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TRAVEL DIARIES: Myanmar Packing Tips

March 7, 2012

Myanmar was one destination that was super unfamiliar for us so it was hard to prepare considering that the information found on the net are not up to date. Even the brief from our embassy there was not up-to-date either. So in true DiploFashion, I came prepared. Here is a list of what I brought. I don’t think everyone would necessarily need all of these. Just check which one applies to you because you might actually not need it.
For example, we stayed in 2 cheap hotels and 1 expensive one. Some of the  supplies were totally used in the cheap and not so nice hotels but were not necessary for the expensive hotel. But we definitely found the flashlights useful in Bagan despite staying in a more expensive hotel, because of the frequent black outs. Also food in expat friendly restaurants was quite expensive so I was thoroughly thankful for the advice from @alwaysthewinna to bring snacks that tided us over between the 3 usual meals. I brought mostly nuts and dark chocolate – trying to be healthy!
  1. Lysol – We don’t use Lysol at home because the chemicals are harmful to pets and babies (I’m sure it has some long term effects on us too) but for this trip we needed to play it safe. Lysol in Jakarta costs about 8 USD so we asked the MIL to bring from Manila where it is less than half the price. Usually for disinfecting at home I use a water and vinegar solution.
  2. Natural aromatherapy spray – I prefer using this for the room instead of Lysol whenever it’s possible
  3. Mosquito repellant – While Yangon is pretty much like any urban city, there have been cases of dengue and malaria in the provinces (i.e. Bagan); We contemplated bringing katol but found a electric insect repellent which repels mosquitos via sound in a frequency that humans can’t hear. I found this all-natural insect repellent from ECHOstore! Doesnt’ only repel insects but moisturizes skin too! ❤
  4. We brought plenty of  immodium. And we totally used it!
  5. Tons of wetwipes, tissue, toilet bowl liners & sanitizer – useful
  6. Flashlights – We always had one in our bag and it was useful because they still have frequent black outs (especially Bagan) and there are restaurants that don’t have generator. It was also useful for walking around in Aye hotel at night. I think our best buy was the energizer head lamp.  Because it left our hands free (unlike flashlights), it allowed us to continue whatever we were doing (i.e. packing) until the generators kicked in.
  7. Pack some snacks because the food might not always be great nor cheap. When we arrived we also went to the supermarket to buy water (and some Pringles they have the REAL Original Pringles! Wooohoo!). As a rule, I buy one 1.5L bottle per day for drinking and brushing teeth. I am a water addict and get a headache when I don’t get enough water. Also it is not advisable for visitors to brush teeth with tap water in certain areas like Bagan where the water source is the river – where they get drinking water and wash their clothers. Residents might be used to it but foreigners are not. Better safe than sorry. TD and the in-laws also got a bum tummy so good thing I brought saltines, coz for a day or 2, it was the only thing TD could really eat. =P
  8. be ready with cold cash here. No credit card or ATM machines available (they only have a few ATM machines for local banks that are not linked to international banks). Make sure your dollars are new, no folds/wrinkles, no marks (i.e. stamps, writing, etc). Just like in Indonesia, they do not accept imperfect dollar bills here.
  9. Bring a fan, umbrella and tons of sunblock – especially useful if you take a cab. Most of them are not air-conditioned! Would you believe it was so hot, I had to use an umbrella while riding a cab to hide from the suns scorching rays? =P haha! Pinoy talaga ako! Sunblock SPF 50-70 is highly recommended since you spend most of the days out walking around.
  10. Bring a universal charger like this. We weren’t sure what they were using so this came in handy.
  11. I travel to shop (as you can see from my new baby diploshop.net) and I always brings bubble wrap (I couldn’t find any so paper had to do) scissors, packaging tape & rope. This helped me transport my horse marionette and Myanmar gong home! =)
  12. Another  thing we found surprisingly useful are these Terry Palmer Multi-way Headwear – I first discovered them from My Mom Friday here and found them in the GrandLucky Superstore in Sudirman in the Terry Palmer brand. It was especially useful for dusty or pungent spots so I always had it in my bag. I have asthma so dust is a big no-no for me.
  13. Also bring whatever medicine you need because you might not find the exact brand here. I brought astham inhalers, allergy meds, general antibiotics, fever/cold/cough meds, etc.
So far that is all I can remember. Drop me a line if you can think of anything else!

