Myanmar 2004 bike tour - Asia

MYANMAR, 'BUDDHIST HOSPITALITY'

The biggest country of continental South East Asia changed its name in 1989. In that year Burma became Myanmar. Another recent change came in 2006 when Yangon, known as Rangoon lately, left being the capital city for Naypyidawe.

Myanmar´s latest History is a bit convulsive. The country has been ruled by a military junta, which has ignored elections twice, they were won by the National League for Democracy. The military dictatorship has suppressed systematically any attempt of opposition, arresting the most important activists against the regime, such as the nobel peace prize Aung San Suu Kyi (1991). She has spent fifteen of the last twenty-one years in prison or under house arrest. On 23^th September in 2007 more than 10,000 buddhist monks took part in a demostration in Yangon demanding democracy and freedom for Burmese people. The protest was crushed by the military authority brutally.

Most of the 61 million people of the country profess Theravāda Buddhism, that is so that speaking of Myanmar is speaking of Buddhism. There are around 400,000 monks and 75,000 nuns living and studying in hundreds of monasteries all around the Burmese geography. Some of those monasteries count up to more than 1,000 monks. Buddhist philosophy believes that human behaviour causes its next rebirth, so good actions are rewarded and bad actions are punished. Thanks to those religious principles we 'take advantage' of the situation sleeping six nights at monasteries or temples. More than saving money we pursued a fresh different experience. Not only were we allowed to sleep, but also we were treated like special guests deserving all kind of attentions. Because of this we could confirm that it was true everything we had heard about buddhist hospitality.

After travelling ten years ago to Myanmar I recommend you to visit the following page. Ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation (Spain). You could find updated information about how you can get the visa and any other extra requirements.

In the following link: Ministry of foreign affairs and cooperation (Spain), you can find daily updated information about country travel advice.