Update January 2018: Please read the last comments for detail. The border crossing for foreigners is now only accessible with a complete tour booked for Myanmar. If you have any updated information, please let us know as this page gets quite a lot of traffic, so we can let everyone know! Update January 2017: 1. Dimapur (Nagaland) to Imphal (Manipur) transport can be difficult to organise. Shared cars for 1500IDR may be your only option as government buses have had political trouble. 2. Myanmar government changed border requirement that you need to pay for a two-way crossing, even if you only cross once. This costs USD160 With India committed to developing tourism in the North-Eastern states (hello living tree-root bridges and hill-tribes) and Myanmar looking to uphold its cooly-undiscovered-but-totally-discovered image for at least another few years, it’s natural that the passage between the two is going to develop rapidly. Follow the official websites and guidebooks and you’d be left scratching your head wondering how to cross between the two by land. If it wasn’t for travel bloggers out there, we’d think it wasn’t possible. It is possible. And it’s easy with a bit of planning. Most articles we’ve read have shown how to cross from Myanmar into India, so we’re adding to the pool of knowledge out there with our experience doing it from India to Myanmar. And we did it on a Sunday - so there were a few extra steps. Click 'Read More' below to find out how! THE ESSENTIALS
WHAT YOU NEED A Myanmar visa in your passport. We got our visa in Kathmandu, Nepal and it was easy - just a form, photos and payment in crispy, fresh U.S. dollars. We heard from some travellers that the Calcutta embassy was being difficult. Don’t even think of getting your visa ‘on arrival’ at the border. A permit for that area of Myanmar. They take about 3 weeks to arrange, so plan this accordingly. We went with Exotic Myanmar Travel ([email protected]), who charged us USD90 per person, and took exactly 3 weeks to arrive. You need to tell them the exact date you’re crossing. The permit itself was emailed to us and only had one name on it - it’s more of a formality than an official document. We printed it in Imphal (highly recommended!) Photocopies. The Myanmar border guys asked for a copy of our passport and Myanmar visa. It makes them happy. HOW TO GET FROM IMPHAL TO MOREH Imphal is the capital of the Indian state of Manipur (you don’t need a permit to visit). As Christmas had just finished (a huge percentage of the population is Christian), the city was in holiday mode, with no shared taxis going to Moreh. We went to the shared taxi area anyway at around 9am (see map below for location), and ended up paying a driver for the whole journey. It wasn’t cheap - INR3000/GBP30/USD45. But it’s a windy 3-hour drive, so fair enough. Update: Local shared taxi price should be INR500, local price each. The drive gets very scenic, and the road is surprisingly good for most of the journey. Every town had army checkpoints, but it wasn’t until we went past a few Assam Rifles army bases that we had to stop and register at two checkpoints. The guards seemed as surprised to see us tourists as we were of them. WHAT’S MOREH LIKE AS A TOWN? It probably won’t be the highlight of your trip around India. We arrived in the early afternoon, getting dropped off on the main road at the dismal De Khunai Resort (INR500/5GBP/USD7.5 per room) at the suggestion of our taxi driver. There are hotels lined up next to each other, and each one looks as dilapidated as the next. If you’ve been travelling through India for a while, you probably have an idea what it’s like. Since Manipur is officially a ‘dry’ state, our guess is that locals head to the border to drink heavily and let loose - Moreh is far from prying eyes, after all. We were woken up at all hours of the night by drunken revellers... CROSSING OVER ON A SUNDAY Up bright and early, we cranked some music as we packed and walked the 1km or so through town to the Friendship Gate. Only we were waved away. Perhaps this isn’t the one for foreigners, or perhaps it was closed for foreigners on a Sunday. Either way, we took one of the dozens of rickshaws (INR30/GBP0.30/USD0.45) to a different crossing about 2km’s away. The friendly guard slung his machine gun over his arm, inspected our passports and confirmed what the huge sign said - the border was closed on Sunday. But with an assurance that the border was open from our Myanmar permit, it seemed that ‘closed’ is just a formality. Step 1: Get an exit stamp We left our bags at the checkpoint (good security, guys) and walked 1km back along the road and found the immigration office. It’s opposite the Police compound, where a traffic controller waves his stick angrily at drivers ignoring the ‘don’t drive along this road’ sign. We were pointed to a few different areas, before sitting at a shaded table where a tired and bored official finally turned up with his immigration briefcase, checked that we had permission to cross the border (he couldn’t read the Burmese letter), and stamped our passports. Woohoo! Step 2: Get customs clearance Across the road was another little compound with shabby buildings. We waited for another tired and bored official to finish brushing his teeth, before he sat down to write down our details on a blank A4 page. We told him how many bags we had, and that was it. We didn’t get any confirmation of the process and no checking of