Budget For Myanmar (Burma) Backpackers

Cheap Food On The Streets Of Mandalay. Budget For Myanmar
Cheap food on the streets of Mandalay.

Our Daily Breakdown Of A Backpacker’s Budget For Myanmar (Burma)

We tried to keep a pretty strict budget for Myanmar while we were travelling there for nearly a month. It quickly became one of our all-time favourite countries we have ever visited. It often gets ignored by travellers who are afraid of the difficulties of travelling in Burma, as well as concerns about the average cost. Here is a complete breakdown of our budget for Myanmar, how we spent our money and where.

Note: This is by no means an absolute ‘shoe-string’ budget. We drank when we wanted to, did the activities that most interested us (trekking, Inle Lake boat tour, etc) and were also in the country during the Thingyan festival which increased our costs. You could definitely get by spending a bit less if you truly wanted to be tight on your money. The Burmese Kyat is around 1000 to US$1.

Stats Of Our Budget For Myanmar

  • Amount of days in the country: 24
  • Number of people: 2
  • Total cost: $1,228 AUD (Including visa- $55 – $27.50 each)
  • Spending (not including visa): $1,173
  • Average per day: $49 ($24.50 per person per day)

Breakdown Of How We Spent Our Money

[visualizer id=”1225″]

  • Accommodation – $434 (average $18 a night or $9 each)
  • Food – $188
  • Drink – $104
  • Transport – $240
  • Attractions – $198
  • Misc – $9
  • TOTAL = $ 1,173

AVERAGE DAILY BREAKDOWN FOR 2 PEOPLE

  • We tried to stay in places that included breakfast. Only our accommodation in Yangon didn’t include this.
  • We would only have 2 meals a day, plus snacks (juices, fruit, etc).
  • We have not included transport in these daily budget breakdowns, but have included activities.
  • This is not our total spendings for everyday in each city. Just what an average day could cost in each place.

BAGAN

ITEM
Kyat
US$
Accommodation – Double, shared bathroom, A/C20’00020
Rent Bikes- 1,500 each3’0003
Water (6 pack)1’5001.50
Lychee Juice (300 each)6000.60
Ice cream (300 each)6000.60
Fried rice with vegetable & pineapple1’5001.50
Fried noodle with vegetable1’5001.50
Mango juice1’0001.00
Watermelon juice1’0001.00
Chicken masala + rice2’5002.50
Sweet and sour vegetable + rice2’5002.50
Beer on tap (3 each @ 600)3’6003.60
TOTAL39’300$39.30

There is a US$15 entrance fee to the ancient city of Bagan although this can be avoided.

The Temples Of Bagan. Budget For Myanmar
The temples of Bagan.

MANDALAY

ITEM
Kyat
US$
Accommodation – Double, private bathroom, A/C20’00020.00
Hire a scooter plus fuel14’00014.00
Water (4 bottles)1’2001.20
Fried noodles with vegetable1’5001.50
Large bottle of beer2’0002.00
Chicken biryani2’0002.00
Chapalti (400 each)8000.80
Chicken curry (small portion)8000.80
Lamb curry (small portion)8000.80
Strawberry smoothie (1000 each)2’0002.00
TOTAL41100$41.10
U-Bein Bridge In Mandalay. Budget For Myanmar
U-Bein bridge in Mandalay.

YANGON

ITEM
Kyat
US$
Accommodation – Double, shared bathroom, A/C12’00012.00
Breakfast (1500 each)3’0003.00
Vegetable biryani with rice2’5002.50
Coconut vegetable rice1’5001.50
Corn (2 for 500)5000.50
Strawberries (3 punnets for 500)5000.50
Sugarcane juice (300 each)6000.60
Entry into Pagodas  
Sula (3000 each)6’0006.00
Shwedagon (8000 each)16’00016
Taxi home3’0003
TOTAL45600$45.60
Shwedagon Pagoda In Yangon. Budget For Myanmar
Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon

INLE LAKE

ITEM
Kyat
US$
Accommodation – Double, private bathroom, fan20’00020.00
Boat tour (20,000 split between 5 people)8’0008.00
Water (6 pack)1’5001.50
Coffee and snack2’0002.00
Mango lassi1’5001.50
Fresh ginger tea – pot1’0001.00
Tea salad with rice1’5001.50
Chicken curry with rice2’5002.50
Large bottle beer1’8001.80
Chocolate (300 each)6000.60
TOTAL40’400$40.40

There is also a US$10 entry fee to the Inle Lake region

Trekking

A 3 day trek from Kalaw to Inle Lake cost us AU$48 each including guide, food, accommodation and drinks.

A Fisherman On Inle Lake. Budget For Myanmar
A fisherman on Inle Lake.

