Myanmar

Myanmar (20 November, 2003)


Myanmar (Myanmarese: မြန်မာ) is the biggest country on mainland Southeast Asia. Formerly known as Burma, Myanmar is a country that tends to stir up controversy. After years under an atrocious regime, the country is finally inching its way towards becoming a democracy. Nevertheless its years of shunning itself from the outside world has helped to preserve much of its culture and historic buildings.

This guide on Myanmar is created to help people who are planning a Myanmar tour. Myanmar is not a pricey destination. What you would face are infrastructure challenges. I hope that this budget travel guide can do justice to all that the country has to offer.

Cities & Places of Interest

Places of Interest in Myanmar

It is not difficult to find people who refuse to visit Myanmar because they cannot agree with the regime that runs the country. AsiaExplorers maintains that all countries in Asia, regardless their political climate, is worth a visit, as long as it is still safe to go there. And as far as Myanmar is concerned, it is still relatively safe.

By visiting a country, we get to see things for ourselves, and not take everything reported to us at face value. There is nothing like visiting a country to confirm what we have heard to be true or otherwise. While we may not be in full agreement with the government that runs the country, we should also ask ourselves whether ostracizing the country will at all benefit its people. At the very least, the presence of foreign eyes in the country deter its government from excesses that we can report back.

While it may be true that in cases like Myanmar, tourists only get to visit the sanitized regions, and not places which its government is not fond to show, nonetheless the influx of tourist and the tourist dollar is much needed to alleviate the suffering of the Myanmar people. Visitors to Myanmar may be keen to note that just fifty years ago, this was one of the richest countries in Asia, a nett exporter of rice, wealthier than Korea and Taiwan. How is it possible that within a short space of time, Myanmar has regressed from the richest to the poorest?

To say that Myanmar is poor may also be incorrect. It all depends on the yardstick we use to measure wealth. If wealth is measured in dollars, then Myanmar is way behind the rest of Asia. But if it is measured by living standard, then they may not be so far behind. Bear in mind that Myanmar is predominantly a rural community. Generally, the people are religious. Their devotion to Buddhism is visible from the amount of gold leaf that clad the many stupas and Buddha images throughout the country. If a dollar amount is placed on all the gold and precious gems cladding the temples, then Myanmar is far from poor. The wants of the people is vastly different from those living in Singapore or Hong Kong. Moreover, the people's aspiration may be vastly different from those of other Asian nations. Becoming a monk may hold a greater sense of fulfillment than the 4Cs of car, condo, credit cards and career.

Myanmar Travel Information

Time Zone: 6½ hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.
Currency: kyat
Language: Burmese, spoken by 80% of the population.
International Dialing Code: 95
Population: 48 million (2007)
Religion: Theravada Buddhism (90%), with minority observances of Muslim, Hindu and Christian
Electricity: 230V 50Hz
Electrical Outlet: 2-pronged round pin and 3-pronged pin plugs. See details at http://www.kropla.com/electric.htm
Driving: On the right side of the road.

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Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.

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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.