Burma trip report - words by Susan - photos by both of us.

Burma trip report

When we moved to France in 1994, we didn’t mind winters in the Dordogne.  After all, they were milder with less snow than Toronto.  But we now find them a bit too dark and so enjoy getting away to somewhere sunny.

Although we have enjoyed several stays in South Africa, for the winter of 2010-2011 we decided to combine visits to family in Canada and Australia in an around the world trip.  Since the aim was to spend the Christmas holiday in Australia, it made sense to start in Canada, and then go west.  As we had each always wanted to go to Burma, and this seemed the year to do it.  That meant we would be there the last two weeks of February when it would be starting to get hot but still comfortable.

Many people have asked us why we wanted to go to Burma.  We had never travelled in Southeast Asia, and various friends suggested we go because it was ‘Asia as it used to be,' before massive development.  But   before deciding to go, we had to deal with the fact that the country is ruled by a military dictatorship.

The choice is   between boycotting the country, and trying to make it more open and less isolated.  Aung San Suu Kyi, the great pro-democracy leader, for many years asked tourists not to go and spoke in favour of the boycott.  However, she has begun to change her opinion recently.

We found that we agreed with Thant Myint U, grandson of U Thant, former Secretary General of the United Nations.  In his history of Burma, “The River of Lost Footsteps”, he suggests that if the country were less isolated, and there were more trade and tourism, perhaps the conditions for political change would emerge.

We didn’t want to go with a group, but because of our unfamiliarity with Asia, we were a little nervous about trying it completely on our own.  On our first visit we would be seeing the major sites – Yangon, Mandalay, plus the historic temples of Bagan, the romantic Lake Inle – and a few days on a river boat sailing down the Irrawaddy.  After reviewing proposals from a number of agencies, we agreed on an itinerary with a private guide, arranged by  Goodnews Travels, and were very impressed with their service

Visas were not as difficult as we had expected, even though we were actually in Australia when we applied.  They came through in several days, and we were ready to go.

We flew from Perth to Bangkok –and spent the night in Bangkok at the Shanghai Mansion Boutique Hotel.  A recommendation from our Perth friends, and we were very happy with it.

 http://www.shanghaimansion.com/bangkok-hotel/bangkok-hotel.html.

 It’s in Chinatown, and probably farther away from central Bangkok than some other hotels, but we enjoyed the location. Here we were introduced to the Asian custom of greeting guests with a cool drink, a damp towel, and someone to check you in, rather than a long wait at the check in counter.  A good start.  We spent about 24 hours in Bangkok, getting used to Asia, although not to the size of the city, negotiated a meal with no words of Thai at all, and then took a flight to Yangon (formerly Rangoon)