Winter - I hope you don't think I'm being too blunt. The cadences of all this are scarcely well reduced to a few pithy sentences. It's as well you know.

For those of us who like to keep their politics up to date this may be interesting. Last week's [London] Guardian.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008...ng-san-suu-kyi

About the mosquitoes around Inle. We were there over the new year and saw mosquitoes around dusk but they did disappear a couple of hours after dark. I think it's too cold for them!

On the boat around the lake, it will be cold at first but when the sun comes out it's quite pleasant and warm. We dressed in layers and adjust accordingly. We start out with ski jackets and then by the time we get back to the resort I would only be wearing a t-shirt.

Dogster - I am disappointed in you.

Shame, shame.

Did you go to SA during the apartheid years?

afterall, SA/Burma - no comparison. Go back to the lounge.

WT - It does get warm in the afternoon on Inle Lake - bring sunscreen as you can easily get burnt. Your boat will most likely have umbrellas that you can use for sun protection as well.

As rhk said, Yangon is really spread out. While artwork is available at Scott Market and at one or two galleries at the Strand, you will need a car to get to the best galleries in town which are located in a residential area far from where you are staying. The names of these galleries are the Inya Gallery of Art and New Treasure Art Gallery and they are loaded with fine reasonably-priced works. It is not easy finding these places - we had a guide and driver and still had difficulty. I highly recommend you get a copy of Treasures and Pleasures of Thailand and Myanmar which will have the phone numbers of these and several other places. I think rhk's driver would be very helpful to you.

At Inle Lake, arrange to go to Samka which is as far "out there" as you can go. You will probably have to do this in advance as you will need a government-approved guide (same as for the trip to Kakku) to go there. Please re-read my trip report which has the names and descriptions of many of the other towns and do get yourself a map of the area so you understand what you are undertaking. Here's a link to my report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34957632

Finally, Dogster's comments were spot on. We felt we were being watched at times, especially in Yangon. Looking back, I think the weird behavior of our guide there was due more to fear of offending the government than to her inexperience.

afterall: I know exactly where you're coming from, chapter and verse. I'd love to sit down with you and explain where I'm coming from - 'cos, as we all know, the limitations of this forum work against grown-up discussion. Things descend into sloganeering - which doesn't get anybody anywhere.

That's why I put that interesting article in with my post. By that inclusion I was trying to suggest that all things change. An attitude that seemed correct twenty years ago needs to be re-examined in the light of history.

'Cos it certainly ain't working. Twenty years - it ain't working. Mmmm - maybe time to re-examine. Maybe - just maybe - more good is done by going there than staying away.

Maybe. I dunno. Neither do you. All we have is the evidence of history.

I might add, to horrify you even more, that high on the list of my next destinations is North Korea.

It's fascinating to me. I don't have to like it, support it or agree with it. I will witness it with wide eyes and open heart. But you've read enough of my words to know that it doesn't end there. I'm learning to experience - not judge.
Afterwards, THEN I come to my conclusions.

Not before.

afterall, you know that I'm your pal in here. And I know that you are mine. And I love your forthright attitude. Don't ever stop.

Interesting comments and lots of food for thought (thanks for the link to the article Dogster - a different perspective than one normally sees).

Sorry to bring the thread away from the philosophical, but I hope you'll indulge us another question or two on logistics/what to expect. We have been able to make all of our hotel reservations online and were hoping to make our trip as "independent" as possible under the circumstances. We kind of like to be able to decide each day where/when we want to wander. It makes having a guide a little challenging, since we tend not to stick to a schedule. Our thinking had been to perhaps arrange a day of guiding in each place to get the lay of the land, and then spend time on our own after that. Is it easy to walk around without a guide in Yangon, Bagan and the Inle Lake area or will the authorities insist that we have some sort of "minder" with us?

Hi Winter - yup, sorry to divert you into politics when all you need is info. lol.

You'll be totally cool doing your own thing in Yangon and Bagan. Wandering is fine. I spent a week in Yangon doing just that. No pics of Government buildings, policemen or soldier. I mean it. Don't even think about it.

