Nawarat Hotel Yangon (Rangoon)

After an amazing ten days travelling around Myanmar, we returned to work in Yangon for a relatively full-on week running leadership training for the national staff here and continuing to work on the strategic plan and funding strategy. As hoped, actually living in one of our destinations rather than just travelling through has opened up some fascinating windows on, and stories of, life in Myanmar. It is wonderful to have some time to get to know both our local and expat colleagues ...

... and gruyere&#8230; You can seemingly get most things in Yangon from the latest Sony gadgets to Oakleys to opium or Russian weapons if you know the right house to call. <br><br>We are actually going travelling round Myanmar this coming week as the Country Director is off on training and holiday and he asked us to maximise our overlap with him and change our travel plans from the end of our time here. We head to Bagan to see the temples tomorrow!

... we couldn't say no, and so we stayed at their guest house. Already I knew I would love this country! As we explored the city we were transported to a new land of men in skirts (longyis), women with brown paste on their faces (thanakha which is sunscreen) and blood red splats on the ground (betel nut juice spat out from the chewers).<br><br>As mentioned before Myanmar is not a rich country and again the contrasts from Bangkok were massive. There are very few big buildings here and there ...

... gave them to us had disappeared into the crowd..........a little girl tugged at my shorts .....i looked down to see her offering me a Team bandanna..........she had been send down from row Z by her parents..........i had to refuse as i had been given one 10 minutes earlier..............lit cigarettes appeared in our hands.......as the game kicked off..................it was non stop, and we found this kind of thing all over Myanmar............<br>I definately fell in love with the ...

... was able to get my things. YEAH! I decided to change and put long pants on instead of my sweaty clothes. While I was in the toilet (hole in the ground that you fill will water from a bucket to flush) I dropped my skort on the wet floor while changing, not once, but three times. Needless to say, I was a bit upset! I hope I don't have to burn it now! The bus departed on time at 5:30. After the first hour Bill and I noted that the non-stop horn honking by the ...

... than usual. Most places in places in Yangon block Yahoo, but there should be a few places that don't. Seems like the places I went last time have started to block them. I give up after a while, I can do it in Bangkok. After the sun goes down, it's time find some football and dinner. This is easy and I settle in for rice, beer and the North London Derby. On the way back some guys are playing football in the street ...

... of the city at night), headed to her twelve hour shift as a night clerk in a hotel where she worked six nights a week. <br><br>INLE LAKE, MYANMAR<br><br>Twenty-two mile long Inle Lake sits in a valley between two ridges of mountains about a seven hour bus ride south of Mandalay on bad roads&#8230;or a twenty five minute flight and an hour taxi ride. We opted for the flight as you might have guessed.<br><br>Inle Lake is home to the Intha tribal group and located in ...

... my long-expired staff ID card as support. After a few days of 'investigation,' the Embassy deemed me not to be "a threat to the stability and security of the Union of Myanmar." The reason many developed countries have adopted a travel ban to Burma is that the military junta has one of the worst histories of human rights violations in the world. The junta uses forced labor, requiring people to use their hands if they cannot provide their own shovels for digging ...

... recognizable in the metal cans hanging from the bamboo poles slung across their shoulders. Burmese in all their purity or multiple probabilities of ethnic mixes, Indians, Chinese, etc... all the people, products of recent journeys or migrations long entrenched, the convergence of brilliantly varied heritages descended upon from all the lands that border this one... India, China, Thailand, Laos, Bangladesh. Simply put, stepping foot into Burma is like stepping into another world...

Myanmar: 23.06.08 - 11.07.08 Nachdem wir in Thailand einige nette Leute von Myanmar kennengelernt hatten sind Dave und ich neugierig geworden und haben spontan entschieden uns selbst einen Blick ueber das Land zu verschaffen. Um ehrlich zu sein,wusste ich gar nicht so viel ueber Myanmar oder auch bekannt als Birma. Erst als im letzten Monat der Cyclon Nargis das Land so schlimm getroffen hat bin ich ein bisschen schlauer geworden. Eine strenge Militaer Regierung herrscht ueber das Land die ...