FAQ
Most frequent questions and answers
Driving in Myanmar is a challenging and risky undertaking. Local driving standards are poor because many drivers are not trained and do not adhere to normal road rules. Local vehicles are not well maintained, may have bald tyres and many would not be roadworthy by the standards of your own country. Roads often are potholed, broken up or are only gravel and dirt. Due to its very nature, the risk of accident and personal injury to you is significantly higher than normal.
You will also have to contend with lifestyles and cultures that are very different from your own. You must come prepared to cope with unpredictable situations, local inadequacies and unforeseeable events. Even with our detailed organization, things can go wrong. Many places where we travel do not have the same infrastructure or health & safety standards as those in Western Europe or North America. It is your responsibility to read your own country’s government advice and warnings for each area that we visit and be satisfied that you are prepared to travel there.
The enjoyment and excitement of adventure travel is derived in the part from the inherent risks incurred by driving through the less well developed countries/regions listed on the itineraries and undertaking activities beyond the levels of safety normal at home or at work. Therefore, our expeditions are not suitable for people who expect to be indulged or demand for everything to go exactly as planned. For your own interest, and that of your fellow participants, please do not book an expedition if the above is not acceptable to you.
Myanmar Caravan Tour proudly offer two types of Expeditions – Group Expeditions and Tailor Made Holidays. Group Expeditions are fixed departures where we take a convoy of vehicles that is always led by at least one support vehicle and 2 crew members. For a bigger convoy, we provide a lead and a sweep vehicle. Tailor Made Holidays are those where you travel on your own. For such journeys, we make all necessary travel arrangements including hotel bookings, excursions and also provide satellite support in case you get stuck on route.
If you are interested in joining us .There are a selections of tour packages including India Myanmar Border Cross Tour , Thailand Myanmar Border Cross Tour and China Myanmar Border Cross Tour .
Drivers must be a minimum of 21 years of age. We expect you to be a confident and competent driver, with plenty of driving experience. You should normally have held your driver’s license for a minimum of two years. Please also note that all of our expeditions include sections of gravel or dirt roads, as stated in the Expedition Summary. We never travel off road; it is simply that there are sections where the road is not paved.
Our expeditions call for all participants to be good team players, who are flexible and adaptable when things do not go as planned and will muck in as requested by the Expedition Leader. Self sufficiency is important and being able to manage yourself – your wellbeing, hygiene & health – is vital, together with having a good sense of humor. Overland travel can be challenging and bring up the most unexpected of situations. This means that you will all be expected to work together as a team to resolve any problems we may encounter, but always subject to the authority of the Expedition Leader.
Yes you can! However, if you are bringing your own vehicle, it must be pre-approved by us to ensure that is suitable for your chosen Expedition. Also, you must be the legal owner of the vehicle or have written authority from the vehicle owner, with the requisite paperwork showing ownership. You must also ensure that your vehicle has appropriate luggage space that is capable of carrying your personal belongings for the whole journey.
Whilst there is no restriction on what brand of vehicle you can bring, your vehicle must be capable of riding on and off road and be in a good working order to prevent any unnecessary hold-ups on the road.
Of course, we would love to! Myanmar Caravan Tour can hire you a vehicle for your chosen expedition. Our rates are per day from the official start date to the official end date of the expedition. All our vehicles are shipped out to the start of an expedition (if applicable) and freighted back at the end. The freight is included in the price you pay for the expedition.
To hire a vehicle you must be a minimum of 25 years old, hold a full valid driver’s license and not be excluded from being able to obtain third party insurance for all countries where it is a legal requirement to have it in place. Hirers must also be able to demonstrate previous driving experience on vehicles of a similar size. All hire vehicles are subject to separate terms and conditions and an additional hire agreement must be signed by the driver.
GPS and Radio Set the duration of the Expedition
• Hotel or home stay accommodation with breakfast and dinner from the official start date to official end date
• Group freight of your vehicle from our operation team to the official start point (if applicable) and from the official finish point back to our operation team .
• In transit vehicle insurance, during freight.
