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

Homeward Bound

By Sai Zom Hseng, posted on: July 14, 2011

Fourteen people sat in the room, each from a different background, but each with the same goal — to go back to Burma. I sat silently, too nervous to break the icy silence in the room, which smelled dreadful from body sweat, mold and cigarette smoke. The floor was dusty, the walls were damp and stained, and apart from a broken rusted wash-hand basin, there were no facilities or furnishings. The room had no windows and no air-conditioning, and was located on the top floor of a cheap karaoke bar ... » read more