Page 6 - The Rough Guide to Myanmar (Burma)

4 INTRODUCTION 0 200
MYANMAR BURMA Hkakabo Razi
(5881m) kilometres
BHUTAN Dibrugarh Putao N
Nanyun

Guwahati Khamti CHINA
INDIA
Myitkyina
Indawgyi
Lake
Homalin Hopin
Introduction to Imphal Naba Shwegu Bhamo Kunming
Myanmar (Burma) Aizawl Kalay Tamu Kawlin Ayeyarwady River Katha Namhsan Muse
Namhkan
Mawlaik
Kalewa
Lashio
BANGLADESH Hakha River Shwebo Kyaukme Hsipaw Thanlyin River
Until recently the least-known nation in Southeast Asia, Myanmar is finally Monywa Mingun Pyin Oo Lwin VIETNAM
Chindwin
getting the attention it deserves. For half a century, the country languished Mt Victoria Mandalay Mong La
(3053m) Pakokku
in self-imposed obscurity under the rule of its despotic and enigmatic Nyaung U Mt Popa Kengtung
Bagan (1518m) Pindaya Taunggyi Loilem
military rulers, little visited and even less understood. All that is now
Mrauk U Meiktila Thazi Nyaungshwe Tachileik
changing, and with breathtaking speed. Following recent economic and Magwe Kalaw Inle L AO S
Sittwe Minbu Lake Thanlyin River Mae
political upheavals, the national landscape is being transformed in ways that Ann Sai
NAYPYITAW Loikaw
were unimaginable even a few years ago, and visitors have begun flocking to
Myanmar in unprecedented numbers. Pyay Taungoo
Taunggok Hpasawng
Ironically, it’s precisely these decades of suffocating political isolation, combined with B AY OF Ngapali Thandwe Thanlyin River
economic stagnation, that have helped preserve much of Myanmar’s magically time- BENG AL Gwa Ayeyarwady River Mt Kyaiktiyo VIENTIANE
warped character into the twenty-first century (albeit at a terrible human cost). The old Bago
Burma immortalized by Kipling and Orwell is still very much in evidence today: this Chaung Tha Kyaikhto Hpa-An
Thaton
remains a land of a thousand gilded pagodas, of ramshackle towns and rustic villages Ngwe Saung Pathein Twante Yangon Myawaddy Mae Sot
Mawlamyine
populated with innumerable red-robed monks and locals dressed in flowing, sarong-like
Thanbyuzayat
longyi, their faces smeared in colourful swirls of traditional thanaka. It’s a place in which THAIL AND
life still revolves around the temple and the teahouse, and where the corporate chains Ye
and global brands that have gobbled up many other parts of Asia remain notably
conspicuous by their absence. Kanchanaburi
It’s also a uniquely diverse nation. Physically, Myanmar encompasses landscapes ranging Dawei Htee Phu Nam
Kee Ron BANGKOK
from the fertile plains of the majestic Ayeyarwady River to the jungle-covered highlands of
Shan State, and from the jagged, snowy Himalayan peaks bounding the northern edge of
Metres Palaw
the country down to the emerald confetti of tropical islands dotting the Andaman Sea in AND AMAN
3000 SEA Myeik
the far south. Culturally, too, it’s a bewilderingly eclectic place, sandwiched between
2000 Myeik
Bangladesh, India, China and Thailand – all of which have exerted their own distinctive Archipelago GULF OF
influence on Burmese architecture, culture, cuisine and much more. Myanmar’s position 1000 Bokpyin THAIL AND
500
at one of Asia’s great cultural watersheds also accounts for its extraordinary ethnic
diversity, with well over a hundred minority peoples who continue to follow their 200
0 Kawthaung Ranong
ABOVE A FISHERMAN ON INLE LAKE; NUNS’ SANDALS OUTSIDE A TEMPLE

001-021_Myanmar-B2_Intro.indd 4 30/06/17 4:06 pm