• Assistance with all documentation relating to taking the vehicle abroad (insurance, airway bills or bills of lading, dangerous goods, carnet de passage, International Driving Permit “IDP”).
• Any local guides travelling with our group, acting as translators and facilitating our route through some (not all) countries, but not local guides relating to other optional activities or sight-seeing that you may decide to do whilst on the expedition.
• A support vehicle to lead the group and assist in case of breakdown or other emergency, equipped with satellite phone, spare fuel, water, tools, selected spare parts and emergency first aid kit. (only for Organised group Expeditions)
• Some group evening meals.
• All en route ferry crossings..
• Myanmar Caravan Tour souvenirs and stickers.
Where we show an expedition as hotel based, our prices are for breakfast and dinner accommodation on a shared basis (normally double occupancy, but on some occasions, greater numbers may need to share). Single supplements are available but there are certain occasions where sharing will still be necessary. You must request a single supplement as early as possible as it is subject to local availability.
The hotels that we use vary in their facilities depending on their location, but for the majority of occasions (although not all) are good mid range hotels that include en suite bathroom facilities and often satellite television. The key ingredients are security for the vehicle, cleanliness, safety, comfort and location. Sometimes we may stay in an isolated area, a bunkhouse on the edge of a remote border crossing, or in a small family run hostel; other times in a modern 4-star hotel. However, you need to understand that hotel standards in most of the countries that we travel through are not the equivalent to those of Western Europe and North America.
We are able to book rooms in the group hotel for you before the official start date and after the official end date of your expedition, subject to local availability. Please request accommodation at least two (2) months prior to arrival.
Included within your price are all breakfasts and some group evening meals.
You must hold a full passport that is valid for at least six months after the end of your chosen expedition and has sufficient pages for visas (if applicable) and all country entry and exit stamps. We will guide you through the process of obtaining documentation for your vehicle. You must have the registration document for your vehicle, which is in your name and shows your current address.
You must also have a valid driving license and International Driving Permit (if applicable) and the name shown must be the same as your passport details.
Thereafter, we will advise you on how to obtain the additional documentation required for driving your vehicle overseas (for example international driving license, carnet de passage, local motorcycle insurance, where available). You are personally responsible for your documentation at all times. Any loss of documents whilst on the expedition can cause significant disruption to you. All direct and indirect costs of replacing documents are your responsibility. In extreme circumstances, you may need to temporarily leave the expedition to organize replacements. Whilst we will use all reasonable efforts to assist you, we cannot delay the expedition schedule, nor can we allocate a dedicated team member simply to accompany you whilst you organize replacements.
Vaccination requirements do change regularly. We strongly advise you to consult your doctor or specialist travel vaccination clinic and obtain the recommended vaccinations. Whilst we carry an expedition first aid kit with us, you must bring your own personal travel medical kit. If you have a pre-existing medical condition, you must inform us of this and also have written confirmation from you travel insurers that the condition is covered. If you take any prescription drugs then you must ensure that you have a sufficient supply with you (including contingency supply in case of loss), kept in their original bottles/container, together with a signed letter from your doctor.
It is a pre-condition for booking that you have comprehensive travel insurance, including coverage for driving a vehicle of the appropriate engine size. If you cannot prove that you have insurance, you will not be allowed on an expedition. You must ensure that you have a policy designed for adventure travel that will cover you for personal accident, medical and repatriation costs, loss, damage and theft of personal belongings and for cancellation or curtailment.
We can assist you with your passenger flight reservations. Please remember to take into account the potential for the late arrival of the itinerary and ensure that your return flight makes contingency for this. We strongly recommend that you book a ticket that allows you to change your return date if necessary.
For expeditions where passengers have a domestic or international flight as part of the expedition route, we facilitate this locally for you through a block booking.
The support team will comprise of at least 2 members responsible for the support vehicle and providing mechanical assistance. Whilst on the expedition, your Expedition Leader will have to make many decisions regarding the day to day operation of the expedition and also when unforeseen matters occur. When decisions are being taken, this will be done on the basis of what is judged to be best for the group given all the known circumstances at the time and not to suit any particular individual. All participants must respect the decisions taken by the leader and acknowledge that on an expedition such as this, an element of compromise is necessary to ensure that the trip runs smoothly.
