Comments On: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar by Brendan Kiley http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2013/01/23/how-i-spent-my-winter-vacation-a-few-notes-on-burmamyanmar Comments On: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar by Brendan Kiley en-us Copyright 2013 The Stranger. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, The Stranger readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Wed, 19 Jun 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 23:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by Mister G]]> Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:06:32 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by St. Beretta]]> Sun, 27 Jan 2013 07:52:32 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by whiskeypony]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 16:29:07 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
Grow a sense of humor. And some fucking manners.
Posted by bleedingheartlibertarian]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:53:46 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by Chilliwack]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 11:12:19 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
I would second that the game looks like Carrom. Striker, men, corner pockets. Carrom originating in Burma. I'm sure they have a different name for it there but all signs point to Carrom. But then all I have is a picture to go on....

I'm not sure I'd be brave enough to let pickled snake liquid be rubbed on me :S
Posted by Dirk7]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:22:28 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
I don't think the game was carom, but seemed like a variation on it. The name sounded like "la-tau-co," but I never saw it written down anywhere.
Posted by Brendan Kiley]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:38:46 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
That game you are playing looks vaguely similar to a game called Carrom.
Posted by treacle]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:22:57 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by tedwardma]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:21:23 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by Callie]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 09:12:15 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by katrat]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 07:44:45 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by pfffter]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 07:43:12 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
You know, you're kind of making bhl's case there, rather than refuting it.

Your pickup-driving-real-authentic-redneck-who-nonetheless-lives-in-the-city identity collapsed under its own ridiculousness at about the same time Linda's Tavern opened.
Posted by robotslave]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:25:29 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
He's not saying he went to Rangoon before it was cool, he's saying "Burma" is a really disappointing title for Yangon's first album, and while he can see why newcomers like Kiley are drawn to it, he really prefers the singles.

For myself, I'm more interested in what Brendan is implying with this:

"Whereas Iraq and Afghanistan have been a rocky and violent examples of forced national-building from the outside, Burma looks like it's poised to begin the process from within."


I think what he means is "any foreign government the US supports is evil." But I suspect things won't play out exactly the way his magic decoder-ring has prophesied, what with the government of Iraq looking far more stable than it has any right to be, and the government of BuRaYaMyar looking like the very definition of "fluid."
Posted by robotslave]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 03:10:24 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by Mister G]]> Thu, 24 Jan 2013 00:17:40 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
I'd be careful about throwing around that hipster label, if I were you...
Posted by bleedingheartlibertarian]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:35:06 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by wingedkat]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:36:17 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> future tourists being "the inevitable entitled jerks?" From the hipster patronization that your article (and its comments) shows so well, I'd say that the hipster Kathmandu-ization of "Burma/Myanmar" is well underway, as illustrated by one "inevitable entitled jerk" who wrote about it for the Stranger.

I'm so glad I went there almost 20 years ago, before the arrival of fuckedupness. The only thing missing was the promotion of opportunities for 20-something English teachers. I guess that'll have to wait for the followup.
Posted by Mister G]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:16:17 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
If you travel in Burma any place that isn't government controlled, which is easy enough to do, they operate entirely on a black market economy. You ignore the official exchange rate, and exchange US currency for local currency on the black market, at a fraction of the official government rate. But this all has to be done with cash. No ATMS, no travelers checks. When I was there, there was no access to the internet at all. It was like going into a black hole, and completely losing communication with the outside world until I returned to Bangkok.
Posted by Reverse Polarity]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:17:25 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by gnossos]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 21:12:01 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
That is the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, where you have to apply in advance for a tourist visa. It takes four days so they can make sure you are not a journalist or human rights activist. Immigration visas to the USA are quite another story.
Posted by KSea1]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:05:39 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]>
I only spent a day in Yangon to see Schwedegon Pagoda (impressive but a tad schlockly for my tastes). I preferred the Bagan's Archeology Zone, with over 2,000 temples and shrines crammed into 40 square miles 700-1200 years ago. Wikipedia has many good photos: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagan.

I used small guesthouses, restaurants and other services instead of the government-run ones (like Brendan and Bethany did) and I recommend others do as well. Tourism is a mixed blessing in poor countries, but I hope it will keep the Myanma government making progress.
Posted by KSea1]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 19:00:17 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by U Tin Oo]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 18:59:19 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by Sargon Bighorn]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:44:49 -0800 The Stranger <![CDATA[Re: How I Spent My Winter Vacation: A Few Notes on Burma/Myanmar]]> Posted by Gillian Anderson]]> Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:44:35 -0800 The Stranger