6 Comments · Diplo Travel, Myanmar

Comments

  1. Wendy says

    January 4, 2015 at 3:21 AM

    A really useful list – thanks so much for sharing your knowledge, I wish we had read it before we left for Myanmar a month ago. We’ve just spent 4 weeks travelling around and I can confirm you still need most of these items. Blackouts have been pretty uncommon but the torch is still useful for walking anywhere after dark (about 5.30pm) in Dec as the footpaths often have holes or open drains. Umbrella was really useful, even in the “winter” it is 32deg. Have been lucky so far with tummy but have been v careful to eat at places w a lot of through put. The training of catering staff is still v rudimentary, if they have any, at all. Levels of food hygiene and lack of clean water means taking care w food is still needed. Insect repellent also a must as many places to eat are outside or by rivers….thanks again for a great blog!

    Reply
    • diplomaticwife says

      January 5, 2015 at 11:01 AM

      Dear Wendy I loved hearing your update based on your recent trip to Myanmar. I’m glad you liked the blog! I really appreciate it as I am sure other people planning a trip to Myanmar would too!

      Wow 4 weeks is a long trip! Which parts of Myanmar did you go and can you recommend any of the hotels you stayed in?

      Reply
      • wendy says

        February 1, 2015 at 4:06 AM

        It was partly a vacation and a volunteering trip, visiting Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Moulmein, Hpa-An and Mt Kyaikhtiyo. The last was pretty special as it was the time of year when many families make a pilgrimage to this holy site. There are many new hotels being built so I suspect the choice will be greater in coming years, but it is still relatively expensive for 3 star hotels of variable building quality. The big difference is in the quality of the service; there is no hospitality training so while staff may do their best, and are very well meaning, they may not have the skills and experience to provide the sort of service travellers may be used to. So patience is a virtue! We used Oway to book and pre-pay our accommodation online, to support a local start-up and avoid having to carry around large amounts of cash to pay for accommodation. They seem to have a good network of local contacts so all of our bookings were confirmed, with prompting. We don’t have any particular recommendations; all the places we stayed in ($60 – $100USD per night) had their pluses and minuses. Trip Advisor reviews were reasonably accurate. I’d recommend booking ahead for Mt Kyaikhtiyo in peak season as accommodation is limited on the mountain top. Staying close to the city centre or places to visit in Yangon is good because the traffic is every bit as bad as the reports say.

        Reply
        • diplomaticwife says

          February 2, 2015 at 4:58 PM

          Wow your trip sounds like such a great adventure. And kudos to you for supporting a local start-up. It takes guts to do this.

          You have such great insight and tips for travelling to Myanmar. It is understandable that their tourism industry and its infrastructure needs time to mature and grow with the greater influx of tourists. In a way because it is not yet polished and sophisticated we are lucky to have experienced it because in the future, it wont ever look and feel the same again.

          Thanks again for such great information on travel to Myanmar!

          Reply

Trackbacks

  1. YANGON TRAVEL DIARIES ✈ Sitting Buddha at Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda | The Diplomatic Wife says:
    October 18, 2012 at 1:39 PM

    […] Travel Tips and Packing for Myanmar […]

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  2. YANGON TRAVEL DIARIES ✈ Shwedagon Pagoda | The Diplomatic Wife says:
    September 23, 2013 at 12:05 PM

    […] Travel Tips and Packing for Myanmar […]

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Hello! I’m Ayessa, trailing spouse to a diplomat, mama to DiploBaby and DiploDog and founder of Declutter MNL. I love talking about how to achieve a minimaluxe lifestyle one step at a time.

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HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport? We are very lucky th HOW NEAR IS @geneveaeroport?

We are very lucky that the Geneva Airport is very near because it is located 4 km northwest of the city centre. It takes us less than 15mins by car & is easier to get to than airports outside the city.

BUT also means that many of the Geneva residents suffer from AIRCRAFT NOISE POLLUTION. 

