When to visit Myanmar (Burma)

Burma has three seasons. In the hot season from March to April, temperatures can reach 36°C in Yangon. A long rainy from May to October is followed by a 'cool' season from November to February, the peak season for visitors, when noontime temperatures in Yangon are around 32°C, falling to around 19°C at night. Mandalay is slightly cooler, with temperatures falling as low as 13°C. In the highlands around Inle Lake and Pyin U Lwin, winter temperatures can fall below 10°C at night, and daytimes are mild. Even in the summer, temperatures rarely climb above 32°C. In Kachin on the Indian border are mountains with permanent snow cover.

"Rainfall in Burma is violent. Before I knew it, I was shut in by a thick spray. I could hardly breathe - I felt as if I were swimming. After a while the rain stopped and the sky cleared. All at once the landscape brightened and a vast rainbow hung across the sky. The mist was gone, as if a curtain had been lifted. And there, under the rainbow, the farmers were singing and ploughing again."

Michio Takeyama, Harp of Burma