Tours of Burma (r)

[strider@xxxxxxxxxxx]

/* Written  9:43 pm  Jul  1, 1994 by strider@xxxxxxxxxxx in igc:soc.cult.burma */
/* ---------- "Tours of Burma" ---------- */
Regarding tours of Burma, I understand that the K.N.L.A. regularly treks 
the countryside in the Karen State.  For travel around the Three Pagodas 
Pass area you might want to contact N.M.S.P. since their treks in the 
area have been mentioned in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.  Although 
most Burmese don't seem to like camping, there is a group called the 
A.B.S.D.F. that set up some camping sites in Northern and Eastern Burma.

For tours of central Burma (especially if you want to travel by air) you 
should contact the Tatmadaw office.  They cover most of the country but 
I've heard complaints about their work.  Another group that has the 
country pretty well covered is M.I.S. but again, they're government owned 
and their customer service leaves something to be desired.  

The last good independent tour that I heard of was led by a woman who 
lives in Rangoon named Aung San Suu Kyi.  Her English is pretty good and 
her tour to Kachin State and other parts of Burma was well received by 
foreigners and Burmese alike.  Her tour got much higher ratings than the 
government sponsored ones the last time they held a survey, which I think 
was in 1990.  Unfortunately, she hasn't been travelling much lately so 
if you go, you may be stuck with one of the inferior services.  One word 
of warning about tour guides, some of them are real crooks.  The worst 
one is named Khin Nyunt and I think he works for M.I.S.  He's really 
nosey, not very polite and and the places he wants you to go are a bit 
odd (he keeps talking about taking people to "see the light" and then 
"come back to the fold."  I don't know about you but I'm more interested 
in temples and palaces.

Hope this helps and do let us know how your tour goes.

Regards,

 Strider