In some parts of Geneva, like Vernier, Meyrin, Bellevue, Versoix, etc will have the airplane pass on top of you or very near you. This is something to consider when you are MOVING TO GENEVA & looking for a home.

When we were in @bioparcgeneve recently, it felt like airplane after airplane was going overhead every few mins. The poor animals were screaming each time.

A  report by the European Environment Agency(EEA) in 2017 said that 12% or 73,500 Geneva residents have their hearing disturbed by aircraft noise. Probably the figures have risen with the natural increase population & travel?

“The EEA describes noise as a pervasive pollutant that directly affects the health and well-being of humans and wildlife. Populations exposed to high noise levels can exhibit stress reactions, sleep-stage changes, and clinical symptoms like hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. All of these can contribute to premature mortality. The World Health Organization (WHO) reckons that humans exposed to noise levels above 40 decibels at night experience adverse health effects.

Across Europe it is estimated that noise contributed to at least 900,000 additional cases of hypertension in 2011.” - @le_news_ch 

DID YOU KNOW that owners of homes affected by the noise can request for soundproofing to be paid for by GVA? 

Check if your home meets the conditions for FREE SOUNDPROOFING c/o Genève Aéroport here:

https://www.gva.ch/en/Site/Geneve-Aeroport/Questions-Reponses-FAQ/Bruit#

SAVE or SHARE this now with someone you know who might be moving to Geneva or is already suffering from aircraft #noisepollution. 

#UDWinGeneva #UDWgenevagoodtoknow #expatingeneva #diplofamily #expatlife #genevaswitzerland #expatingeneva #filipinoingeneva #pinoyingeneva #movingtogeneva #movingtoswitzerland #movingtogeneva #genevaexpats #switzerlandexpatlife #geneva #genevaswitzerland
MERCADONA HAUL Whenever we go to Spain, we love t MERCADONA HAUL

Whenever we go to Spain, we love to go to @mercadona. It might be small but has a good affordable selection. It’s my thrifty Spanish MIL’s favorite.

We were so lucky that we had a @mercadona right beside our hotel Marina Badalona. Very convenient.
Our favorite things to bring home are:

☕️ frozen porras (bigger than churros)

🐑 baby lamb chops (the only lamb I eat coz it’s not malangsa & all you need to do is fry till crispy in olive oil with S&P) it’s called Chuletas Cabrito but TD calls it lechal 

🐽 chicharon or crispy pork rinds

🥔 Homemade potato chips. The best potato chips for me are from Spain. I don’t know how it’s so much yummier! The olive oil???

🎣 canned Sardines & tuna for me and Yaya B

TIPS:

🧊 For frozen items, we usually ask the hotel before we buy if they can put it in their freezer until we fly.

✍️ I usually bring different sizes ZIPLOCK BAGS, MASKING TAPE & MARKER when we travel so we can put everything in, label with our name and room number.

📸 then I take a photo so we can just show it to the staff and they can easily find it in their freezer.

✈️ When it’s time to pack, I placed our beach towels around the frozen packages coz I know they will SWEAT & I don’t want our other things to get wet 💦 

What  grocery do you usually like to shop for when in Spain? Where do you buy them?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries #udwtraveltips #udwtraveltip #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW C FREE GEAR RENTAL @boxup.app + OUTDOOR GYM at ISW Calisthenics Park 

📍Chem. des Tuileries 140, 1293 Bellevue

After the lovely BIOPARC we headed across to this chill park with ample PARKING that had so many things for kids & anyone who wants to move & work out:

⚽️ The kids wanted to kick around a football so we borrowed a ball from @boxup.app (they also have pumps, 🏓, 🏐, 🏀, etc) just download the app & turn on your Bluetooth & follow instructions! Return after 3hrs.

👟 Outdoor gym - this was a huge hit with the kids

⚽️ football - this too!

🏀 basketball court

🏓 Ping-pong 

🏐 Beach volleyball court

🤸🏻 Monkey bars

🛝 small playground

Thanks for the wonderful afternoon guys @lidia_otilia_botezatu! 
How lucky are we to have these beautiful, clean open spaces. And the free rental gear is AMAZING! so convenient.

