Sending a parcel from Myanmar to France: Rates and Advice

A friend asked us to mail her one of the Buddha masks that she regretted not having bought during her trip to Burma. This is the first time we send a parcel since the beginning of our trip and we are quite curious to see how it goes.We are very fortunate to have a post office right next to our hotel in Bagan which is, in addition, indicated on Google Maps. This is a very good thing because the sign indicating “La Poste” is written only in Burmese.Update 07/25/2019: a reader informed us that this post office does not allow any more to send parcels. It will be necessary to go to the post office of Nyaung u, open only in the morning, 9km away.I could have sent it from Vietnam a few days later but I don’t want to walk around with it for 5 days, nor to be stopped in Thailand where they make a transit because there, the trade of articles related to Buddha is very sensitive (see the Thai poster below)We go to the post office early because we were warned that the hours are very limited here. Indeed because on the spot, we learn that the parcels are taken care of only between 9:30 am and 1 pm.

Packing

When I bought the fragile wooden mask, I already asked the saleswoman to wrap it in as much paper as possible, which she did.I was just missing one box, which I could find at the hotel (the Burmese service is extraordinary, they offered me three boxes for my package. Free of charge, in a completely disinterested way).In the end, the cardboard was useless because the Burmese post office sold their own cardboard for 500 kyats. I also did well not to close the parcel because the employee of the post office wanted to see the contents of the parcel (for customs stories).

Sending

You must be patient because the “Foreign Parcel” stand is deserted. We had to harass the other employees for 45 minutes to get the employee in charge of this delicate task to deign to come and do his job.First of all, he checked the contents of my package.Then he took out a cardboard box and did the packing himself. Now you think the guy is too professional and too nice. Wait for the rest!At the time of payment, he tells us that in addition to the shipping rates (which we put below), we also have to pay him 5000 kyats for the cardboard and for the packaging. Box 500 kyats. Glue two poor scotches together: 4500 kyats.We show him the “500 kyats” written on the box and let him know that we already had a nice box and our scotch was just waiting for him to finish checking the contents to close the package. There, he hesitates a little and says “ok 1500 kyats”. I was about to say yes when JB, an expert in haggling, told him that 1000 kyats (i.e. 500 kyats for the box and 500 kyats for his pocket) were more than reasonable.Customs level, just check “gift” and declare in the description box what the package contains.The address of the sender must be obligatorily in Burma, of the blow we put the address of our hotel.

Rates

As we are too nice, we took a picture of the rates of the Post Office for you, in kyats (click on the picture to zoom). Knowing that the Post Office of Bagan is private (this isn’t the case of Yangon or Mandalay, the rates below are given for information only.

Deadlines

We keep our fingers crossed that the parcel will arrive quickly and in good condition in France. Case to follow 😉Update: The package was well received after 3 weeks of waiting. Halleluia!