Interesting story. Muse sounds like a rough town. I'd of thought the Burmese police would of taken crossing with no visa much more seriously, but guess they were giving a fella a break. Did all the Burmese in your brief storied visit to Muse speak decent English?
@Dev, that might get you into Muse but I doubt you'd get much farther into Myanmar. What's so interesting about Muse? Sounds to me you did it on a lark - okay, you got away with it, hope you enjoyed it, but it doesn't sound like it would be worht it.
On the other hand, some people I know have entered Was state illegally through connections with local Wa warlords or whatever on the Myanmar side - not recommended either, but it led to more than just seeing a border town.
@Alien, if you come from Mandalay, you can go all the way to Muse. There are (surprisingly) no more checkpoints along the way except for the one checkpoint at the entrance to the Muse special economic zone. I stayed in Muse for 2 nights last year. I went up to the Chinese border post (actually all three border gates as one is only for pedestrians and the other two are for vehicles) and was told not to cross, even though I had no intention to, nor did I even have a Chinese visa at the time, which I had pointed out repeatedly to the officials, who could speak some English, but little or no Chinese.
As for not being able to get further into Myanmar...actually, if you avoid the checkpoint at the edge of town where they check your passport (and obviously you would need to be in a Burmese registered vehicle as Chinese vehicles can't leave town) you could make it almost anywhere.
Last year a guy from Ghaha who lives in Kunming claimed to cross the border into Muse illegally, with help from some Chinese friends, then traveled all the way down to Yangon with no visa! and all the way back! And all of this back in 2012 when the road from Lashio to Muse still required a permit (it doesn't anymore). I didn't believe him for a second, but why would he come up with such a story then? Even more amazing is that as an African man, he stands out even more in Myanmar than a westerner does as there are very few Africans in Myanmar.
Anyway, although it's difficult to estimate when the Ruili/Muse crossing will open officially, it probably will sooner rather than later. This means it's probably a lot wiser to wait it out until it actually happens, rather than attempting to make illegal crossings. If you want to travel to Muse, arrive from the Burmese side and there won't be any problems. Just sucks that you need a permit to cross to/from China otherwise you'll have to head back the same way you came, via Lashio back down to Mandalay. Even worse is the gross inefficiency of the Burmese - it's almost impossible to email a travel agency to help you secure a permit as Burmese travel agencies almost never reply to their emails, and securing the permit which is said to take up to 4 weeks, from outside of the country is therefore almost impossible. It's almost always a case of having to show up in person. But that's not realistic for your average traveller, who may be staying nowhere near 4 weeks in Myanmar and besides, the average tourist visa is only valid that long anyway (business visas are valid for 70 days though).
@alexkmg FEW speak English, and the ones I ran into mostly spoke for career purposes. I'd go into hotels and ask for directions to the bus, and they'd tell me their rates for the night. I managed to find 1 guy that understood me, but he always kept saying there's no bus today, only tomorrow. I'm not sure if he meant because it was midnight? Or if he meant that the bus ran every other day. The other people I met that could speak on par with me were the police and immigration officials.
@Alien Muse was just the first step in my journey. I was planning to reach Yangon to visit a friend that owed me money. If you are an avid backpacker to Bangkok guesthouses, then I'm sure you might have seen other backpackers meeting a local friend for business. Also, I'm not talking drugs. That kind of business I find difficult, and the punishment in some places is execution.
@Asanee Wow! Thanks for the tip! The guy I know on the other side just said, "hop the fence at night, get a bus to Yangon." There's no place I can find a map which would tell me how to get to the bus station once over. There's so little information on Muse online. I thought there would be a checkpoint into Burma on the other side. Also, the African's story sounds interesting. How did he do it? I know you said he had Chinese friends, but what can Chinese do in Myanmar? I plan to go back to Myanmar in the future. I hear it's becoming the new "Las Vegas" of southeast asia. Ever since opening it's doors, investors have been flocking there. Also, it has a huge underground trafficking network that sells women to Chinese farmers looking for a wife. I've also heard that they have underage prostitution where one can find a teen for $100. I'm not saying I'd go for the prostitution, but usually sin city exists for a reason. Maybe low cost of living? Numerous opportunities attracting the super rich from western nations that hunger for exotic pleasures along with business? My point is, China is mostly developed, and the casual jobs for foreigners are either gone or transformed into something requiring PhD qualifications. I think Vietnam and Myanmar might be the next "frontier".
