1959 has an extensive air fleet from modern machines, whose average age is only six years.

CHIANG MAI – YANGON:
Air Bagan announced a new service from Yangon to Chiang Mai, with the first flight taking off on January 7, 2010. The planned schedule from 07.01.10 – 29.04.10 has flights two times, on Thursday and Sunday. Modern machines of the type Airbus A310 are used for the distance between Yangon and Chiang Mai. The Airbus A310 is a twin-jet large-capacity aircraft of the European aircraft manufacturer airbus. This concerns a shortened and further developed variant of the airbus A300 and is conceived for medium- to long-range.

HANOI – YANGON – HANOI:
Since 2 March 2010 Vietnam Airlines is flying four times a week to Yangon.

Myanmar travelers can fly now from Frankfurt via Hanoi to Yangon, stop in Hanoi for a few days or even for a longer stay in Vietnam.

For an updated flight schedule, please click here.

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MONEY:

Since 01.10.09 there are also 5000 Kyat notes (this is based on the current exchange rate approx. US$ 4,76) in circulation.

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ADMISSION FEES:

The entrance fee for the Mandalay zone (Mandalay, Ava & Amarapura) was increased from US$ 10,-- to US$ 15,-- per person. We assume that the entrance fee for Bagan and other places will increase in the next days as well. For Bagan the entrance fee could go up from US$ 10,-- to US$ 20,-- per person. As soon as this is official, we will publish also a revised list with the new entrance fees.

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ONE TIME GSM PREPAID CARD:

Since December 2008 also Pre Paid Sim cards are available for mobile telephones in Myanmar. The Pri Paid Sim cards are available for US$ 10 and US$ 20, has then according to assets a value of US$ 10 or US$ 20.
Local calls are charged with US$ 0,3 per minute, international calls with US$ 1,5 per minute (for all countries) and incoming calls with US$ 0.05 per minute.
To send SMS messages to foreign countries (for example Germany) is not possible.
SMS
The GSM prepaid cards are valid for 30 days after activation and available. Mobile shop and also at the City Marts are selling the US$ 20 Pri Paid Sim Card for a price between US$ 27 and US$ 30.

Please note that the mobile network does NOT include Ngapali.

Please click here for an updated list of all places with a mobile network:

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NGWE SAUNG BEACH & CHAUNGTHA BEACH

If you like to travel to Pathein, Ngwe Saung Beach or Chaungtha Beach you still need a permit. The “Ministry of Hotel & Tourism” will issue the permit 

Address:
Ministry of Hotel & Tourism
77-91, Sule Pagoda Road, Yangon
Tel: 0095-1-371582/379092/379093/254153/375194
Fax: 0095-1-242511/242522/379095
Email: dht.mht@myanmar.com.mm 

Opening hours:
Monday - Friday from 10:00am to 16:00pm

It takes approx. 1 hour to get the permission issued. Please bring along your passport. Permission does not cost anything, however a donation for charitable purposes at a value of Kyats 5000 (US$ 4,--) is expected.

From the permit and your passport you should have a set of 4 copies to be on the safe side as you have to deliver a copy at each check point. We had to stop at 2 check points and had to show each time also our passport.

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NGAPALI BEACH:

Ngapali Beach Hotel:
The Ngapali Beach hotel remains closed because of extensive renovation work until September 2010.

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RIVER CRUISES BETWEEN MANDALAY AND BAGAN:

With the Pandaw II and Pandaw IV:
The Irrawaddy Flotilla company will not offer short river cruises between Mandalay and Bagan for 2009/2010. The long river cruises on the Chindwin river and to Bhamo are also further accomplished.

Please find more information on the long river cruises under:
http://www.travel-myanmar.net/myanmar-river-cruise.htm

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EXPRESSBOOT FROM MANDALAY TO BAGAN:

Shwe Keinnery oder Zin Yaw:
The Shwe Keinnery boats will operate daily between Mandalay and Bagan from 01.10.09 – 31.03.10. Should the demand for individual days be too small, the operator of the Shwe Keinnery boats, will use smaller boats, like “Zin Yaw”, or cancel the trip completely.
Please note that a trip can be also cancelled on a very short notice. Alternatively there is a daily flight from Mandalay to Bagan, or you may drive by car from Mandalay via Meikthila to Bagan.

For March and April due to the small demand all trips were cancelled.

Malikha River Cruise:

From 01.10.08 – 30:04.08
Has no fixed departure days for the season 2009/2010. They adjust the schedule according to the booking situation.
For an updated schedule (February 2010), please click here.
For an updated schedule (March 2010), please click here.
 

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Travel-Myanmar.net
Shwe Gone Dine Tower 212, Building C, Apartment 006, Shwe Gone Dine Road, Bahan Township,
Yangon, Union of Myanmar.
Tel: 0095-1-552835
Fax: 0095-1-552654
E-mail: info@shweyoo.com.mm
Website: www.travel-myanmar.net, www.burma-exclusive.com