Awesome! Two great choices! The best way for you to see either or both of these places is with an Intrepid or Gap Adventures group. The groups are small and the trips are totally unique! You will be able to do more, see more and learn more about the places you are visiting. These trips give you the freedom that comes with not having to worry about transportation and accomidation! This is especially crucial when visiting lesser traveled to places like these.

On your Bhutan trip with Intrepid, you would also get to visit Nepal! If you headed to Burma with Gap, you will visit the villages in the countryside, see floating gardens, explore the ancient capital of Bagan.

Check out our website statravel.com for more info on these trips or give me a call 212-865-2700. I would love to talk to you about these awesome adventures. Plus, I can get you a good deal on airfare! I am totally jealous!!

waggs—way to step it up! You’ve obviously got the travel bug, that’s what I like to say.

Here’s the thing about Bhutan—I don’t think you can backpack around on your own (unless you are an Indian citizen). There are very tight visa restrictions and you have to be part of a tour and pay $200 per day. Intrepid does a tour in Bhutan as mentioned above, which will definitely be cool and laid back.

As for Myanmar, that’s a bit of a sticky situation because of the military dictatorship that is imprisoning the elected president – Aung San Suu Kyi.

Here’s what Lonely Planet has to say:

Reasons Not to Go:

>Aung San Suu Kyi has asked tourists not to
>The government used forced labour to ready tourist-related sights and services
>International tourism can be seen as a stamp of approval to the Myanmar government
>The government forbids travel to many areas, particularly in areas inhabited by minority groups
>It’s impossible to visit without some money going to the military junta
>Activists claim that tourism dollars fuel government repression directly

Reasons to Go:
>Tourism remains one of the few industries to which ordinary locals have access – in terms of income and communication
>The vast majority of locals want you there
>Human-rights abuses are less likely to occur in areas where the international community is present
>The government stopped forcing foreigners to change 200.00 into government notes upon arrival
>The majority (possibly over 80%) of a careful independent traveller’s expenses goes into the private sector
>Keeping the people isolated from international witnesses to internal oppression may only cement the government’s ability to rule.

If You Decide to Go:

In order to maximise the positive effects of a visit among the general populace, while minimising support of the government, follow these simple tactics: stay at private, locally owned hotels and guesthouses; avoid package tours connected with Myanmar Travel and Tours; avoid MTT-sponsored modes of transport, such as most Yangon-Mandalay Express trains, the MTT ferry between Mandalay and Bagan, and Myanmar Airways International (MAI) flights; buy handicrafts directly from the artisans, rather than from government shops; avoid patronising companies involved with the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings (companies with solid links to the Tatmadaw or armed forces are often called Myawadi or Myawaddy); write to the Myanmar government and to the Myanmar embassy in your country expressing your views about the human-rights situation there.

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So either place has a few issues that come along with going to them.

However, I don’t want to discourage you—please feel free to contact me with options on how to travel to those two places. It’s cool that you want to jump right in to adventure and new places. Might I offer other suggestions for exoticness – Indonesia, the Phillipines, South Korea, or India. Let me know what you think, I’d like to help!

Cheers – Francesca / 617-576-4623 / cam@statravel.com

Oops, I meant “You’ve obviously got the travel bug, that’s what I like to *hear.” Not say! :)