Burma Travel Irrawaddy...

Burma girl is a well know expression not only since Kipling, also today there are plenty of very pretty girls, most of the time wrapped up in long costumes and traditional longiys.

Burmese travel days are usually hot as it is normal in a tropical region but in the north of the country glaciers and snow cover the mountains bringing a very divers weather pattern. It is not advisable to visit Burma during the monsoon season it rains everyday there is constant flooding in particular in the Irrawaddy Delta and all hotel at the beaches are closed down.

- Burma is the largest country in Southeast Asia,

about 2000 km (1300 miles) long, from the lofty mountains of the

Burmese Himalayas in the north to the tropical waters of the Andaman Sea at Kawthaung , the former Victoria Point. opposite Ranong in Thailand

From east to west Burma is about 900 km (570 miles) from the Naaf river on the Bangladesh border to the Mekong river at the border to Laos. A horseshoe of mountains extending from the Tibetan Himalayas forms the natural mountain border of Burma with Bangladesh and India in the west, with China in the north and northeast, and with Laos and Thailand in the east and southeast.

Mount Hkakaborazi (5885 meters or 19296 ft.), is the highest peak in Burma and South East Asia, lies in Naungmong township, Kachin State, at the very north of Burma. The snow peaks of the northern Burmese mountains would be a ideal place to ski, they have been explored by several British adventurer, the military, nature lover and botanists during Anglo Burmese or colonial times. Those few adventurers to the northern mountain jungle of Burma did the first research about plants and wildlife in Burma. Unfortunately in present days 20xx plenty of fortunes hunters from China destroy the fragile eco system after they were stopped to do so in China. Tree cutting by Chinese denudes and destroys the northern Burma.

Where the three borders of China, India and Burma meet is the Diphu Pass, a strategic important point. Mountain streams from these slopes flow south to make the twin-rivulets Meikha and Malikha, which later conjoin (just above the Kachin capital Myitkyina) to form the Irrawaddy River.

From north to south, three Burmese mountain systems with tropical jungle dominates the geography. On the west side its the Arakan or Rakhine Yoma, on the east side the Bago Yoma and further north the Shan Plateau with the beautiful Burma Inle Lake.

The mountain ranges divide Burma into three parallel river valleys, the Burmese Irrawaddy, the Sittang and the Thanlwin River. The blue mountains also form the natural border to southern Thailand all the way down to Kawthaung.

At all this places you will find nice Burmese people as you can see in the Burma photos, videos and other picture.

The Irrawaddy valley is more or less Burma proper. The great Burmese Irrawaddy River river flows through three different climatic region of Burma - : the Kachin heights in the temperate north.

The Burma dry belt starts at the old capital Mandalay down to the ancient Pyu capital Pyi (Prome) and empty the brown waters through the flat river delta around the former Burma capital Rangoon into the Andaman Sea.

On a Rangoon road are many street markets, with vegetables, meat, seafood, crab and plenty of cheap plastic items from China.

 - Burma was conquered by the British colonialists

in the 19. Century and they been there until independence in 1948. In 1990 the country's name was changed to Myanmar (which means all national races and is a expression already used before the British declared the name Burma) to better reflect all the diversity of ethnic groups. The country is also known as the "Land of Pagodas and Temples" and "The Golden Land" since golden pagodas are almost everywhere in the country.

Burma has approximately 45 million people who are divided into over 130 recognized ethnic groups. Burma has borders with Bangladesh, Laos, China, Thailand and the Andaman Sea is on the Westside. Burma is famous for jade, ruby, pearls and all kind of other gems, plus the famous Burma teak.

The landscape of Burma is very divers, from the snow capped mountains of the Burma Himalaya, pristine beaches all along the west coast and on the over 800 islands in the Andaman Sea, most islands are concentrated in the Mergui or Myeik Archipelago. Plus the lowland plains with the famous pagoda city of Bagan, Mandalay and plenty of other ancient cities indicating a glorious past with great images and panoramas of ancient Asia a culture still untainted by western images.