KALAW

ITEM
Kyat
US$
Accommodation – Double, private bathroom14’00014.00
Water (6 pack)1’5001.50
Ginger salad with rice1’5001.50
Chicken vegetable curry with rice2’5002.50
Fresh orange juice1’0001.00
Sweets from bakery2’0002.00
Coffee/tea6000.60
Samosa (3 for 200)6000.60
TOTAL23’700$23.70
The View Of Kalaw Just Outside Of Town. Budget For Myanmar
The view of Kalaw just outside of town.

HSIPAW

ITEM
Kyat
US$
Accommodation – Double, shared bathroom, fan10’00010.00
Fruit shake (800 each)1’6001.60
Sweet and sour vegetable with rice2’0002.00
Spicy and sour chicken with rice2’5002.50
Beer on tap (3 each @ 600)3’6003.60
Water (6 pack)1’5001.50
Cookies1’2001.20
TOTAL22’400$22.40
 Trekking

A 2 day trek to visit a hill tribe village cost us AU$21 each including guide, food, accommodation and drinks.

Farmland In Hsipaw. Budget For Myanmar
Farmland in Hsipaw.

[box type=”info” size=”large” style=”rounded” border=”full”]If you have any questions or tips, please leave a comment below.[/box]

Alesha and Jarryd

Alesha and Jarryd

Hey! We are Alesha and Jarryd, the award-winning writers and professional photographers behind this blog. We have been travelling the world together since 2008, with a passion for adventure travel and sustainable tourism. Through our stories and images we promote exciting off-the-beaten-path destinations and fascinating cultures as we go. As one of the world's leading travel journalists, our content and adventures have been featured by National Geographic, Lonely Planet, CNN, BBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, Channel 7, Channel 10, ABC, The Guardian, and plenty other publications. Follow our journey in real time on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

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20 thoughts on “Budget For Myanmar (Burma) Backpackers”

  1. I’m amazed at how you got all of these together! Great job! I’ve been to Myanmar and it was beautiful, I wanna go back and reading through your article gives me ideas on things I can improve for my next visit!

    • It is a beautiful country. We would love to head back too one day. Thanks for your comment Angess. Happy travels and we hope you get back soon. 🙂

  2. Great post. So hard to find a blog that’s so informative towards a budget breakdown. I will be in Myanmar next week. Been planning this trip for what seems like an eternity.

    • Thank you so much. All the best and we hope you had a great trip. 🙂

  3. You guys managed to actually spend a reasonable amount! I don’t know how you kept up to date with your expenses – I always forget!

    • We were really strict for about a year and then slacked off. It is usually Alesha that records everything. She is good at that. 🙂

  4. Interesting cost breakdown. I wish I’d read this before I went. My wife and I travelled Myanmar last month. We got caught out in Yangon because it was Independence Day and we hadn’t booked in advance. Ended up paying 70USD per night.
    Apart from that our costs were pretty similar to these.
    Loving the photos by the way.
    Pete

    • Thank you so much. Sorry about the very late reply. It can get expensive. There is so much information out there now on Myanmar and it is now apart of the Southeast Asia “Banana Pancake” trail. We are glad you had a great time in Myanmar. 🙂

  5. Excellent budget breakdown. thank you very much for some superb work.

    🙂

    • Thank you so much Steve. Happy travels

  6. hey very nice info. Thanks for being detailed. May I ask how did you arrange trips going out of myanmar?

    • Hey Ray. Thanks for reading. We just organised everything as we went along. We didn’t really pre-book anything. Now that the country has opened up for tourism it is quite easy to just book transport, accommodation and tours from inside the country as you go.

  7. Hi,
    Thanks for the post and it helps me a lot for preparing my trip to Myanmar.

    I am travelling Myanmar from early November for about 2 weeks, and could you tell me where you stayed (the name of backpackers or hostels) in Yangon, Bagan, Mandalay and Inle lake?

    Brian

  8. This is great! I am going out to Kalaw in October for 2 months — and this is exactly the sort of info I need.

    • That’s awesome Maggie. What will you be doing in Kalaw during that time?

  9. Guys this is so great that you put down all the prices. I was looking for something like this for hours. Thank you so much.

    • No worries, Wesley. Glad you found this article useful! Let us know if you are after any other advice for Myanmar!

  10. This is an excellent and detailed breakdown of your expenses in Myanmar dudes and shows how much work you are putting into your blogging, and what an excellent service you are providing to other travellers. Keep up the good work, and thanks for reminding me to spend more time keeping track of my own expenses haha.
    Duncan

    • Thanks very much Duncan. Appreciate the kind words. Hopefully this will give other backpackers an idea of the costs of travelling in Myanmar and can help create their own budget, or at least be know what to expect. Only problem with keeping track of your expenses is the shock at what you end up spending, haha. Cheers mate.

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