Just thought I would visit this thread. Burma my arse

Shocked to see there are apologists for the brutal, murdering Myanmar regime. If you have an ounce of conscious you would avoid this place.

We only went to Yangon in Myanmar - wish we travelled further. The thing that struck me was how expensive it was, especially with accommodation. The military govt seems to control prices still. There's also a ban on motorcycles in the capital which we found very odd having travelled straight from Hanoi where they're everywhere.

I went to Burma about 15 years ago. It was certainly an experience. Whatever your views of wether or not you should go, the locals were extremely pleased to see tourists.

Thank you for the effort :smile: looks amazing

Couldn't be much more different culturally. Enjoy.

Please, find me one reputable, internationally accepted source that
backs this up. Regardless, you're saying that we should go back to
territories observed a millennia ago, and displace the majority of
the population? Oh hang on, you said you don't support Israel? Have a
look at the demographics over time of the state.



Yes, as I said, Bangladesh (formally East Pakistan) separated from Pakistan. I'm not sure what your point is. And please look up the definition for city state, a country does not contain multiple 'city states'. However, I should correct my statement and add that there are a couple of island nations which are also more densely populated. Essentially, Bangladesh ranks #10 on the list but has >400x the average landmass of #1-9.

You got your facts wrong.
There used to be the kingdom of Arakane which comprised southern Bangladesh and the Rakhine state. This is why Rohingyas look like Bangladeshis. Now, if Burma wants to do an ethnic cleansing and get rid of the Rohingyas, Burma needs to give the Rakhine state to Bangladesh, innit ?

And, there was no Bangladesh until 1971. It was all India first and then Pakistan before. And, Bangladesh's city states are the most densely populated, not the other way round.

Just like Israel, I would not be giving my hard-earned money to oppressive regimes and I would not advise anyone to visit these countries.

This isn't something I would ever have considered but you have done such a good job of working out an itinerary that I am seriously thinking about giving it a go. I am "over 60" and just wondered whether this might not be suitable for an older couple. Don't consider myself past it and still really active but just a thought.

i cant support China either who eat dogs

Rather have 2 weeks in Tenerife - trying to book all of that just gave me a shudder!!!

voted cold.

After a London to Beijing flight, all I want to do is stretch out and get some rest; good luck having the will to sight see; plus I am fairly certain the transit visa rules dont apply under these conditions.

And you do NOT want to get on the wrong side of the Chinese Border Police, the paperwork alone will kill you.

(Regular visitor - Chinese inlaws).

Also, dont try to smuggle in any cheese; it sets the airport chemical explosives alarm off; and even if you manage to get away with it, it will be cheese soup by the time you get to the hotel - in any season other than deep winter.
(Been there, tried that)

To all of you who have not visited and are likely not aware of what is really going on in Myanmar please read up on who is actually killing who, before you reject the country out of hand.

You might find it enlightening to start with this Wikipedia article, which, although not comprehensive, gives some idea of what is actually going on - en.wikipedia.org/wik…mar

Preach.

I remember people saying years ago that they wouldn't visit Burma because of the military government. The fact is, the more tourists there are the more the country opens up (you can currently only visit very select areas), with more money trickling down to the impoverished population.

Whilst I am completely appalled at what I've heard is occurring in Rakhine state, I don't think it can be deemed 'ethnic cleansing' - the authorities are certainly to blame but there are atrocities being committed on both sides. The situation gets very complicated as while there has been a local ethnic group for centuries, there has been a long history of immigration from Bangladesh by: British colonialism for labour; when the border wasn't controlled after WWII; and during Bangladesh's separation from Pakistan in the 70's (genocide in its own right with >1 million civilian deaths). This even gets jumbled up with the Rohingya refugees fleeing Rahkine, with more than half of those in 2015 turning out to be economic migrants directly from Bangladesh (the most densely populated country excluding city states). As such, the terrible dictatorship which took power of Burma in the 60's denied Rohingyas citizenship, which in turn lead to a continued struggle for freedom fueling Islamic extremism resulting in terrorist attacks (with links to several groups including Al-Qaeda).

Apologies if any of the above information is incorrect, I don't mean to offend anyone or play down the seriousness of the situation, but the way I see it Burma has taken incredible strides of improvement in recent years. It went from being the wealthiest country in SE Asia to the least developed due to terrible government. Finally, after decades, it is beginning to open up. Boycotting the country over an issue which has existed for a long time is only going to slow progress on the path to democracy.

Cold. Myanmar is a brutal regime killing its own people. Would not support such a country.

Well said.

Wow. That's such a good deal, have some heat!

​The toilets on long distance trains haven't changed   oO Was there a couple of years ago and did a fair few train journeys.

I coudn't support a holiady in Myanmar while they are busy ethnically cleansing their own people

Thanks amazing deal
China 14 years ago on Aeroflot amazing rough toilets on long distance trains ..very ill
Burma 2 years ago and great ..no issues but costly
This would have been a gift

I went to Myanmar just 2 months back, its honestly an amazing place depending on the places you visit...The air balloons you can see is in the area called Bagan. Don't bet your money you will get you chance to get on one as it was cancelled when i was there due to the wind....You might get your chance as it is in Nov, but even relatively low winds cancels air balloon rides which was annoying. Whether you get to experience it or not, its just as amazing from the ground as you can actually climb some of these temples and you have a view of the distance....there are over 2500 temples in Bagan.

Great post

10/10 for the sheer effort !

Hi Rachel - what an interesting itinerary around an AMAZING country.

Myanmar is getting more and more messed up as the days go by and so I would say to anyone who is in any way drawn to visit the country, GO NOW before it is totally b***ered up by global self-interest.

My wife and I visited for the first time in 2013 and made the "mistake" of only going for 17 days - we decided after a very few of those days that we needed much longer. We visited again in 2015 and again in 2016 and for each of those visits we spent 35 days. So we have spent a while in Myanmar but don't feel we have done much more than scratch the surface.

I apologise if this sounds like I'm being negative, that is not my intention at all. It is just that the country is big (almost 1/3 larger than Thailand and without the infra-structure) and wonderful, the people are kind-hearted and wonderful but the money men are working very hard to turn it into a cash cow to the general detriment of almost everything they touch.

Don't take my word for any of this, head over to the Myanmar Forum on Tripadvisor where there is a wealth of fascinating stuff provided by folk far more steeped in everything Myanmar.

Hopefully all the pictures now appear! Just had to edit the whole post again - grrr. If any don't appear let me know and I'll re-upload them.

Sounds excellent, think I'll have a word with the Mrs.

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