Southeast Asia | On My Canvas

Myanmar Visa for Indians – A Complete Guide

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This guide to the Myanmar visa for Indians lists all the possible Myanmar tourist visa options for Indian citizens — Myanmar visa on arrival for Indians, Myanmar e visa for Indians, and the regular Myanmar travel visa from the Myanmar embassy in Delhi.

I had booked a flight to Guwahati and, then from there, I was to enter into Burma by land (always my preferable travel option) via the Moreh (Manipur)/Tamu (Myanmar) border.

But my Northeast India and overlanding into Burma plan was disheveled by the protests in Guwahati. Land travel was impossible under the given conditions, and I canceled my flight ticket and a stay in the Maujuli island, the disappearing land of the east.

As I booked a flight to Yangon, I decided to apply for a Myanmar online visa (evisa) to be assured instead of depending on a visa on arrival as the trip already seemed to be jinxed. Also, I didn’t want to wait in queue for long at the Yangon international airport.

music+festival+penang+malaysia+southeast+asia

Update 2024: Malaysia reopened its international borders on 1 April 2022. Get Malaysian government’s complete rules for travelers planning to visit Malaysia on the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tourism website. I’ve also listed down the guidelines and compliances in this article on Kinabatangan River Wildlife Sanctuary. My guide to Malaysia visa is recommended, too.

What to do in Penang in 3 days

Introduction to Penang

After a short walk under the bright sun from the bus stand to my guesthouse in Georgetown at Lebuh Carnarvon, I put my bags in my room and went out for a stroll. For those who don’t know, Georgetown is the capital of Penang state or the Penang island.

I was famished after a long bus drive from Taman Negara, and Carnarvon street seemed like the right place to be. Little did I know that soon I was to be lost in the labyrinth of the streets of Penang flaunting exquisite art and some delicious Penang food.

The streets seemed empty, and I wondered if there were any tourists. A friend had questioned my Malaysia trip by saying that the only thing to see in Malaysia was Penang.

Update 2024: Malaysia reopened its international borders on 1 April 2022. Get Malaysian government’s complete rules for travelers planning to visit Malaysia on the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tourism website. I’ve also listed down the guidelines and compliances in this article on Kinabatangan river sanctuary. My guide to Malaysia e-visa for Indian citizens is recommended, too. What does …

boy+and+girl+reaching+up+cat+looking+street+art+penang+malaysia

Update Jan 2024: Malaysia reopened its international borders on 1 April 2022. Get Malaysian government’s complete rules for travelers planning to visit Malaysia on the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tourism website. I’ve also listed down the guidelines and compliances in this article on Kinabatangan river wildlife. My guide to Malaysia visa for Indians is recommended, …

kinabatangan+river+sukau+village+homestay+sabah+borneo

Update 2024: Malaysia opened its international borders on 1 April 2024. You can check out Malaysia’s official travel website before heading there. My guide to Malaysia e-visa for Indians will be helpful in planning a trip there.

An Adventure to the Kinabatangan River in Sabah, Borneo

Once upon a time, there was a long river muddy,
Along the bank of the river lived the mama elephant Lily,
On the top of a Jamun tree lived a monkey funky with a long nosey,
A naughty crocodile waited under the tree to see the monkey fall loosey.

A talkative hornbill nested in the tree,
While her friend the orange orangutan visited her often for tea,
The village children played on the riverbank every day,
while their mothers shouted to them come home, otherwise the monkey will take you away.

If you hadn’t guessed, this is a story inspired by real characters. I wrote it on the Kinabatangan river cruise in Sabah, Borneo, while on my month-long trip to Malaysia.

malaysian+muslim+lady+music+sukau+kinabatangan+borneo+malaysia

Update 2024: Malaysia reopened its international borders on 1 April 2022. Get Malaysian government’s complete rules for travelers planning to visit Malaysia on the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tourism website. I’ve also listed down the guidelines and compliances in this article on Kinabatangan river. My guide to Malaysia e-visa for Indians is recommended, too. My …

Ubud temple feature image for bali visa for indians

Covid Update Jan 2024: Indonesia is now open for all travelers. As per the latest regulations, visitors do not need COVID-19 vaccine certifications either. Do check the official tourism website of Indonesia at the time of travel for the most recent updates. The beautiful pictures of Bali and other islands of Indonesia that I had …

Update 2024: Malaysia reopened its international borders on 1 April 2022. Get Malaysian government’s complete rules for travelers planning to visit Malaysia on the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tourism website. I’ve also listed down the guidelines and compliances in this article on Kinabatangan river. My guide to Malaysia e-visa for Indians is recommended, too.