This is in Geneva, about 15mins drive from where we live.

SAVE THIS on your list of PARKS to visit!

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. It’s not as close as the bioparc but bring earplugs/earphones if you are sensitive.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
BIOPARC GENÈVE Yesterday was a holiday in Switze BIOPARC GENÈVE

Yesterday was a holiday in Switzerland (except for Geneva). It was raining & miserable so I wanted to take @diplobaby out for a few hours. Thankfully midafternoon it stopped raining.

We met with our friends @lidia_otilia_botezatu in @bioparcgeneve and had a lovely time in this volunteer run zoo.

TIPS💡

🆓 It’s free for families on your FIRST visit!

🦢 you walk inside animal enclosures so wear shoes that you don’t mind getting dirty/stepping on poop. We wore boots & happy we did

🅿️ there’s parking inside on wood chips, if it’s full there’s another pavement parking (free up to 4hrs) across the roundabout 

🦔 Do not feed or touch the animals no matter how cute they are

🗺️ There are 2 routes (purple & blue) and 1-1.5hrs #diplshould be enough 

❎ Park closes at 4pm

SAVE THIS NOW if your looking for a fun & not too you can do in well und2hrs. It’s nice that you can go inside unlike most zoos so it’s quite unique.

⚠️ WARNING

it’s in the airplane path so there will be loud noise from that. @diplobaby who is super noise sensitive did not mind as much as I thought he would because he was so entertained by the animals.

#udwingeneva #genevaswitzerland #genevaforkids #diplobaby #diplofamily #filipinotravelblogger #pinayblogger #diplowife #diplomatswife #filipinoabroad #tdwtraveldiaries #takekidseverywhere #travelblogger #travelvlogger #travelvloggerph #filipinoblogger #filipinablogger #filipinavlogger #filipinoineurope #welltraveledkids #expatwoman #pinayblogger #familytravelblog
MARINA BADALONA HOTEL At first we were going to MARINA BADALONA HOTEL 

At first we were going to stay in the heart of Barcelona, where we stayed 8 years ago (I didn’t even know that @diplobaby was already in my tummy at 2 weeks old) but the “hotel” is now expensive with no amenities & small rooms. So TD found a hotel in #badalona - a 20min taxi ride from Barcelona city center - that was so fabulous & slightly less expensive.

SAVE THIS NOW for future trips to Barcelona

WHY I LOVED marinabadalona
🤍 All white interiors was so beautiful & calming
🤍 Gorgeous view of the Marina 
🤍 Everything was so aesthetic, even where you tap your card to enter the room
🤍 Massive bed
🤍 Electric curtains
🤍 Lots of closet space & hangers
🤍 2 TVs
🤍 Refrigerator
🤍 White/cream Nespresso & kettle
🤍 Architecture & interior design is sooooo me!
🤍 Small rooftop pool with unbelievable views (need to do a separate post)
🤍 5min walk to the beach
🤍 Gorg esplanade
🤍 Yummy restos beside
🤍 Mercadona right beside - so convenient!

FEW RECOS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
✌️ Loved the textured wall paper, but it’s difficult to keep clean inside the bathroom
✌️ The bathroom surface area was a bit small & our stuff kept falling off the sink
✌️ Not a single chair in the family room so when we had room service we had to eat standing
✌️ No salt & pepper with room service so we called to ask & were told we would be charged for them taking it up. After TD clarified that there was no S&P with our meal, they said they would bring it up. The person brought a small bowl of of salt & pepper combined. The salt was for DiploBaby’s salmon, but he can’t eat pepper, I wanted both for my pesto. Had to run down in my slippers & the resto staff were very apologetic coz who serves a mixed S&P ever? They gave me individually packaged ones which I really appreciated.
✌️ Since the hotel has a pool & is by the beach, I wish there was a place to hang & dry swim suits. Our suits & watershoes did not dry in the tub.

All in all the value we got from staying in this hotel was so high compared to a more expensive hotel in Barcelona. No hotel stay is perfect.

Now, would I stay there again? YES PLEASE! Would you?

#udwinbarcelona #udwinbadalona #udwtraveldiaries
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