a hui hou kakou

Burma is another country shunned by the west. While I don't generally agree with the isolation of particular countries I do believe that the government of Burma is one of the worst in the world. It was a very interesting place to go, the people were very nice, but they are genuinely scared of their government and the government does seem a bit ridiculous. Some advise against going to the country at all because you are supporting this government. I feel that the more people who go the more pressure there will be for change, and the couple people I actually talked with in the country were in favour of more visitors. I was in Burma in August and September 2006.

Arms of Burma

Arms of Burma

Map of Burma Northern Shan State. August 2006. Small town in Shan State. August 2006. Shan State. August 2006. Bus I took from Lashio to Mandalay. August 2006. The bus station in Lashio. August 2006. Roadside checkpoint outside Mandalay, there were three or four immigration officials here, strange considering probably less than one foreigner comes through here per day. August 2006. Small side street in Mandalay. August 2006. Moat of the palace in Mandalay. August 2006. Horse and buggy at the Mandalay bus station. August 2006. Rice paddy near the road between Mandalay and Rangoon. September 2006. The White House hotel, where I stayed my first night in Rangoon. September 2006. Street in Rangoon. September 2006. Old colonial building in Rangoon. September 2006. The river port. September 2006. Loren at a cafe in Rangoon. Taken by Zin Zin. September 2006. Sule Pagoda. September 2006. Street in Rangoon in the early morning. September 2006. Another picture of the streets. September 2006. The streets were very quiet in the early morning. September 2006. Part of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda complex. September 2006. Part of the Shwe Dagon Pagoda complex. September 2006. Shwe Dagon Pagoda. September 2006. Rangoon from the rooftop level, you can see the Shwe Dagon Pagoda in the distance. September 2006. A government building. September 2006. The Sule Pagoda in the middle of downtown. September 2006. A Hindu temple. September 2006. Above a train station. September 2006. The countryside near Rangoon. September 2006. My friend Zin Zin, she showed me around in Rangoon. September 2006. This is the permission I got for entering Burma by land, it was very expensive, and as I found out only 20 people are allowed to enter this way per month. August 2006. Mandalay. Irrawaddy River. Rangoon. Passport Stamps |back to travels |