Traders Yangon (Rangoon)

So I just finished writing my India blog and I am already starting Myanmar(Burma) the next day! Why am I doing this? Because there's so much to say about our initial entrance in Myanmar! We sailed into the river around 630 yesterday evening and were docked by 8. Our captain was mad because the govt. gave our slot away to come into the river to an oil tanker so we had to wait and then the tides changed and we couldn't turn around so now we have to be on ship two hours earlier at the end. Anywa...

Burma.... who would have thought that this would be my favorite country thus far. A little background: essentially Myanmar as it is now called is a military oppressed country where the US barely recognizes its existence. The poverty levels were definitely in effect, but never seemed beyond imagination in all of the places I visited. The military is known to be unfriendly to foreigners and their presence is definitely felt pretty much everywhere. Semester at Sea does random drug testing and be...

Date: October 31st, 2005 Highlights: Shewdedagon Pagoda, Scott Market and Myanmar Traditional Massage To my surprise, I was very impressed with the city of Yangon. With a population of over five million, it has been said that the city gives off a different impression from other Asian capitals of similar size. The city is full of trees and shade, with some outlying neighborhoods refreshingly overgrown, that take on a more provincial feel rather than that of an international city. The city has ...

Sorry for the delay in posting my blog. I have been sick the last couple of days. We are now in Vietnam. I hope to have pictures up in a couple of days. Myanmar is the one country on our itinerary that most people know nothing about. Most people know that the people are oppressed by the government, and President Bush addressed Myanmar in his state of the union address, but most people know nothing about the people or the country So the main question is why did we go there? We went there for t...

Written by Nelly Long bus ride from Nyaungshwe to Yangon We wanted to be back in Yangon for Christmas, so on Christmas Eve we embarked on yet another long bus ride back to Yangon. Since no long distance bus leave from Nyaungshwe, we had to take a line car to get to Shweyaung, 11 km north of Nyaungshwe. We were told to wait at some tea shop in Shweyaung for the bus to Yangon. At the tea shop, we met a Belgium traveller waiting for the bus as well. While we were waiting for the bus, a Burmese m...

Burma Journal March 21, 2006 Upon arrival to Burma, our ship faced a choice and heated debated regarding the ethical issues behind our visit. The military dictatorship government ruling over the people of Burma made many people uneasy about visiting the country. The U.S. Government with its embargo and the human rights issues behind visiting really challenged the climate behind our visit. Our inter-port lecturer lives in Burma as a human rights agent behind the political situation, she shared...

Up at 4.45am to catch the 8am flight to Yangon (Rangoon). Suvamabhumi Airport grows on me more every time I visit and this time we left a watch lighter as we bought one for Elly. I started suffering Photographicus Paranoia - the irrational fear that you don't have enough camera memory. Luckily I convinced myself that I wouldn't shoot more than 1100 photos so avoided buying gigabytes of additional memory. Flew Thai Airways to Yangon (Rangoon) and after an hour landed at Yangon International Ai...

Woke early, post jet lag so went in search of an Internet connection. Found the business center in the Traders Hotel and logged onto Gmail, Facebook and Twitter without an issue. It looks like the regime blocks most IRC and IM services. Then we picked up by Stella (name changed) and Harry (name changed) from for a day touring Yangon. Visited the Mon Hoeing monastery where 1300 monks and novices live and study. There was an enormous feeling of tranquility as they quietly queued for their meal ...

We arrived in one day after leaving India (good thing because I guess there was a typhoon in India a few days later) in a small port about 45 minutes outside of the capital Yangon. The port area was dry and not very attractive; all we could see was brown grass and cargo boxes. We got off the ship around 2 because of a short delay. There were shuttle buses running from our port to Yangon every hour. We arrived in Yangon at the Traders' hotel in the heart of the city. We walked around for a whi...

Okay so we are going into the worst country in the world as far as civil rights goes. The contry is led by a military regime and which won't take into account that they allowed free elections a decade ago, and Aung San Suu Kyi is supposed to be the rightful leader of the country. Unfortunately she's been under house arrest for the past ten years. Apparently you are not allowed to call Myanmar, Burma, which is the name that the country was given when it first became an independent country. Whe...