lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

370DIRECTORY A–ZVISA ON ARRIVAL?In 2010, Myanmar test-ran a tourist-visa-on-arrivalsystem for flights into Yangon, but at the time of ourresearch in early 2011, it didn’t appear to be operating,despite many websites making it seem as if it still did.We have since heard that visas on arrival are onceagain available at Yangon Airport, but only in veryspecific circumstances. To get one, you need to enterMyanmar on the scheduled Myanmar Airways Internationalflights from either Guangzhou or Siem Reap.or twice! In cases such asthese you’ll need more of areason than simply ‘tourism’for receiving another visa. Becreative.Extensions &Overstaying Your VisaTourist visas cannot be extendedand you can run intoproblems if you choose tostay longer than the allotted28 days. Hotels are obliged toreport travellers whose visashave expired to the authoritiesand, if found to have notdone so, will be in troublethemselves.Also, you may have difficultieswith airport immigrationif you’re planning domesticflights, particularly infar-flung airports (like Sittweor Myitkyina). If you do overstay,it’s wise to stick withland routes and places withineasy access of Yangon, aswe’ve heard stories of suchtourists being instructed toleave the country immediatelywhen discovered by theauthorities.All this said, overstayingyour visa a few days – evena week or so – is possible. Atresearch time, Yangon Airport’simmigration charged$3 per day, plus a $3 ‘registrationfee’ for visitors whogo over the allotted 28 days.Have exact change ready(they’re not likely to changeyour $100 bill and they won’ttake kyat) and arrive earlyenough to fill out the necessaryforms.VolunteeringOfficial opportunities to volunteerare greatly limited. Alist of NGOs that may havevolunteering opportunitiescan be found on www.ngoinmyanmar. org, althoughmostly their postings are forspecific experienced workers(often in medicine). Don’tlet this sway you. Everyonein Myanmar wants to learnEnglish, and few can affordto. Ask in towns or villages tosit in at an English class.One or two smaller operationshave fought their waythrough government- andsanction- inspired red tapeand set up low-key projectsto improve lives. The followingare able to accept bothskilled and unskilled volunteers,but give them as muchadvance notice as possible.Growing Together School(gt.camp@gmail.com) Swissrunproject with two schoolsbased in and around Yangon.It generally requires volunteertrained and untrainedteachers and builders andhandypeople for at least sixweeks.Eden Centre for DisabledChildren (%640 399; www.edencentre.org) Myanmar-runNGO working to better thelives of disabled children inthe city.Myanmar Charity Group(www.myanmarcharitygroup.org) Provides assistance forthe education and generalwelfare of disabled andorphaned children.Unicef (www.unicef.org/myanmar/index.html) Runs variousprograms to protect childrenand improve public health.Women TravellersAs in most Buddhist countries,foreign women travellingin Myanmar are rarely hassledon the road as they might bein India, Malaysia or Indonesia.However, we have heard afew reports of sexual harassment.Dressing modestlyshould help reduce this risk:wear a local longyi instead ofa skirt above the knee, andany old T-shirt instead of aspaghetti-strap singlet.Few Myanmar womenwould consider travellingwithout at least one femalecompanion, so women travellingalone are regarded asslightly peculiar by the locals.Lone women being seen offon boats and trains by localfriends may find the latter tryingto find a suitably responsibleolder woman to keepthem company on the trip.If you didn’t bring tampons,one good place to findthem is Yangon’s City MartSupermarket.‘Ladies’ (per the postedsigns in certain areas) cannotgo up to some altars or ontodecks around stupas, includingthe one affording a closeuplook at the famous GoldenRock at Kyaiktiyo, or applygold leaf on the Buddhaimage at Mandalay’s MahamuniPaya. Also, womenshould never touch a monk;if you’re handing somethingto a monk, place the objectwithin reach of him, not directlyinto his hands.Most locals tend to visitteahouses, restaurants orshops with members of thesame sex. Asian women, evenfrom other countries, travellingwith a Western man mayencounter rude comments.