Myanmar-transit: Worst experience
 

Hi!




This warning is addressed to all who want to drive through Myanmar with their own foreign vehicle and is based upon our own experience in October/November 2015 and similar reports from people we had contact with.





Before our trip we contacted four agencies:


- Diethelm travel: very expensive and overnight stays in hotels obligatory


- Jörn Schlag: no suitable date


- Burma Senses: professional website, quick reply to questions


- Myanmar Expert Travel & Tours: very sympathic contact





The last two agencies had nearly identical prices and we would have chosen Myanmar Expert Travel & Tours (Mr. Mutu Suresh), but they had no group at our favourite date.





Burma Senses (Mr. Win Aung) had a group and fascinated with a 14-days-program with all Burmese highlights. On closer examination I was not sure if on some itinery’s days the program might be too much for one day. But Burma Senses said that they did that tour frequently and that the tour combines relaxed driving with plenty of time for sightseeing. So we booked a 14-days-trip entering Myanmar from India and exiting to Thailand in a group of 6 people with 3 vehicles. Soon Burma Senses suggested to reduce the price by adding two bikers. We agreed but said that we don’t want a further enlargement of the group. While entering Myanmar we noticed that Mr. Win, a boy in the twenties, had added two more bikers to the group. At the first evening the bikers were very unhappy because they did not want to drive at night. Mr. Win said that could happen on the first day, because the border formalities took a long time, and he ensured that further night driving will not be necessary. But on the second day again time was short so that we could not visit the famous U-Bridge and yet we reached our destination in darkness. On the third day the bikers refused to start driving and demanded a re-scheduling of the trip. This replanning has then taken place, with the result that we simply left out some of the main attractions (including Mrauk-U and Yangon!). On the other hand we had now half-days with neither driving nor sightseeing. Whenever a group member criticized or brought suggestions, Mr. Win sent him an Asian smile together with an incomprehensible or completely inappropriate response.


We reproach Burma Senses with:
• The agency offers tours that ar not realisable, probably to give the impression, that they offer exclusive tours other agencies cannot do.


• Mr. Win promises with a smiling face in the morning things that he cannot keep until the same evening.
• Our trip was affected by serious organizational faults and poor communication and promised major highlights in Myanmar we have not seen.
• There were too few photo stops, we often had to pass great attractions without stopping. It seems that Mr. Win had not factored refueling stops and lunch in his daily programs.
• Mr. Win could not keep together the convoy, so that repeatedly vehicles got lost.
• For one night he did not have the paper that is necessary to allow us to sleep in our cars. He demanded us to book hotel rooms.
• Burma Senses does not know the needs of campers: The places where we staid overnight were loud, too small and often not flat.
• Burma Senses added more travellers to our group, without our agreement.

For these reasons, we warn to select Burma Senses as an agency for transit through Myanmar.
I hope this warning can protect other people facing similar disappointments.

Naglwitz