Blogs from Yangon, Yangon Region, Burma, Asia - page 4

It has been a rough couple of weeks. First there was the ordeal in the Himalayas and then more cold weather, squat toilets and bucket showers in Darjeeling. It's in times like these that you...really want your Mum. Not that I'm really a mama's boy but I haven't seen her in two years and after all this travelling and everything I've been through it would be so nice to see a familiar face again...and they don't come more familiar than that of your own mother! And I will be seeing her; she is currently living in Kuala Lumpur and had a week's holiday in March, so I invited her to come and meet me in Yangon (formerly Rangoon), since it isn't that far away from her and flights were cheap. She had said recently that she ... read more

Another early start, this time for the taxi to HeHo Airport for our flight to Yangon. Apart from feeling incredibly sick and having to pay £3 for a small packet of mcvities choc digestives to settle my stomach, the flight was fine and we were soon in another taxi on our way to our hostel for the night. We chose the Yangon Hub as it was the nearest place we could find with fairly decent reviews to the airport as we read that the traffic was mental here. Luckily Howard had his google map thingy as he had to direct the taxi driver through the back streets to the hostel! We had booked the deluxe ensuite room so hopes were high, oh foolish me. Our room was a box next to reception, it did have a ... read more

We have had a couple of truck days taking us down to Yangon (Rangoon). I knew from reading the guide books that Yangon was a poor city, but it was sad to see the gap between rich and poor increasing as we drove through the suburbs. And once we got into the city the poverty became even more evident with families living along the waterside and the railway tracks. The hotel was average, with very intermittent wifi, and occasional hot water. However I went out exploring and spent some time on one of the bridges watching all of the to-ing and fro-ing on the river. Boats being mended and rowing boats being used to ferry people and goods across the river. On the second evening there a group of us went to the Karaweik Palace for ... read more

Een kleine geschiedenisles is nodig om te begrijpen waar Myanmar nu staat. Na drie oorlogen werd Birma in 1885 een Britse kolonie. Tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog werden de Britten verdreven door de Japanners, samen met hun Thaise bondgenoten. Deze bezetting duurde tot 1945, waarna het nog drie jaar duurde voordat de Britten Birma eindelijk opgaven. Belangrijk in de strijd voor onafhankelijkheid was Aung San, die na onafhankelijkheid ook leider van het land had moeten worden. Dit mocht echter niet zo zijn, in 1947 werd hij vermoord in het parlement door naar verluidt aanhangers van de militairen. Had deze moord niet plaatsgevonden, dan zou de geschiedenis van Birma er heel anders hebben uitgezien. Na jaren van onrust werd in 1962 een coup gepleegd en een socialistische staat opgericht, geleid door het leger. In 1964 werd het land ... read more

First impressions of Myanmar...the people are SO! Nice. The nicest people I've come across so far, or at least on a par with the mountain people in Nepal. Such a change from India to see strangers smiling...and they actually laugh when you make a joke (not that my jokes are bad, but that Indians barely smile). Given that Myanmar only opened it's borders to foreigners five years ago I expected the development level to be similar to India or worse. How wrong I was, it's clean, they have garbage disposal, there's a “fashion”. The thing that's impressed me so far is the plug sockets! You could literally put any plug into them. We were off the plane and through the airport in less than an hour. I think these are the only immigration officers in the ... read more