The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

I don't think we could have managed our trip to Burma without this book. And Rough Guides give much more than just directions and recommendations - there's a lot of history, a lot of background, very interesting little inserts about all kinds of people and places and odd events. I learned much more from this book than I normally get out of a guidebook, plus enjoyed a lot of side-trips and day trips that I never would have considered or even known about with this Rough Guide.

great book, does away with all the fluff of some of the others, has well researched and useful information about a country that is changing so dramatically, thoroughly recommend it

rough guides are great where ever you go. went to myanmar, stayed for 5 weeks, book was invaluable for reasonable costs and seeing all the sights

Comprehensive, incisive writing, my travels in Myanamar concur with most of the content in this edition. Clear and accurate. Read it!

I have used the newly-issued guidebook extensively in arranging a trip to Myanmar that I will be making in Dec. 2015. My only criticism, which I hope is constructive, is that the guidebook does not mention any of the travel agencies that have offices in Myanmar (or in Bangkok), but is rather confined to U.K. and other overseas agencies. I know from repeated experience that it is typically possible to save 25 percent or more by booking directly with a firm that is located in or very close to the country one is visiting

Unfortunately, as the Insight guide to Myanmar, this guide is rather superficial, with a rather small content given the size of the country. In particular, it offers almost no information for people who look for nature or want to do independent hikes. E.g., there are several possibilities for day hikes around Kalaw, with a number of well-worn trails that one can explore with a minimum of orientation skills and a GPS, but the only info this guide gives is, "there are hikes, get a guide".Similarly, there is a marked track to the summit of Mount Popa (I mean the actual mountain, not the rock with the temple), which is impossible to get lost on once you know where the trailhead is; yet, again, the only info the book offers is "get a guide at Popa Mountain Resort". This snobbish resort is the only hotel mentioned in Popa, despite the existence of several much more reasonable options in the town and outside (also if you do want a guide, these hotels will arrange one for a much better price that the Popa Resort). Mount Victoria National Park, which is a great trekking and bird watching destination (and where we spent a week without getting bored) gets a short shrift of one paragraph essentially devoid of practical information; again, the message is, pay a lot of money to a travel agent. The author and publisher apparently miss the fact that the whole point of a travel guide book is to allow one to dispense with package tours. Furthermore, it is misguided to devote about 30 % of the text to detailed descriptions of accommodation options, especially in tourist destinations where the situation is changing very fast, and where much more up-to-date info can be found on Tripadvisor. A final insult is the fact that the maps (at least in the kindle edition) are very small with a tiny font that is simply impossible to read on the screen of a tablet, and at least my kindle app offers no way of magnify them. Luckily, just before leaving I found out about the Stefan Loose "Mynamar" guide book, which, while still having some deficiencies, contains much more and up to date information (but you have to know at least some German).

This item was of limited use since it was found to be often out of date. The country is moving forward very quickly and so unless the guidebook is brand new, proceed cautiously.

I've been waiting for months for this book in preparation for my second trip to Myanmar (scheduled for later this year), but only minutes after I received and opened it I saw it was a huge letdown. For my first trip in October 2013 I bought the Lonely Planet 2011 version, which was basically the only guidebook available and which was already hopelessly out of date by then; I realize a newer version has been published but since I always prefer RG to LP guides, I chose RG this time. Unfortunately, it turns out to be not perceptibly more updated than the 2011 LP, and offers precious little more information (with Tanintharyi Region, which has recently and slowly been opened up, being the one notable exception), insight, or new listings. In fact, entire areas that were at least tentatively covered by the 2011 LP and that have since become accessible for foreign travelers (Chin State, for example) are not even mentioned in this book. So it's money wasted as far as I'm concerned, and I will have to stick to the online forums and a couple of useful websites I've found after all.

I've used Rough Guides several times in the past and always found them to be very reliable. The Myanmar guide is no exception. I thinks it's better organized than the Lonely Planet guide to Myanmar although I plan to pack both books with me for thoroughness.

Mi sono trovata molto bene con questa guida sulla Birmania, aggiornata e completa. Le informazioni sui ristoranti e gli hotel erano appropriate.

Decent guide books are surprisingly hard to find these days, all too often suffering from inaccurate information or catering solely to one type of traveller. This one however is excellent - well-written, helpful and even humourous. That's just as well, because Myanmar/Burma can be a hard country to travel around. Firstly, you've got to give it credit for openly questioning whether you should visit the country at all. Why? Because much of the country's tourist infrastructure, including its airlines and hotels, are owned by the country's elite who have impoverished the rest of the country over recent decades. So by visiting as a tourist, particularly one sticking to the established tourist trail and/or flying everywhere, you risk simply putting money into the pockets of the country's rich elite rather than benefiting the impoverished masses. Kudos, thus, to the Rough Guide for acknowledging this so openly and honestly. For those who do decide to visit, the Rough Guide admirably points to a website to help you navigate the consequential moral maze. Beyond this, the guide book has a good coverage of the rest of the country. Indeed, venture off the tourist trail and it becomes pretty much essential. My partner and I crossed into the country overland from Thailand, staying at Dawei for a few nights before continuing northwards overland. The tourist scene south of Yangon/Rangoon is undeveloped, with few hotels bookable online, let alone established on sites like TripAdvisor, We consequently found the accommodation and transport recommendations in this Rough Guide invaluable, as we were forced to rely on 'old-fashioned' (!) methods of securing accommodation (of which there is little in Burma's south) by phone. This Rough Guide also honestly and helpfully covers Burma's other unexpected quirks for the tourist, such as the ridiculously high price of accommodation and the difficult of paying by card or taking money out of ATMs. The transport sections are particularly good, right down to fair prices for things like taxis. Another reviewer has criticised this book, saying that it caters only for the backpacker and not the 'general travelling public'. I think that's unfair, in part because it's unclear who the 'general travelling public' are, in part because in fact the guide covers areas touristy and non-touristy (i.e. beyond 'the Big Four' of Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle lake) and all forms of transport and accommodation at all price levels. It's also unfair because the (artificially) high prices of accommodation in particular mean that many travellers on mid-range budgets may find themselves forced into looking at backpacker-level accommodation, which is hardly a fault of the Rough Guide. I didn't look at the Lonely Planet's guide to Burma but I have no hesitation in recommending the Rough Guide to Burma.

This book provides a detailed guide of Myanmar through a personal view, selecting places to visit, best sightseeings and recommendations about food and others. But above all, it gives you a deep knowledge of that amazing country without overwhelming you with dates and facts. I personally recommend it to you.

Das Buch ist sehr übersichtlich und klar strukturiert, liefert alle wichtigen informationen und ist im Großen und Ganzen top aktuell. Da Myanmar aber einen so rasanten Wandel erlebt, kann selbst dieses Buch bei z.b manchen Eintrittsgeldern nicht mithalten: bereits 5 Monate nach Veröffentlichung gab es eine Reihe von Anpassungen. Man kommt aber ohnehin nicht herum, praktische und relevante Infos regelmässig aus online Reiseforen zu beziehen.