In Yangon, some of those nice monks who want to talk to you in temples - aren't. They are ex-monks [like everybody] and live off tourists.

Shwedagon is best done without a guide IMHO. Or, go with a guide and dump 'em. The BEST part there is at sunset. Stay. Sit. Watch. Ahhhh. Easy to grab a cab outside.

Bagan, just find your horse-drawn carriage guy and that's all you'll really need. Just give him a list of where you want to go. Easy as pie on the spot, outside the hotel. Clip clop clip clop sunset, Bagan, temples ahhhhh.

[DON'T go to the tourist temple sunset spot. By some miracle of the sun, sunset happens all over Bagan, not just in the company of 1000 other tourists.]

Inle Lake, as you'll discover, you really need to have it sorted in advance. You can do it on the spot, but the logistics are difficult. 'Wandering around' in the Inle Lake area might be a bit difficult. Errr. swimming around, maybe. You'll also have trouble getting those guides out of their 'itinerary mentality'. Remember, to get anywhere interesting from your hotel you HAVE to go in a boat. Also Pindaya Caves is a long sidetrip. Look on a map. Do them in conjunction with airport. Inle Lake is one side of airport - Pindaya on the other.

One thing, before I forget. Just two blocks away from the Strand there is a book-selling market set up along one side of the street. Go.

Upstairs at Scott Market [find the balcony veranda and walk around it] there are two great shops for ethnic and oddities. Best in the market by far. The rest are the usual tourist stuff - quite a lot of which I rather like.

Best lacquer ware in Bagan.
Best antique lacquer ware in Yangon.
Nothing to buy in Inle.

we bought very nice laq ware on 13th street in a small shop...kway took us there...

WT - Dogster again has pretty much nailed it. You can't wing it at Inle Lake. That being said, it was the most rewarding place we've ever been to with a guide and our guide did not have a preset itinerary - she took us where we said we wanted to go. If you'd like, I can look up Joyce's e-mail and you can contact her directly. I don't know about the Inle Princess area but within walking distance of the Inle Lake Resort where we stayed was a village which we wandered around on our own on its market day. Got some fantastic photos. There are also a couple of restaurants there for those that are adventurous (not us).

As for Bagan, we never would have known about the Buddhist procession if we didn't have a guide. Sometimes doing it on your own but being flexible is the best option.

Looking back, I can say that our trip to Myanmar was one of the most amazing and rewarding trips we have ever taken.

we had none of that kind of stasi stuff....our guide spoke openly in the car but not so openly outside his car...his car is an old toyota btw, but many of the cars there are very old...it has limited a/c...

we used him just as we would use ourselves...that is we changed things around, shortened days, altered days, etc...

you can walk around as much as you want, but seeing the whole town is best done by car...

watch the marble floors at the sw. pagoda....they are very slippery and can be hot mid-day....bring a hat also...

Best new lacquer ware is in Bagan - Golden Cuckoo and Maung Aung Myin across the street from one another.

In case you have been looking at our trip report, our photos are no longer on photosite (now defunct) and are now at:

http://craigandjeane.smugmug.com/gal...14672362_u7duz

Oh, Craig - they are stunning pictures. Wow! I'm SO impressed. Dogster assumes the position of respect. Very fine.

Thanks, Dog - that means a lot, coming from you.

Dogster, should you ever visit my part of the world I should very much like to sit down with you, imbibe a few beers or glasses of wine (whatever is your preferred tipple) - or tapwater if you like - and chew the cud.

But for public consumption I note that the shunning of SA as a tourist destination was in part responsible for it's return to the fold of respected nations. A bigger part may have been played by the moratorium on South Africa taking part in international sporting events.

I am talking cricket and rugby here. Two sports at which SA excelled before the hard times; and two sports in which, since it has been readmitted, it seeks to excel in again.

I honestly do believe that the decision to allow SA to compete again was a huge factor in ending apartheid.

Maybe some South Africans would care to comment?