our bags (which were back at the checkpoint anyway). We probably didn’t even need to do this. Step 3: Back to the border We grabbed some snacks on the way back, the army guys checked our exit stamps and waved us through. Further down the road we passed the closed immigration office, so our guess is that normally we’d just be waved through to do the formalities there. ‘No Mans Land’ between the borders was an easy kilometre-long walk. Step 4: To Myanmar and beyond! We crossed the short bridge over the river, and promptly lost 1 hour on our clocks. There’s a barrier here, and the guys waved us through to a small hut up some precarious stairs to our left. Here’s where we presented our permit letter: the guy there called a representative from the permit agency, who arrived on his scooter 5 minutes later. We handed over photocopies of our passports and Myanmar visa, while they creepily took photos of our documents on their mobile phones as well. Given that everyone’s casually dressed and music is blaring from mobile phones, it’s all rather informal. With a quick ‘ok’ through betel-nut stained teeth, we went back down to the checkpoint, had our passports checked for the umpteenth time that day and hurrah - Welcome to Myanmar! NOW WE’RE IN TAMU. WHAT NEXT? It’s another 2km or so walk into Tamu itself, but it doesn’t really have a centre like Moreh, instead it’s spread along the amazingly well-paved ‘Friendship Highway’. The walk feels long and in retrospect we would have liked to have our ‘border permit helper’ arrange a taxi. There isn’t any transport waiting for you on the other side. Not that we had any Burmese Kyat anyway. WHERE TO GET MONEY There is no official exchange, and the banks are closed on the weekends. In fact, we were told the ATM’s are turned off on the weekends, so we were out of luck. Seriously - there’s nothing in Tamu to help your arrival. We only had a USD20 note and about IND3000. You’d do well to cross this border with more than this. We walked down the road, hoping to reach a bus station. The people here are genuinely friendly and helpful - and kept pointing us further down the highway. Eventually a rickshaw driver drove us a minute further up the road for free. If he only knew how much that small gesture meant to us. AT THE BUS STATION Further along the main highway, you’d be forgiven for missing the bus station (or whatever you want to call it). There is no English-language signage, and we still don’t know how it all works. We presume there are two different long-distance bus companies operating from different sides of the road. We picked one, and with a lot of finger-pointing and broken English, we realised there was a 12-seater van heading to Mandalay at 1:30pm. The lady at the desk pointed us to a hotel across the road - probably the only one in town - that would exchange our U.S. Dollars and Indian Rupees. Their rate for both currencies was actually really good - better than if we had withdrawn the same amount from an ATM (using xe.com rates) and incurred the regular bank fees to go with it. ONWARDS TO MANDALAY The Mandalay van cost MMK25,000 / GBP13 / USD19 per person, so we had just enough to get us to where we needed to go. Food at the stops was tasty and gigantic - more rice, vegetables and meat than we could eat, for MMK2,500 / GBP1.20 / USD1.90 per person. Despite the enthusiastic driver and the smooth Friendship Road for the first hour or two, ultimately the 16-hour drive on non-reclining seats was rough. We were pretty wiped out arriving in Mandalay around 7am. There were other destinations available from Tamu, but you’d want to be well researched before you arrive. It’s not really a town for on-the-spot planning. On his recommendation, our driver dropped us off at the Royal Guesthouse, which had hot water, wifi, towels, a soft bed and included breakfast. Pure luxury for us, considering we had precisely two hot showers in India. We paid GBP13 / USD20 for a windowless room with a private bathroom. And their service was spot on. IMPHAL TO MANDALAY
We did read elsewhere that there may be a direct bus service from Imphal to Mandalay beginning sometime in 2016. We’re not sure how that would work given the 3 weeks required for permits, let alone all the military checkpoints and the sheer journey time through mountainous terrain. Breaking it all up makes for a more interesting journey anyway, and although it wasn’t a particularly scenic border crossing, it did give us a lot of fond memories. Having all those Myanmar people wave hello, smile and giggle at us as we crossed over with our backpacks was priceless. If you have any questions or anything to add, leave us a message in the comments.
68 Comments
24/3/2016 09:58:42 am
Hey guys, thank you for the very helpful and most comprehensive advice I have come across for crossing from India into Nepal. I hope you don't mind but I have a few questions:
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Emma
31/3/2016 07:47:12 am
Hi Rachael & Dan,
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Ali
5/1/2019 05:06:40 am
Hi emma i found ur post bery very helpful i wanted to kw i am a muslim and am planning to trvel from india to myanmaar wanted to kw during the recent crisis in myanmar is it safe for muslims to travel
Damian Pausma
26/4/2016 03:20:21 pm
Again, so thankful for your up to date blog. Look forward to making our way through this region armed with real information on the border crossing situation.
