Report on Myanmar
The trip to Burma was something out of the ordinary. A bit primitive in many respects but that's the attraction!
The changing of $300.00 into Kyats is not really a problem. We stayed for 2 weeks and spent 3 times that amount. I tell you, its good to have kyats because in remote places they don't accept anything else.
We flew from Bangkok to Yangon with Myanmar Airlines which must be one of best we travelled in, although we have used more than 50 airlines so far. Highly recommended.
The difference is space. Since they don't carry a lot of tourists they don't need to cram as many seats as possible in the cabin! The passenger to attendant ratio is about 9 to 1 which is the best yours truly has encountered so far. Given the friendliness of the Burmese it was like travelling first class.
As for transport don't worry. When you arrive at the airport they will find you.
Make sure that they have a tour operator badge. That means they are approved by the government but doesn't mean that your money goes to the government.
Once out of the airport they will offer you various trips but the best bet, if you are planning to see a lot of Burma, is to ask them for a car with driver. The going rate is $30.00 a day and the driver will take you anywhere you like. The price includes his petrol, accommodation and meals. At first you will be presented with a contract which includes a $50-60 government tax.
If you refuse to sign it that means they don't have to pay anything to the government!
One additional thing
I wanted to send is the name and address of our driver in case someone wants to contact him. He speaks a bit of English and a bit of Japanese and will take you anywhere, will wait for you as long as you like and will take you to the best value hotels and restaurants.
Driver/Guide recommendation
His name and address:

Than Chaung (a) Oo
No 869 10th Mile
Kyaung Street, Pay Road
Insein,YangonPhone: +95 - 1 - 660444
Fax: +95 - 1 - 224706

He will arrange to pick you up at the airport.

Border crossing LAOS-CHINA.
Hello fellow travellers!!
This is the first time I come with some questions to this site. For the past ten years now I mainly got my sources for all my SE Asia trips in the Lonely Planet guides and on Compuserve. But last I explored the ITIS site and followed the emails here for some days. It realy impressed me how well this whole site is made and I must say that I already got a lot of useful information about Cambodia and Laos where I will spend some 7 weeks in Jan/Feb next year.
When planning my trip to Laos after visiting Angkor Wat in Cambodia, and since I will visit the NW region of Louang Namtha I got the idea of maybe crossing the Laos-Chinese border and go to Jinghong in the Yunnan province.
A couple of questions arise immediately.
First, does someone know if the area of Jinghong is worth visiting. I see many red stars around Jinghong on my Nelles road map of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, indicating interresting places.
Is it possible to cross the Laos-Chinese border at Muang Sing? And can I reuse my 30 days Laos visa I will get in Bangkok to reenter Laos?
In what shape are the roads there and what about transport?
How is the climate there in mid Jan/Feb?
Finally I suppose that in the event I would decide to go for it I can get a Chinese visa in Bangkok? How long is the visa valid and how much does it costs?
Lots of question for a simple idea but I hope some people here can help me further. Thanks!!

I was in Laos in May and met a few people who came from or were heading to China. They told me that it was very difficult to get a 3 month visa, the people I met had 2 month visas. However, information about the Chinese visa is very inconsistent, quite difficult to get from the embassies - I had lots of problems in Laos, Cambodia, Thailand often staff don't speak much English and are not always helpful. The information they give is also contradictory, policies seem to vary. We have some limited information under the embassy sections of the capitol cities sections.

Mohan(Chi)-Boten (L) - This was the border crossing that people were taking between China and Laos, I'm sorry but I don't have any information about any other possible crossing.

As for leaving Laos and re-entering on the same visa - I haven't heard about that option, though there have been some reports of people entering from China on transit visas/ getting 14 day visa at border. I know quite a lot of long term travelers living in Nong khai, go over into Laos regularly, however I think they have some special visa/business visa. There is a guy called Tom who runs a website called South East Asian Times, I'm afraid I don't have the address - it may be possible to find it by doing a search, he operates it from Nong Khai, he goes in and out of Laos all the time so he might know something.

Well, the roads, I don't know the condition of them in the area you mentioned but generally they are terrible although there is a lot of road building currently going on. Visit Lao year 1999, seems to be the big motivator, they're trying to improve the tourist infrastructure for that.
I'm sorry that I don't know more, it sounds a great trip, if you find out anything else please let us know.
Hope that has helped a little,

