It is the story of Burma that has captured my imagination more than anything else.  For much of my lifetime the country has lived in total humanitarian darkness - poor, corrupt, authoritarian and isolated.  Many believed that it was trapped in a vicious circle and that the power of the generals would never be released - though this iron grip was matched with a ‘steel orchid’, Aung San Suu Kyi, whose courage and dignity carried the hopes of her nation into a new era of optimism.  In her own words:

The daily commute in Yangon

'The Lady’ as she is affectionately known has herself become a source of inspiration - a character who fully deserves to be placed on a pedestal of great humanitarians alongside great men such as Nelson Mandela and Gandhi.  For those of you who don’t know her story, I can highly recommend watching the recently released biopic that was made about her (called “The Lady”), or at the very least listening to some of her interviews.  When hearing her calm and graceful tone it is hard to imagine that she was imprisoned, threatened and kept from her family for her beliefs and on a personal level I don’t think that any public figure has captured my imagination as a role model as much as she has.  Reading her essays and speeches has proven an uplifting experience that in a world where there is such abject misery inflicted by such terrible characters, it is possible for good people to give the good fight and win.  Desmond Tutu summed it up when he said:

“in physical stature she is petite and elegant, but in moral stature she is a giant.  Big men are scared of her.  Armed to the teeth and they run scared”

A pair of Buddhist monks in Mandalay

It is the flux that Burma finds itself in that makes it even more interesting to the outsider - the changes in the country over the last few years are as monumental as those seen in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism.  I knew that these changes were taking place, but in doing my background reading before I arrived I was able to fully understand their significance.  Emma Larkin’s book “Finding George Orwell in Burma” was superb for this and is a must-read for anybody who is thinking of making the journey.  Even for those not so interested in the socio-economic background of the country, there is plenty to be gained from just visiting and observing - the fields of Bagan, the lake villages of Inle and the temples of Yangon are all thoroughly in the top 10 places that I have seen in South East Asia.  I would pick Yangon over Bangkok and Bagan over Angkor Wat easily. Practically, I admit that there are more challenges than you might find on the more thoroughly worn Asian paths - but for a certain type of traveller that is the whole point.  My perspective of this is perhaps warped slightly as the country was so busy with the water festival, but I reckon you would need to spend about £20 per day to get by, which is slightly higher than you would pay in neighbouring countries.  For the most part we stayed in budget hotels rather than in hostels, which have yet to gain a foothold in the country, but the backpacker network is really springing into life so there is a lot of information around.

The pariah status of the country over the last half-century has knocked it right off the South East Asian circuit.  I hope that this is set to change and I urge anybody who happens to be visiting the area to consider travelling there - as by widening awareness about the country, its people and its problems you help to ensure its continuation along a path to freedom and prosperity.  To finish with one last Aung San Suu Kyi quote:

“use your freedom to promote ours”