I firsthand experienced Myanmar’s dramatic influx in tourism last year, evidenced by the clear discrepancy in the supply and demand of accommodation.  While the number of visitors has tripled in the past three years, prior strict government laws have hindered growth of the hotels necessary to house all of these tourists.  The results?  It’s hard as hell to find a place to stay, and in this relatively inexpensive SouthEast Asian country accommodations will quickly gobble through your entire budget.  There is a large disparity: expensive international hotel chains are the norm in the capital of Yangon while budget lodging is hard to find and hard to swallow (both in cost and quality).  Once outside of the capitol, accommodation is even harder to arrange with a majority of establishments being word-of-mouth guesthouse-types.  Burmese people are inherently kind and it’s almost as though they have not quite realized the potential hospitality goldmine they are sitting on as decades of government control still ring in their ears.  Conservationists cry that growth will destroy the culture and quaintness that make Myanmar so special, yet tourism is quickly proving to be a highly profitable industry in the visibly raw country so it’s unlikely to slow down anytime soon.  Entrepreneurial locals are jumping at the opportunity to create accessible accommodation for tourists but the price point plainly shows how far the country still has to go in offering reasonably priced lodging.