Cambodia, report
Hello all,
Just got back from Cambodia today so here's the latest info. I flew from BKK to Phnom Penh on 30 Sep and then on to Siem Reap on 2 Oct. Flew back from Siem Reap to BKK today via Phnom Penh.
Is it safe?
When I was in Phnom Penh, things were tense. I didn't feel unsafe as such but didn't stray too far at night either. When I spoke to foreign residents there, they said that things had got a lot quieter since the demonstrations. It seems that while Sam Rainsy and Prince Ranariddh are out of Cambodia, things will be quieter. However, King Sihanouk is planning to fly to Beijing sometime and there are fears this could kick things off again. It seems that the situation changes daily in Phnom Penh so all I can advise is to watch it carefully.
In Siem Reap, things felt a lot calmer. All the residents I spoke to there (foreign and Cambodian) said that there weren't any problems there and they didn't expect problems. The King was in Siem Reap when I arrived and while his villa was guarded,the guards weren't openly parading their guns. (This was the opposite to Phnom Penh - Hun Sen (I think) came into town so the Army closed the roads for him and guns were VERY visible!). It also felt safe to walk around Siem Reap at night (as safe as walking around in e.g. China or
London).
Overall, I'd advise anyone travelling to Cambodia to check the situation before going. If you are afraid to go, don't go; Angkor has been there for 1000 years so it will be there for a few more! Also remember that not all the information
reported outside (or inside) Cambodia is entirely objective. I found the Phnom Penh Post and Cambodia Daily newspapers to be good. The Phnom Penh Post also has a website with some stories from the paper (can't remember the URL now). While you're in Cambodia, it's a good idea to register with your embassy. It only took me 5 mins. in the British Embassy to fill in a form and then if the situation changes rapidly while you're there, they can contact you.
If you do decide to go, here's some more information...
Visas
On 30 Sep., I got a visa at Phnom Penh airport. When I looked today, the visa desk looked like it was still there and I spoke to other travellers who had got visas in the past few days. In the Royal Air Cambodge in-flight magazine for Oct-Dec 1998, they said that you can get visas at the
airport on arrival. The government may have said they will stop issuing them at the airport but I didn't see any sign of it. They also need tourist dollars and foreign investment dollars so I can't see why they would make it more difficult to get visas... Note that this only applies at Phnom Penh - there were no facilities for visas at Siem Reap airport (as far as I could see). Visas are US$20 for tourist and US$25 for business and need 1 photo.

Flights
I flew Thai into Phnom Penh (changed from Royal Air Cambodge without any problems) and Royal Air Cambodge for the other flights. They were OK but I'd advise you to reconfirm the flights. As there are very few travellers inside Cambodia at the moment, Royal Air Cambodge's Phnom Penh > Siem Reap schedules are not very accurate - they are combining 2/3 flights into 1 each day. If possible, check on the day of flying for your correct flight time. Also, their office in
Siem Reap has moved. It is now on Route 6 about 700m out of town towards the airport (opening times are as per the LP book).

Temples
As of 27 September (I think), the Cambodian government officially declared Banteay Srei safe for tourists. This means you don't need a special permit or armed guards to visit there. I went by moto and my driver had to pay US$3 in extra "fees" to the police for the area and the police for the temple itself. Still, at least it's less than the US$20 that the permit used to cost! I'd advise that you do visit Banteay Srei as the carving is very good there. However, it is about 40km from Siem Reap so if you combine it with other
temples, you'll probably do 100km+ on that day - on Cambodian roads, a moto can get quite uncomfortable over those distances!

Another thing I'd reccommend is Angkor Wat with a full moon. Last night was a full moon and it was very spectacular as it rose over the temple.

Money
There are now no banks open in Siem Reap on Sat morning. There are places near the market that will change money but nowhere for T/Cheques or Credit cards.
To be honest, you don't need to change money; just take lots of small US$. The Cambodian currency seems to be dollars and riel - if the change is less than 1 dollar, they'll give you riel in change but everyone uses dollars.

I thought Cambodia was very good and was very glad I went. It was starting to get busier with foreign tourists at the end of the week but the temples are still nowhere near as busy as they were in 1995/96 (apparently). This means that it is still possible to be the only person at a temple (particularly the temples outside the big 3).

This is some general info. If you have specific questions, please email me. I was a mid-range traveller so I can't give recommendations about cheap guesthouses or what the Grand Hotel d'Angkor is like! Graham

Malaysian Holidays, 1999
Hello !
I'm going to visit Malaysia in January/ February 1999. Perhaps you might be able to help me with the exact dates of the following festivals
a) Thaipussam
b) Chinese New Year
c) End of Ramadan.

Otherwise you may know better than i where to inquire these dates...
Thanks in advance,
Yours Christian

Mynmar Rangon
MONEY: you will get the best change for your dollars in the black market(try near the railway station and also near the MTT and bargain hard!).
(09/August/98) the black market exchange rate was $1=375kyat. If you don't like changing at the black market, you can go to the MTT and, in spite of the 5 kyats per dollar shown on the board, they will give you about 330 kyat (ask first). The rate for FEC in the black market is slightly lower. It's better to change in Rangoon. because in other places they will give you less.

WEATHER: It was warm and rainy in Yangon and the southwest, sometimes cloudy and warm in Inle Lake, slightly cold and rainy in Kalow, hot and slightly rainy in Mandalay and cloudy and definately hot in Bagan.