Burma Travel Book Review by B. Lint

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Subject: Burma Travel Book Review by B. Lintner



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Far Eastern Economic Review

Travel Book Review


by Bertil Lintner

"Thailand, Indochina & Burma Handbook"
Trade & Travel, Bath, England    14.95 pounds

It is not often that a guidebook tells you that the government of
the country you are going to visit is awful, but this one does. 
Burma's military regime is described as "virtueless" and
"tyrannical."  The book does not even shun the controversy of
possible official complicity in the Golden Triangle opium trade. 
This does not bode well for Burma, which wants 1995 to be Visit
Myanmar Year (Myanmar has been the official name of the country
since 1989).

Despite its obvious political bias, the extensive Burma section of
this 1,100 page guidebook is by far the most informative guide to
the country published in recent years.  It contains a wealth of
information about the history of the country, the flora and fauna,
its many ethnic minorities, culture, economy and even politics. 
Embassies are listed with addresses and telephone numbers, and
there is a useful reading list.  It serves as an excellent
introduction to the complexities of post-1988 Burma.

The description of each city is preceded by a short historical
sketch.  Major attractions are meticulously listed and described,
as are vital services and hotels.  Even more miraculously, the
information appears to be up to date, rare for books in this genre.

The guide is written the best British literary tradition.  The
Nankand Canal leading to Inle Laek in Shan State, for instance, is
"marked with wooden railing and the round mile posts give it the
appearance of a giant flooded racecourse.  With the mountains as a
backdrop, Inle bears comparison with Kashmir's Dal Lake in India."

But perhaps equally British, there is very little about food and
local cuisine--and where to get it.  Restaurants are listed as a
matter of fact: where they are and when they close, to make sure
you can fill your stomach before going on the next excursion. 
Unlike the French in Indochina, who developed an exquisite cuisine
with the local Vietnamese, the British did little more than
introduce roast beef and Yorkshire pudding--still being served at
the legendary Candacraig Hotel in the hill station of Maymyo (new
renamed Pyin Oo Lwin, though most people still call it by the old
name, Maymyo).

Despite the British influence, the people's of Burma have managed
to preserve their cooking skills, and a note on Burmese food would
have been useful.  Most restaurants in Burma may serve bland food--
perhaps a legacy of British colonialism--but market stalls,
especially in Shan State, serve tasty rice noodles, bean curd and
fish baked in a bamboo stalk over an open fire.

The book makes the point that "Burma is generally a lot safer for
tourists than it is for local Burmese."  Foreigners are probably
safer in Rangoon than in most other Asian capitals, but locals who
become too friendly with the visitors are likely to be harassed by
local security officers.  A useful sidebar deals with Burma's
ubiquitous military intelligence: "Rangoon's paranoid
intelligentsia joke that while George Orwell's novel "Burmese Days"
is popular, the sequel is even better--1984."  It points out that
most foreigners in Burma are under surveillance, a useful reminder
for a traveller to any totalitarian state.