Two Backpackers in Burma

By Lucie Durcová, posted on: June 15, 2011

When we left for Burma, our friends were shaking their heads uncomprehendingly, our parents were angry, and we had been "officially" labeled "insane". I couldn’t imagine what it would be like in a country where a military junta (now a “government”) was in charge. We were afraid the locals would not be willing to talk to us out of fear that it would cause them problems. In the beginning, they seemed not only very reserved, but sometimes hostile. No warm smiles from ear to ear of the kind we had experienced the year before in Vietnam. » read more

Five Days in Burma

By Aung Zaw, posted on: February 26, 2012

As the plane descended into Rangoon’s international airport, I noticed a slight change in my heartbeat. I felt calm, but also excited, knowing that I was about to return to Burma for the first time in 24 years. Inside the airport, a young immigration officer smiled as I gave him my passport. He was quite chatty, asking me about The Irrawaddy – how we gather news from inside Burma, how we designed our website. With a smile that betrayed his betel-chewing habit – his teeth had a telltale tinge of ... » read more