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Pete
24/6/2016 03:00:53 am
Hi Damain - good luck with the crossing and let us know how you go! We can update this post and help others with newer information :)
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Nikhil
21/6/2016 01:52:17 pm
Hi guys, such a wonderful blog so informative, I hope you would not mind if I ask some questions.
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Pete
24/6/2016 03:15:51 am
Hi Nikhil,
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Nikhil
21/6/2016 01:52:25 pm
Hi guys, such a wonderful blog so informative, I hope you would not mind if I ask some questions.
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Vinod Kumar Singh
18/8/2016 02:02:59 pm
Bangkok u can get visa on arrival on airport. I have got like this.
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Debashis Sarkar
25/2/2017 07:27:22 am
Hi Nikhil
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Hey guys! I plan to travel in Myanmmar from Manipur/Tamu in late October. I am a solo traveler and pretty confused. I understand I should apply to get a hard visa (not e-visa) in Kolkata and I need to book a tour or a tour guide?
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Ra Ba Ve
20/11/2016 10:36:00 am
Hey, If you ever visit our state Manipur I could show you beautiful mountain. I end up in this site trying to learn touring from our state to neighboring countries. If you like mountain and jungles you're gonna love our villages.
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PRODIP CHANDRA ROY
4/12/2016 05:21:22 am
Have u a facebook id? I wanna connect with u in fb. My id is prodip.c.roy. I'm planning to visit Imphal next February. 19/7/2016 11:17:09 am
Hey Kyle,
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Ibrar Alam
4/9/2016 11:25:13 pm
Hi guys, Thanks for your trip share, I would like to know that the bus is always available in Tamu for mandlay
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Emma
4/9/2016 11:31:49 pm
Hi Ibrar,
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Ernest
14/9/2016 04:49:37 pm
I am already in moreh and I have no permit, now I need to apply which I understand. But can't I just get it from the Myanmar border gate? Also, I am going to Nigeria from Myanmar and I have a tourist visa. Can I fly from there if I can get this permit? Please reply back ASAP.
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Emma
14/9/2016 10:17:31 pm
Hi Nigel,
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sheetal
19/9/2016 11:03:29 am
Thanks ..Such a gr8 detail info in blog.
Sheetal
19/9/2016 10:59:27 am
Thanks ..Such a gr8 detail info in blog.
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Emma
19/9/2016 11:03:17 am
Hi Sheetal,
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Marius
30/9/2016 05:22:31 pm
Hi there! Thanks for you blog, makes it look nice and easy :)
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Marius NL
30/9/2016 05:24:22 pm
Sorry about the quadriple post
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Anonymous
1/10/2016 04:25:06 am
Hi Marius,
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good day,
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Emma
11/10/2016 09:35:38 pm
Hi,
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V
15/10/2016 03:36:43 am
I don't get it. Why didn't you spend more time in India???!!! I've lived in Thailand and now live in Vietnam,(also been to Myanmar),but I will tell you, no country in southeast Asia is as amazing and cultural as the Indian subcontinent. I think you missed out.
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Hi V,
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Ra ba ve
20/11/2016 10:41:54 am
Am from northeast India and I would welcome you anytime to explore our beautiful land . We have lots of small villages which I haven't visit myself so, let's do it together starting from my villages .
mit
3/11/2016 06:51:18 pm
Hiii all.
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Emma
14/11/2016 06:27:10 am
Hi Mit,
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2/1/2017 03:11:20 am
Hey guys, I love your website! who made that awesome travel-map at the top? I want to make something like that for my travel blog too :-)
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Emma
2/1/2017 04:38:16 am
Hey Kevin, thanks, glad you like it! Pete made the map :)
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2/1/2017 06:43:59 pm
Wow that's seriously impressive. Do you mind if I ask what software he used? I want to make something similar for my travels with my GF. Have fun, wherever you are in the world :-) Namaste.
Hi guys, your info helped me arrange my trip, so here's my bit, current info as for today, perhaps it'll help someone too (I just arrived to Moreh and am crossing to Myanmar tomorrow).
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Emma
6/1/2017 12:46:03 pm
Hey Jan,
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Gaskan
23/1/2017 05:17:12 pm
Hi!
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Hi Gaskan,
Chawath
15/3/2017 01:38:49 pm
I am travel loving writer (Mumbai)..travelled many Indian and Asian Cities... in search of a good company who is interested exploring places, people, culture... who is widely traveled or eager to travel India, Nepal, Burma Bhutan ..any gender any age any background but for surely of above interest in the blood..!
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Hi, Emma & Pete.
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Sam van Oerle
24/4/2017 11:58:39 am
Hi Emma,
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Suraj Adhikari
13/6/2017 06:05:26 am
i want to go to myanmar through moreh border along with my bike that is registerd in Nepal.I dont have Carnet de passage but i have my government letter with me describing that i will be touring in my own bike.Now i want to know,if i could enter the border?
