Xircal, having just come back from a few weeks in Burma, I tend to your view of the place. Call me cynical...

mareeS55, it would be wonderful if you would do a trip report on your recent visit to Burma. That would give all of us here a different perspective on the country as seen through your eyes.

Aloha!

I also recently returned from spending 24 days in Burma and think that, unfortunately, there may be much truth to MareeS55 and Xircal's thinking. Although IF foreign investment does continue, it's hard to imagine that the genie will go back into the bottle without causing an international uproar--

520, money is the only way to think in Asia. We have had business here for years, but thankfully we're now retired and don't have to deal with all that. Burma will have some investment from the rest of Asia because of its resources now that sanctions are being lifted, but the generals are so rotten in keeping their hands on things like the teak, the oil, the gems, the opium and the lovely old buildings that are getting the tourists into Rangoon...

Anyhoo, I know how it's not going to go, and that's the way of Cambodia, where little girls and boys are the main sex traffic for factory men from China, Japan, Tawan, Korea...I've witnessed this so often that I can't stand to be in Cambodia these days, it's so putrid.

Burma's very nicely buddhist at 95%, Christian at 3.5%, and a sprinkling of muslims and sikhs at 1.5%, And I hope it's buddhist strength keeps its young girls and boys safe from the various creeps I saw scoping out the place from hotels like the Strand.

While we were there in December/Jan, the Rakhine state was having troubles, and the backpackers were very upset that the police wouldn't allow them to go out to the beach resorts like Sittwe.

Burma is an interesting place, but very much like Thailand when the Vietnam war was still happening in 1973, when my husband was just out of the army and we were travelling in interesting places.

Anyone intending to visit Burma should apply for a visa at least 8 weeks in advance of travel, and have your flights booked and at least some accommodation booked, otherwise you will not get a visa. The consulates/embassies have finally woken up to the fact that demand is exceeding supply, and they're slowing down processing of visa applications. The last I heard in Canberra, Australia, was 6 weeks, whereast ours las October/November took four weeks. On your visa application now, you must have the details of your flights in and out.

I hop this is useful to people planning to visit Burma/Myanmar.

What else can I tell you all from last week, except that $US100 bills still must be pristine, unfolded, kept in a white envelope, you need them even to pay hotel checkouts unless you've paid in advance. Burma is a complete cash economy, but once you've got that and a pocketful of the local kyat currency, it's easy to do the money.

Kathie and her friends on this site seem to think I have a problem with Burma. Maybe it's just that I've lived and worked in the Asia/Pacific since 1974, and Burma isn't that different to anywhere else that's emerging from under the heel of a bunch of bastards.

I am proud to be one of Kathie's friends and I don't think you have a problem. You have a different perspective though and one that needed to be heard, thank you.

Aloha!

maree, let me again encourage you to write a report about your time in Burma. I think it is helpful to have different prespectives represented here.

I was delighted to read on another thread about your involvemnt in Koto. If you have read my trip reports, you know that I am also invested in making sure that as much of my money as possible goes to the locals and encourages local development.

I agree with the everyone when they say you should write a trip report mareS55. Start a new thread and your views are very unique.

You seem to have left out the local people, Australian, Europeans and American when referring to the customers of the sex trade industry.

Chiming in for maree to write about your trip to Burma. Your experiences and views are appreciated.

Just a lateral note.

They only had two F-100s. Exactly a month before the crash of this F-100 I sat in seat 1A for the flight from Heho to Yangon. I was pleased to see that the old plane had been kept in very good condition. The flight was pleasant and smooth.

It is amazing, when I reflect on where and when I've travelled, to see how ofter I have been in a place where disaster occurred, but never at quite the right time. I hope there are no more disasters, but if they occur I hope my fortuitous timing continues.

Cheers, Alan