India – Myanmar – Thailand

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.

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.

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.

In order to proceed the permission application of Myanmar Border Crossing, clients are requested to provide the following documents and detail information as well .
1. A clear and good quality scanned copy of applicant passport; front cover page and bio-data/ photo page.
2. Planned Itinerary in Myanmar (please provide exact itinerary if possible, applicants must arrive or depart Myanmar on the date specified on the application, it is complicated and costs extra to make changes).
3. Below personal details:
a) Full Name as appear in passport
b) Passport Number
c) Passport Issue Date
d) Passport Expiry Date
e) Place of Issue
f) Issuing Authority
g) Nationality
h) Date of Birth
i) Place of Birth
j) Gender
k) Occupation
l) Detail Itineraries/ Details of the Tour Plan in Myanmar
If you are bringing your foreign registered vehicle, you also need to submit below documents along with the above. MTT may ask for more documents during the application.
1. Vehicle registration (e.g. V5 Form for UK Registered Cars)
2. Vehicle details (Make, Model, Engine Power, Weight)
3. Good quality colour photograph of the vehicle from all 4 sites.
4. Valid driver licenses of all drivers

In order to get the best and exact prices of Border Crossing Tour , you are kindly advised to provide the following information by the time of your inquiring us .
• Number of people in the booking
• Your tentative itinerary especially arrival and departure dates
• Border ports of entry or exit or both, with onward location or start point
• If you are bringing your own vehicle, the number of spare seat(s) on your vehicle.

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.

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 organizing 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.

Payments and Cancellations Policies
A deposit of 30% of tour value per person by bank transfer or online payment is required upon confirmation Once deposit is received it is understood that you have read, understood and accepted all our terms and conditions.
Balance payment of 70% of tour value person per person is required minimum 50 days prior to tour departure date.
Notes:
• Bookings made within 50 days of scheduled departure require full payment upon confirmation of your booking .

Prices are not guaranteed until payment has been made in full and documents have been processed and issued to you.
Failure to pay in full by the due date may result in the automatic cancelation of your booking without refund of deposit paid.

Cancellation polices
The date of cancellation shall be deemed to be the date (Monday – Friday) on which the written notification is received in the Myanmar Border Cross Tour offices which issued the confirmation.

• 70 days or more prior to departure , 10% of the deposit will be forfeited
• 55 – 50 days prior to departure, 30% of the tour cost will be forfeited.
• 30 days or less prior to departure, 70% of the tour cost will be forfeited.
• 15 days or less prior to departure100% of the tour cost will be forfeited