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Athiu
7/9/2017 11:27:57 am
Hi, Emma and Pete or anyone reading this. I'm from manipur and I was just reading all the conversations here and I would like to make you aware that there are more to manipur than just imphal. There are other unexplored hill districts such as tamenglong and ukhrul worth visiting especially for adventure lovers and nature lovers and those who wants to experience the rustic village life.it is worth stopping for a week or so in manipur and explore before crossing over to Myanmar. If anyone is interested in visiting the hill districts of manipulation please contact me and I would love to be your guide.
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nikhil
23/9/2017 10:28:02 am
The reason I couldn't travel to Thailand via Myanmar was, I have read somewhere that if we enter Myanmar through land border from India, we can't exit from Thailand to India by air.
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U Ken
1/11/2017 11:43:36 am
Hi Rachel and Dan,
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Patrick Boone
19/1/2018 04:21:39 am
Hello everyone,
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Patrick Boone
19/1/2018 05:23:37 am
Check out this link. Both our contact in Myanmar and the Exotic Tours agency send it to us, claiming that they cannot arrange any kind of permission anymore. The can only help with this:
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Hey Patrick,
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18/5/2018 05:43:08 pm
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30/5/2018 09:58:16 am
Thankyou to give awesome blog to us https://www.leptonseo.com/
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Matthew Gibbons
18/6/2018 03:13:16 am
Ok, this is possibly the most comprehensive border-crossing post I've ever read! Useful stuff here. I live in Myanmar but am thinking of taking a trip to this part of India soon.
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Greg
12/8/2018 07:11:55 am
Land border crossing points between India/Myanmar (re)opened 9th Aug 2018. Moreh (India, Manipur state) and Tamu (Myanmar, Sagaing Division) and Zokhawthar (Inda, Mizoram state) and Rikhawdar (Myanmar, Chin State)
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Allan
9/10/2018 07:22:32 am
Hi Guys,
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Shilpi
16/11/2018 03:28:41 pm
I plan to take land route from tamu to India in Dec second week.
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Eileen
29/10/2018 10:23:12 am
Thanks for the post guys. I have read that you can now enter here with an evisa and no permit is needed. How long did the border crossing take? I am heading towards Kalaymyo in Chin State and wondered if I could leave from Imphal early morning and get on a bus to Kalaymyo the same day without stopping for the night in Moreh? What would you guys suggest is practical? Thanks!!
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Mayur
1/1/2019 08:05:53 am
Hi Eileen, few days ago I took a mini-bus journey from Kalaymyo to Tamu, which took about four hours and 4000 Kiyat (2.5$). It seemed multiple number of such buses leave for Tamu everyday in the first half, although I am not sure about the journey from Tamu side. From Imphal to Tamu it takes at least four hours, considering some more time for immigration, I am not sure whether you can still catch a bus for Kale. Big buses from Tamu leave for Mandalay at about 11 AM. Tamu has only two hotels that can take foreigners which is a little risky situation, although luckily we got a room even without any prior booking...
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Amit
5/1/2019 03:19:51 am
Hi..I found this blog to be the most relevant and informative on the topic...i am also planning for hitchhiking from India to veitnam via myanmar, Thailand and combodia in comming Feb..please update if more information is available regarding route, visa, permit if any etc..
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10/1/2019 10:28:28 pm
Hi Amit,
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bobby vakharia
18/3/2019 11:01:25 am
i also want to go mayanmar by tamu border ,i would like to know weather mmt permit requried to getting visa for entering mayanmar by road,as i read on some webside that we didnot need permit,if u have information pl give me
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Edmund
19/4/2019 04:03:02 am
Hi Emma,
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Bharat Taxi
7/8/2019 07:00:26 am
Such a wonderful place!!! I can’t articulate it. Those pictures are absolutely gorgeous! I love places with amazing beauty. I will be sure to visit this location. Thank you for sharing! India as a whole is an incredibly special place. India is also one of the most popular destinations among international tourist. Thanks for sharing your wonderful travel experience. It helps people to plan places for their vacation, enjoy your vacation by book Cab service in India. Bharat Taxi provide Cab Service in all over India.
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Jack
4/11/2019 10:23:59 am
Hi everyone,
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Raja
4/11/2019 12:43:35 pm
This blog and the comments below are invaluable to my plan of crossing in to Myanmar, I am planning 11th Jan to cross into Tamu from Moreh. l Appreciate if there is any latest updates. Fniger crossed for Imphal-Mandalay direct Bus.
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EMMA & PETEWe're just two Aussie's who met in London, married in Prague and travelled overland back to Australia.
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