Just wondering if any of our members have been to Burma recently? I'm looking for hotel, food, shopping, and cruising recommendations. Thanks!

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Best hotel is Kandawgyi Palace. You should be able to get a room for $ 50-60 incl breakfast.

Bogyoke market is best place for shopping. Many shops have closed after the bombs a few months back.
For food, I would go for the hotel restaurants.

Cruising....not much. By chance when walking around the park near the Sule Pagoda.

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Thanks for that.

I stayed at the Kandawgyi the last time I was in Yangon in 1990 (it was still Rangoon back then). This was before it was renovated and fancied up.

I had a strong recommendation for the Governor's Residence (former Pansea), which is more expensive, but supposed to be great.

I also see there are a few cruising places mentioned at Utopia Asia, but don't know how reliable they are.

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No, ATM's, travellers' checks or credit cards there (except maybe in the 5-star foreign-owned hotels). Cash is king in Burma.

As for political ramifications...if I had to agree with the government of every country I went to, I wouldn't have anywhere to go. And that's including my home country, the good ol' USA.

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I find the location of Traders (Shangri La) about as good as it gets in Yangon. Bogyoke market close by and just down the road from Sule Pagoda. About $60 a night in high season.

If you are in Mandalay, all the big hotels are too far from the centre of town; Sedona, Mandalay Hill, Mandalay Swan etc. Better to stay in a more modest establishment closer to the Zegyo (Central Market).

Lots of other towns in Myanmar but you don't say where you want to go.

Billy

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Kawaga... whatever Hotel is located at the lake (of the same name), but it's somewhat off the city centre. U'd need to take taxis everywhere, which is not a big problem.

There's a gay scene, sort of. Mostly money boys. I'm not sure whether Burmese developed an idea of free sex. I've seen cute local teenage boys taking young prostitutes from the disco.

The 'scene' is located on the overhead bridge in the city centre. Corner of Anawyatar St and Shwedagon Pagoda Rd. The bridge is connected to the Thai/Chinese restaurant, called Lion World. The restaurant is not gay in any sense, but gays might be using its toilet.

If you locate the bridge, be there in early evening as people disappear by 10pm or so. The crowd is mostly young, skinny guys. The gym culture hasn't developed there yet. There are also some mentally-challenged guys who will keep on following you and destroying your chances of meeting anyone sane there.

There's a public toilet nearby the bridge. I think that guys are cruising there too, but if you enter, the toilet cleaner will immediately follow u. In any case, the toilet is so filthy, you'd prefer to use the one in the restaurant.

Forget about all other supposedly cruising places in Yangon, unless you have plenty of time and energy to cruise the city's huge parks.

The disco Pioneer (Yuzanna Garden Hotel) is one of the few discos in the city (if not the only one), but I haven't seen any gays there. Some young guys come in groups, but they aren't looking for extra company of other males.

I found the Burmese food a disappointment and stuck to Chinese/Thai restaurants. But if you're crazy about Indian food and the fact that everything's pre-prepared and served semi-cold, you might enjoy it.

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