@Dev2014, I dunno, I'd say foreigners can still find quite a lot of jobs in China, compared to other countries in the region. There are far more types of jobs where foreigners are actively recruited than in say Thailand, where finding work as a foreigner is very difficult (and most jobs explicitly state that being a Thai citizen is a must) unless you have a ton of experience and looking to become say a factory manager or recruited from home to work as the managing director of the representative office of a bank or something. It's either that or if you're just looking to become an English teacher you'll probably find something. Even opening a business in China you can work in your own shop/restaurant/bar, but in Thailand you can only give orders to your staff but aren't allowed to serve customers directly so a foreigner behind a bar in Thailand is a definite no-no. Whereas in Cambodia it's fine, and same in China Strange but true. Anyway, I digress.
In Muse, there wouldn't be any night buses since the road down to Lashio is closed at night. There is a barrier at the checkpoint on the edge of town, although I believe it closes around 9pm? or something but that's of little use when a gate halfway down to Lashio closes around 6pm or so. During normal daylight hours you can just drive through though. In any case, I would recommend a private car to leave Muse mainly because it's possible that all passengers leaving Muse on a bus are checked before leaving. That is if you were to "hop the fence" like that guy recommended! If you have a legitimate Myanmar visa they take a photocopy of your visa and will allow you to pass through the gate. However, they will be assuming you either entered the country and elsewhere and are returning the same way you came (via Mandalay) or you received permission via a permit to travel across the Muse-Ruili border. I think the bus station is somewhere near the edge of the Muse SEZ near the exit gate and mile marker 105.
Err...not much prostitution in Muse, surprisingly you might say but that whole booming industry can be found across the border in Jiegao/Ruili, where the majority of staff are Burmese. That's where the money is, the population is and the demand is. There's little reason for the average Burmese truck driver to stop off in obscure Muse for a f*** when he can just cross over to Jiegao on a day pass or a 7-day pass to a foreign country and enjoy himself there where all the action is. Perhaps that explains why there's basically nothing in Muse, apart from a few overpriced hotels, a market selling mostly Chinese produce, a few OK restaurants and a couple of other shops.
As for the guy I mentioned, he probably went across at night with some Chinese "fixers" that showed him where to cross (BTW I also know where to cross illegally there, but have never done it!) I took a few pictures, it's less than 1km from the official crossing. Basically there's a broken fence and a wooden plank which everyone walks across that leads into a house where some Chinese people live inside - crossings are never done alone, but may be done during the day. Emerging from the other end onto the main road, it appears is if you are simply emerging from a visit to that person's house.
BTW Dev2014 when I was in Muse last year, I went out to the local massage shop for a foot massage, which is the only one in town, apparently. It's less than 100m from the Chinese border. Came back to the hotel around 9.30pm and while it was quiet, I don't recall any evidence of a curfew unless that only begins later in the evening. There aren't many people on the streets after about 9pm probably because there's just nothing to do - but since the Chinese border remains open until around 12am Chinese time or 10.30pm Myanmar time logically there can't be any curfew in effect before that time.
On the second night I think we also arrived back at the hotel around that time or earlier (after a long but good dinner). Reason? Again, nothing to do in town after that time apart from gazing at the lights of China. That or watching TV or using the internet in your room. Changed hotels for the second night because the first hotel, Shwe Yar Su was a dump. Second hotel can be booked on Agoda and is quite good (the best in town but no more expensive than the competition despite being fairly new).
The last post on this thread is from two years ago. any updates?
