Myanmar/Burma : to go or not to go?

Myanmar is the name of the land, Burma ("Bamar") is the name of the main ethnical group. This country is a harsh dictatorship since 1962, and there s no end in sight. The use of e-mail is forbidden, foreign press is censored, the National League for Democracy, which won 80% of the vote in the last election (there were 20% fraud) is banned.

The people are very welcoming to foreigners, and a lot of them, including military officers, criticize their government. In the countryside, the people I ve met, look quite happy and not really concerned by political problems, but in the cities, the situation is tense. A bomb exploded in the main Yangoon market when I was there. The Karen, the Shan, the Chin, and the Kayin ethnical groups are all fighting on the borders for more autonomy (they do a lot of drug and arms trafficking - that s why all the border areas are closed to foreigners).

The central part of the country is densely populated, mostly along the Irrawady River. Unlike, the Mekong which flows in 6 states, the Irrawady has its source and delta in only one country : Myanmar. It s a beautiful and powerful river that can be navigated downstream on 3 different boats (see picture) from Mandalay to Bagan, from Bagan to Piay, and from Piay to the Sea in approximately One Week. Have a good trip.

Burma : a military state, without a state; a passenger ferry on the Irrawady, sailing near Mandalay, Mingun pagoda is the biggest brick building in the word - it was spectacularly destroyed by an earthquake, a trishaw is a mix of India rickshaw with Indochina cyclo, the Inle Lake floating market, a betel shop in Kalaw - betel is the local addiction in Myanmar/Burma, the tallest Bagan pagoda amid 2400 other ones, a buddha underground painting in Bagan

a vietnamese artist exposes his views on his country at the french cultural center in Hanoi