The beautiful people of Myanmar
Country #56 of my Life's adventures took me to Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. I was brought up with stories of my grandfather's time in South East Asia during the second world war, and combined with my already existing obsession for all that is Asia, I had to visit. With unsuccessful attempts to visit in 2006 & 2010, it was 3rd time lucky in 2017.....and it was so worth the wait!
For many years, Myanmar has remained closed to tourism, due to military rule. Until 2012, where elections ruled in favour of Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD). This was massive for the people of Myanmar, opening borders and trade routes, giving opportunity for businesses to thrive, encouraging travel in & out of the country. Now is the time for the people of Myanmar to prosper.
Travelling to Myanmar, I had high expectations of unique travel, beautiful landscapes and traditions, incredible people and humbling experiences all at a reasonable cost.... my expectations were blown out of the water. Constantly overcome with emotion, the locals would shout "Mingilibar" (hello, in Burmese), with smiles from ear to ear, proud that a Westerner has visited their lands.
A common traveller route would take on the big 4 - Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake & Yangon [seperate blogs will follow for each location]. As there was so much to see and do at these locations and within only 2 weeks of travel, we opted to use these big 4 as hubs to explore - What an adventure it was!!!!
More blogs to follow as well as 'Myanmar Gallery'.
