MYANMAR, AN INTRODUCTION...

Buddhas? Lots... Temples? Millions... Gold? Tonnes... Monasteries, lakes, mountains, rivers, and more temples???? Check! Myanmar seems more abundant in all of the above than anywhere we've visited so far.

We were greeted in arrivals by two lovely gentlemen in skirts(called longyi by the Burmese). "How cute that they greet the arrivals in traditional dress" we thought, only later to discover that just about every male in the country wears a longyi every day. The men in skirts brought us to the Motherland Inn 2(the first one closed down!) where the warmest welcome I do believe we've ever had awaited us. We couldn't help noticing that the girls in reception all had facemasks on. We later found out that it wasn't facemasks at all but Thanakha, a type of make-up/sunscreen worn traditionally, and at times very creatively, by Burmese women, children, and sometimes men too. Squares, circles, or just big smears of thanakha can be seen on faces of all ages and creeds throughout the country. We could already see that Myanmar was to be a very unique experience. We were right...

Myanmar is governed by a very oppressive military regime. It never ceased to amaze me just how much the Burmese give despite the fact that so many aspects of their lives are stifled. News and TV are censored lest the people get notions. The whole country is in a general state of disrepair and powercuts are the norm (though, it seems, not in the capital city where government officials reside!). Nobody besides government officials is allowed to leave the country. Many websites are banned. No western products are sold. Only national(censored) newspapers are sold. Our time spent in Myanmar was during the much publicised and talked about trial of Aung San Su Kyi. We didn't hear a mention of Su Kyi's name except as a whisper from the mouths of people not wanting to be heard for fear of government informers in the street.

In order not to support this regime tourists are advised to stay in small family run guesthouses as opposed to government run hotels; To travel by bus rather than government run trains and planes (buses tend to be the more challenging option but more about that later...); To eat and drink in smaller family run establishments, and to avoid where possible paying government ticket fees (this may not be advised so much as subtly suggested), most taxi drivers will oblige you in this respect. In doing all of the above you can ensure that the vast majority of the money you spend goes to the people, not the regime.

Ok politics over, the Myanmar stories....