ATM = Are They Mad? $$$ in Myanmar

Written on 10-27-2011

ATM = Are They Mad? 

Myanmar Money Matters

Big Brother is watching you

If you've traveled in South-East Asia for a while, you might take the ATM-generated money ease for granted. Well, reset your scales in Myanmar. ANYTHING to do with money is likely to be difficult here. There are no ATMs. And you have to pay in dollars for anything that is government-owned [most of the transportation such as the trains] – small $$ too, as they never have change.I have been turned down when trying to buy a 3 $ ticket with Myanmar kyatt [though, the sweet fellow at the ticket counter actually walked me to a place where I could exchange my freshly exchanged kyatt back to $$]. And not just any dollars, but the newly-printed, pristine kind. That means, a slightest 1 mm speck of ink or the tiniest crease will disqualify your green from use. It was there that I came the closest to money-laundering. I had to money-iron. Actually, it was the kind hotel-owner in Kalaw who has spontaneously offered to iron my bills when I told her they were rejected due to folds! She wet them and ironed them flat. So, arrive bearing lots of cash pressed in books and wrapped in hermetic bags. I actually met some travelers who were there on a meditation visa for 8 months. They had to log their funds in cash for the whole time with no way to get replenishment. Nor will any PayPals or other e-transfer services work [Myanmar is a blocked country on many of these sites]. Graces of the military dictatorship....

I was not prepared for this bit at all. So, I ran out of cash twice. I was rescued by a 5*hotel owner who was able to withdraw “plastic” $$ from my card at a 37% rate and at a condition that I stay at least one night at his hotel. Not a pretty fee.......yet, considering the circumstances, it was a rescue, and I was grateful for it. Naturally, I withdrew a bare minimum – enough, I thought, to get my visa to India in Mandalay [it supposedly takes much less time there than in Thailand] and to get back to Yangon and fly out. Only the visa took much longer........so, I ran out of cash yet another time. This time, I was rescued by a fellow traveler – a beautiful couple traveling through the Myanmar monasteries for meditation. When they learned of my situation, they simply shared 100 $ on faith, saying simply: “the world needs more trust” - naturally, I repaid as soon as I had electronic access outside of the country. It's been a major presencing experience to just how much difference a silly paper can make. Just as it showed once more the sheer spontaneous goodness of people.

Curiously, it was that very delay in the visa processing that has kept me from being in the Northern Sikkim when the 7.0 quake shook the Himalayas there. I arrived the day after. And because I knew of the quake, I went to Darjeeling, not Sikkim. Another blessing in disguise.

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