Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Still Wowed by Burma

We're heading to Burma in 2 days, Dec 17. I will update on Kathie's info when we're home in January. Her advice and information have been very helpful in the practical planning.

We have been travelling in Asia since the early 1970s (well, my husband was in the war there in the 1960s but that was survival, not travelling) and it has been interesting to see how quickly places change. Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand all changed in the blink of an eye in the 1970s, Vietnam in a couple of years after 1998 once money started pouring in, changed immensely and is now a bit like Thailand thanks to the comrade capitalists.

We were in Indonesia again in June, and that place is also changing rapidly compared to our last visit in 2009. We expect Burma is presently undergoing the same transformation, as Indonesion President Yuduhono was instrumental in getting the Burmese generals to loosen up.

Burma will be interesting, but I don't expect it to be a revelation, anything more or less than the rest of Asia. Maybe I have spent too much time there over the years and have gotten too acclimatised.

Having said that, if there are any major surprises about the practicalities, I'll be sure to report the facts (the previous biggest surprise we had in Indochina years ago was travelling at night in the countryside of Vietnam, being driven by our friend's nephew...the locals don't use headlights because apparently they use too much petrol, so head-on collisions are very common and we had some near misses).

Also, it's wise to carry a knife and ride in the back seat if you are going with a driver who is unknown to you through direct recommendation outside of major cities. Just saying, through personal experience.

Lots more about that from our years in Asia, including our 28yo son just having been stuck up at knifepoint in Chiang Mai last week....