Myanmar Magic

The Foreign Office and popular opinion said don't go, but in spite of airline and visa difficulties our trip to Myanmar went ahead. And it was great. Myanmar is a beautiful and fascinating place, with friendly people and interesting sights. We managed to cram plenty in to our fortnight there. In the capital, Yangon, we visited the incredible Shwedagon Pagoda, which spoiled us a bit for the many thousand other pagodas in the country. In Mandalay, we explored ancient Burmese cities, and attended a comedy night with the notorious Moustache Brothers, where I sat on the same seat that the opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, had previously parked her posterior! That was the extent of our acquaintance with political events, and we saw nothing of the repression and human rights violations that have been in the news. I had my face painted with the yellow paste which Myanmar people of all ages wear to make themselves beautiful, and met some charming long-neck Karen tribespeople (what a barbaric tradition, though). I cycled round the plains of Bagan which are chock full of pagodas, and boated on Inle Lake alongside the rather odd leg rowers (apparently it saves their arms from aching). A highlight of our holiday was the hot air balloon festival at Taunggui, with fabulous animal shaped balloons in the afternoon, and balloons covered with candles at night.

Travelling around the country was difficult, with terrible roads and uncomfortable buses and trucks, but it was all worth it.