Mingalaba from Myanmar
Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar
Mingalaba from Myanmar (pronounced like slurring together “me an’ ma”). Some enterprising folks have figured out how to get around the government controls on access to the internet. So it’s available (but pricey) in the larger towns. We had thought that the name “Myanmar” was introduced recently by the government. But, in fact, it dates back to the time of Marco Polo at least. The name “Burma” is a bastardization of the word “Bamar” (the largest ethnic group here) by the British colonizers.
We’ve spent our time visiting many of the temples at Bagan, hiking and sipping Burmese milk tea in the cool Shan state highlands, and smoking lots of opium (just kidding). They’ve let us past all of the military checkpoints so far, and assuming the border at Tachileik is open when we get there, we’ll walk back into Thailand on the 28th. Better post this before the power goes out.
Tags: Myanmar
Kelly & Marcus
August 20th, 2005 at 8:20 am
Walking back – sounds interesting – seems like a safe bet for getting back out to Thailand 🙂
Loved your reply to Byron, Marc, I had forgotten all about the 1 sheet on the bed issue – Nita and I even had that problem in the UK.
Stay safe, well and in touch when you can….
Love, Mom xoxox
August 22nd, 2005 at 1:12 pm
Surprised you would even joke about smoking in that part of the world. Isn’t that like joking at our airports about rembering to pack the bombs.
August 26th, 2005 at 10:16 pm
So let us know if Mandalay is anything like the casino in Vegas. Cuz everything else in Vegas is so close to the real thing.
August 31st, 2005 at 6:56 pm
Pete – Never been into the Mandalay hotel in Vegas myself, but if the ground is covered in red betel nut spit and everyone is wearing a skirt, then yeah it’s pretty close.