When traveling to Burma there are a couple of must visit places such as Bagan, Mandalay, Inle Lake, Mrauk U at Rakhine or Arakan state. Plus Mount Popa, the abode of the nats, Pindaya Caves, the golden rock pagoda at Kyaiktiyo, Monywa and the former capital Rangoon. The country is also home to two of the largest pagoda and temple areas in the world: Bagan is in central Burma and Mrauk U is close to the northwestern border to Bangladesh. Bagan was an ancient capital of Burma between 1044 and 1287 AD. Today Bagan is the most popular travel destination in the country, more than 2000 temples and pagodas are still around and a lot of them are either restored or still in good conditions.

Mount Popa with 1518 meters in central Burma, very close to Bagan is an extinct volcano with a Monastery and pagodas built on the top, the best view is from another close by hill  Its a real landmark in the central Burma plains.

Further east are the Pindaya Caves on the Shan plateau close to Lake Inle. Limestone caves in the hills are home to thousands of 6000 Buddha images, statues and sculptures. Not far away is the famous Inle Lake with floating villages, monasteries, floating gardens and the "leg rower". Inle lake is at 700 meters above seas level and home of the Pa-O tribe and the Intha, the Intha migrated from Mon State to this area a couple of hundred years ago.

Another landmark of Burma is the Kyaiktiyo pagoda. It sits upon a huge rock which is covered by gold leafs the male pilgrims glue onto the rock, women's are not allowed to come to near to the rock and pagoda. Legend tells that the balance of the pagoda on the rock is held because of a precisely placed Buddha hair.

The Irrawaddy River comes down from the Burma Himalayas and empties the brown water via the Irrawaddy Delta into the Andaman Sea around Rangoon and west of Rangoon.

Mandalay was the last Capitol Kingdom of the Burma Kingdom before the English conquered Burma. Now the city remains the cultural center of Burma and offers tourists a trip back in time........ by the river water buffalo teams can still be seen bringing in logs! A boat trip up the Irrawaddy also reveals an insightful look into village life.

- Burma or is a prime travel destination if the target is to experience culture, friendly people,

beautiful beaches, a grandiose landscape, lush tropical jungle, river cruise on one of Asia's most famous river, the mighty Irrawaddy or Irrawaddy river. Travel in Burma could mean trekking in the untouched Himalayas, exploring forgotten tribes such as the Naga and Chin near the border to India and many other.

Burma travel could also turn to visiting the pristine Burma island world of the Mergui or Myeik archipelago were Salone or Moken sea gypsies still live in the old times of the English colonial area.     The country was shut away for a long time in a corner of the earth between the Himalayas, the ocean, and the mountain jungle on the border to Thailand, now Burma is open for travel. The kindred nations settled within the same natural confines, one after another came under the sway of Burma or . They fought among themselves and they traded among themselves ; the wars and the commerce of the greater world beyond affected them little. The result today is travel in Burma has plenty of excitement to offer, views, news and insights you have never dreamed about. Traveling in the country is different to travel in other countries, mainly in the positive meaning. Travel agents in Burma are plenty.

There are many small travel agent in Burma, tour operators dedicated to a certain market segment. Some of the biggest problems on travel in Burma is to travel outside the big cities such as  Rangoon, Mandalay etc. by road since many roads are in a very bad condition and not wide enough to let 2 vehicles passing each other without problems.

Using the airplane travel option you can completely bypass this problem, but only one beach is served via aircraft travel this is Ngapali Beach in Tantwe, Rakhine State. Some exiting new beach hotels in Burma came up in recent years,  

- Burma Travel Bagan

Aside of being Burma's top travel destination Bagan is also highly reputed for Burma art and architecture, sculpture and painting, archaeological findings and artifacts and is world-famous for thousand and one

pagodas, stupas, chedis, religious edifices and buildings. Suffice it to say that, these cultural values can only be appreciated by a personal visit there. The Road to Mandalay or the river cruise is in fact, a window to the beauty and wealth of Burma.