"...A female author?s exciting, but ugly account of her travels in Burma?s border areas... Down the Rat Hole, which, like Burmese Looking Glass, is beautifully written. It is also outright exciting because she really does go through one adventure after another. She was trapped in a cyclone in Bangladesh while interviewing refugees from Burma. She sneaked into Kachin State from China with her hair dyed black and disguised as a Muslim woman. She traveled to Manipur, a restricted area in India?s northeast, as member of a ?bona fide tour group?—but that was only an excuse to get into an area riddled with ethnic strife, drug abuse, and AIDS. She crossed the Mekong river into Burma?s Shan State from Laos, and everywhere documented forced labor, rape and torture. But Down the Rat Hole also reflects her disappointment with some of the rebel groups she once had felt so close to..."