But Burma/Myanmar does not have even that tenous connection through sport.

So I grant you that the situations are different. But I still wouldn't go there.

The OP and many other visitors don't seem to have any idea that there are moral questions here. To them it's just a destination.

And I guess that is what pisses me off.

Yup, well I think you worked your way thru to the nub of your issue in those last three lines.

I'm not gonna engage you on South Africa; that's oranges, we're talking apples. Totally different, as you agree. Very interesting - but not apropos.

What I detect in your posts is your frustration at the 'passive' political stance you detect in the posters in Fodors. You'll probably get really monstered for suggesting this - or, in a far more lethal form of defence - ignored.

Actually, as I demonstrated in that recent Varanasi post, these guys in here are perfectly able to grasp a problem and run with it - in a most spectacular fashion. That's politics too.

What is also impressive, is that they'll also admit that things are not either 'in their comfort zone' or in their field of experience. I'd far sooner have that than a B.S. artist.

Some choose not to go into politics in here - 'cos it's a travel forum. Some just need a break from fear and loathing.

Some just want some practical info: like WinterTravel. It's a bit like going off to buy the milk and getting waylaid by a preacher. The message might be good, but the timing is lousy.

And some are just like you think. Thick as planks.

But travel is a wonderful thing. I'm told it broadens the mind. So let's be gentle with the politically challenged and give them the opportunity to learn.

Maybe they stumble in uninformed - but I reckon they'll come out the other end with a whole hunka knowledge they would never have found otherwise. That was my experience, anyway. Gotta learn before you can teach.

Don't let that stop you though - if think someone deserves a slap then go for it. Remember,'tho - you have to judge yourself as harshly as you judge others. I can't resist quoting Suu Kyi's last written message.

"All martyrs must finish their mission."

I wonder what she meant by that?

Amazing photos Craig! Thanks all for the other great tips and insights.

Appreciate Dogster's diplomatic comments on why people may choose to go to Myanmar. Don't want to dive into politics/morality on a travel posting, other than to point out that it seems unlikely that many people go to the trouble of planning a trip to an isolated place like Burma without thinking through the pros/cons of engagement vs. isolation. There are valid points on both sides -- as long as people think it through, one has to respect that there is no "right answer" but rather personal choice.

Having been "waylaid by the preacher on the way to get milk" (love that image!), back to the practical. Has anyone flown on Yangon Airways? The agent in Burma who we've contacted to help us with flights has suggested flights on this carrier.

Hi Winter; Yangon Airlines might be good, bad or indifferent - I'm sure others will tell you about their experiences. It's an airline. The plane goes up, they give you a cheese sandwich, the plane comes down. You don't die.

Here's what you have to look forward to.

www.airlinemeals.net/meals/YangonAirways.html

That's about it. I know that piece of dry cake has got you all in a lather. The fact of the matter is that, depending on your itinerary, you'll probably have no other options.

afterall, it's fine for you to moralise about Burma, but you really need to know what it is you're talking about.

Having been in Burma a month ago, I appreciated the welcoming smiles I got from the locals who thanked me for coming. They know that they need the foreign exchange and the tourist dollars. They may hate the regime, but they also know tourists provide many - such as our taxi drivers and the crew on our vessel - with a living.

Without us they would be infinitely worse off.

And how can you truly understand a place if you have never visited? Simply from books, magazines and newspaper articles? In truth, you can't.

I prefer to see things with my own eyes and make my own decision.

Incidentally, a major Australian newspaper recently ran a story about Suu Kyi which indicated that she had lost her spark and gone very quiet of late...not that I blame her.

It was on her advice - given some years ago - that a number of people have made up their minds. But times change.

My wife is a admirer of Suu Kyi, and I had to twist her arm to go.

She now admits that it was a wonderful holiday and learning experience, is glad that she went, and pleased that we at least played a very small part in injecting some money into the pockets of locals.

She knows far more about the Burmese now, and the conditions in which they live. She discovered this first hand - unlike you.....

Yes. And we did meet one of the infernal generals. But like dogster did.