For all our expeditions, we will have a dedicated Myanmar Caravan Tour support vehicle. The main purpose of the support vehicle will be to provide assistance to the group in the event of a breakdown or other emergency. From time to time, the support vehicle may not be with the main group if there has been an emergency incident or other unforeseen event and it is being used to assist the vehicle involved.
The support vehicle will carry some emergency equipment including some tyres, fuel, spare parts, an emergency medical kit and water. Participants must be able to carry all their own personal belongings in their own vehicles. The support vehicle follows the official expedition route and cannot provide support to individual participants who decide to take any alternative routes.
Prior to starting any expedition in your own vehicle, it must have had a full service and new tyres fitted. For expeditions which are more than 5000 km, we will organize service points (official vehicle dealers will not always be available) and for your vehicle to fit in with the expedition schedule and the requirements of the group as a whole.
The cost of the actual service, repair, tyre change etc will be your responsibility. You should also note that obtaining official manufacturer parts can be difficult or very expensive to obtain in certain countries and it is advisable to have basic service parts with you.
For shorter expeditions, having had a full service at the start of the expedition, there is no need to schedule any formal vehicle servicing points en route.
For expeditions of two weeks or less, we require a minimum of 8 participants and 4 vehicles to go ahead. For all other expeditions, we require a minimum of 10 participants and 5 vehicles to go ahead.
For all expeditions we try to run with no more than 16 participants and 8 vehicles and this may be lower for tougher expeditions.
In order to book an expedition, please complete the reservation form included on our website at www.myanmarcaravantour.com and forward Myanmar Caravan Tour with the required deposit. You will also be required to sign a release and waiver form. Myanmar Caravan Tour reserves the right to contact you through telephone or meeting prior to accepting any bookings, as well as being satisfied with your driving experience and type of vehicle. Myanmar Caravan Tour has total discretion as to whether your application is accepted, without any right of reply.
Your deposit is non-refundable, irrespective of personal circumstances, and so we strongly advise you to take out appropriate travel insurance immediately on booking in case you are unable to travel due to any accident, illness or bereavement to you or your family or travelling companions. We are only able to accept payments by electronic bank transfer; this keeps our costs down and therefore our prices because we do not have to factor in the merchant fee for credit card transactions.
Travellers can travel freely travel overland on their choice of transport to and from Thai borders, except for Tachileik/ Mai Sai Thai border. Travelers do not need a MTT permission to arrive or depart Tachileik border so long as they travel to and from the border via air, there are flights between Tachileik and mainland Myanmar (Heho/ Mandalay/ Yangon). However MTT permission is required to travel overland between Taunggyi and Tachileik on a privately hired car, with or without the accompany of a licensed tour guide. It is not possible to travel overland on a public transport between Taunggyi and Tachileik at this moment. Although this may change in the future.
China Border (Muse/ Jaegao-Ruili) and Indian Border (Tamu/ Moreh):
If arriving in Myanmar via above border ports, clients require a MTT permission letter and a licensed tour guide to receive the clients at the border gate. As per recent changes, escorted private transfer by the tour guide is not a compulsory requirement anymore. Travellers can take public transports, coaches, shared taxis and privately hired cars. Travellers can travel to the main land with or without the accompany of the guide.As per recent changes, travelers no longer require MTT permit to depart Myanmar via above border ports.
Entry clearance may varies, it usually takes about 10-15 minutes. However, there are a few cases when the entry clearance took up to a few hours. Exit clearance are usually quicker.For entry clearance with MTT permission at China or India borders, the assisting guide will present all the paper work to the border port in advanced before your planned arrival time. After the immigration and Custom clearances, the guide can also help with organising transports etc whether you travel to the main land with them or not.
We suggest that you arrive as early as possible at the border port, between 8:30 and 9:30 AM. Below are the estimated driving time between destinations. Please note that bigger vehicles may take longer.
