Travel to Myanmar

Lonely Planet Myanmar (Burma)

Format: Paperback
Author: Steven Martin
ReleaseDate: 09 January, 2002
Publisher: Lonely Planet Publications
Rating:

Window on a Strange Land
Burma's political isolation renders it attractive in many ways, not the least of which is that it has what seems to be a hundredth of the tourists that Thailand has. This is the best handbook I found while preparing for my trip to Burma, although it must be noted that there is not a lot of competition. That in turn makes this handbook all the more valuable, since one doesn't have fellow tourists on every corner to turn to for help. Those who complain that the prices are out of date are being a little absurd, since even a doubling of the rate on a twelve dollar hotel (which is about average) still leaves it on the extreme cheap end of international standards.

Lonely Planet Myanmar's real strength is its discussions of Burmese culture past and present, within the context of a travel guide. Thus, while having great beach time at Sittwe, I could track down the birthplace of Saki (the writer, not the wine), and muse that British merchant ships were just beginning to come into its harbor around the time their influence in Boston was beginning to wane. I tried but failed to get into one of Burma's nature preserves to see one of the world's remaining free tigers. Not that they want my advice, but it seems to me that the military government could burnish their reputation and bring in tons of foreign currency at the same time by arranging tours of the domains of these vanishing cats. By doing so, it seems to me they could far outstrip places like Costa Rica, which are raking in billions of eco-tourism dollars even without the benefit of so-called "charismatic megafauna". Say what you will about the tiger, but if there's one thing it's got over the rest of us faunae, it's charisma.

In the course of my travels I met a guide by the name of Aree. She was from the vicinity of Mandalay, and specialized in the ancient capitals of the north. I didn't know any way of verifying her claim to be descended from one of the last royal families of Burma, but she certainly looked every inch the princess, in spite of the Kia she drove. And I can thank this Lonely Planet guide for the privilege of her company, since without the warnings on pages 54 and 106 against public displays of affection, I would undoubtedly have alienated her and had to traipse through the ruins by myself. As it was, I learned an immense amount from her about Burma and its history, all delivered in intermediate English with the Southeast Asian accent that is so charming. I recall in particular her spiel on the ailing Kia, which needed "a blake job and a toom up and a hando for door. . . all these things vely expenshiv". I can only hope my halting Burmese sounds half so winsome.

On the subject of language and pronunciation, LP Myanmar could be improved by the addition of International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation guides in the glossary and for the major place names. It would be nice, when buying tickets in Yangon to know how to pronounce Mrauk U and Shinbithalyaung and Wetkyi-in. Still and all, it is mainly the reader who may be improved by a thorough reading of this excellent volume prior to a trip to Burma.
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DO NOT TRAVEL TO BURMA
Forced labour has been used to develop many tourist facilities. Tourism is an important source of income for the dictatorship in Burma, providing it with millions of pounds every year. Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has asked tourists not to visit Burma.

Not helpful
This guidebook is hopelessly outdated in regard to practical information. I just came back from Myanmar. It is at least 10 years behind on current conditions which are constantly changing. The only useful information is concerning sightseeing but even that is inaccurate. The problem is that there is no other current guidebook in print. For hotels use the internet directrooms. com, asiarooms. com or asiahotels. com. .

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