When I traveled to Southeast Asia this year, I knew that I would visit Indonesia, but I didn’t know where I would go from there. I zoomed out of the Asia map and turned the globe around to understand which countries were green and gave a visa on arrival or an e-visa.

The closest country to Indonesia was Malaysia, and its green footprint on the map captured my attention. Also, I am always excited to visit the less-popular places, and Malaysia is one of them. If you are planning to visit Malaysia now, you are lucky as you will see it before the country is flooded with tourists. I went to Malaysia in October, and sometimes I was the only one in a room in the entire hotel or the only one camping amongst hundred empty tents.

When I first traveled to Malaysia in 2012 for two days, my friends and I drove in and out of the Malaysia-Singapore border five times due to some immigration problems. Back then I had applied for a Malaysia visa via an agent; in those days I was not so rigid about I-will-plan-all-my-travel-myself.

This year when I googled about Malaysia visa, I found out that Malaysia now gives an eVisa to Indians which is valid for three months, and you can travel within Malaysia for thirty days on that eVisa.

Happy as a girl who had just discovered ice cream, I applied for the eVisa for Malaysia within a few hours. The next day my visa was approved.

molten golden sunset nusa penida island bali

Covid Update Jan 2024: Indonesia is now open for all travelers.

Irrespective of from where and with whom you watch a sunset, each sunset is of its own kind and is perfect in its own way.

I witnessed the golden beauty submerging in the Indian ocean from the island of Nusa Penida, near Bali, and in the zen state that followed, I wrote this piece of writing which I am publishing here (with some editing).

The Glorious Sunset on Nusa Penida Island, Indonesia

priyanka gupta solo traveler on nyangnyang beach bali

Covid Update Jan 2024: Indonesia is now open for all travelers.

Nyangnyang Beach Bali – One of the Best Beaches on the Island

We descended the stairs on the hill shadowing the Nyang Nyang beach. And all we could see was the turquoise Nyang Nyang rolling ahead of us into infinity.

Covid Update January 2024: Indonesia is now open for all travelers.

My Best Things to do in Bali

Bali has been a relief from the chaos of the overcrowded and the ever-rushing world. Though I had heard really touristy things about Bali, I love the place.

I have spent most of my twenty days in Ubud, old Bali with a modern twist, a village called Laplapan, which is close to Ubud, and also biking my way to far away floating temples, hidden beaches, and rice fields whose pictures were able to enchant me enough.

Before I came here, I thought Bali would be a tourist jungle packed with hotels, restaurants, tour shops, yoga centers, and bike rental shops, along with some greenery. But Ubud and Bali are places that have all these things and also have artistic temples the Balinese people visit daily, lush paddy fields in the heart of the island, cute ducks wobbling around in open pastures, deserted turquoise beaches (such as Nyangnyang beach), hidden jungles, a cool river cutting through the middle of Ubud, splashing waterfalls, a colorful underwater world, and all with the backdrop of a gaping volcano. I have captured my first glimpses of Bali and some travel tips for the island in the linked post.

Covid Update January 2024: Indonesia is now open for all travelers.

Travel Tips for Bali: Collected From My One-Month Journey

I write this piece while sitting on the balcony of a beautiful Balinese home, with a lush green garden, with the blooming frangipani canopying over the sunlit courtyard and its tiny temple, and with towering palm and coconut trees swaying in the distance. And as I listen to the water falling over an artistic fountain while drinking tea, I know that there is nowhere else I would want to be in this moment.

Having been in Bali for ten days, my wanderlust soul and ever-wandering eyes have experienced and seen a lot.

Update January 2024: I also have a complete travel guide for Bali and a guide on Bali Visa on Arrival – For Indians and Others.)