Myanmar Adventurer

When Rudyard Kipling wrote about Burma from his experience as a British soldier in the 1890′s he mentioned sunshine and palm trees and temple bells, amongst many other charms.

Back in London after his sojourn in the exotic East, he bemoaned the soggy ‘English drizzle’ compared to his memories of ‘a cleaner, greener land’.

Today there are travel agencies quoting his poetry in their advertisements, and they are not exaggerating – but this is a new development. For the past 50 years or so Burma, now commonly known as Myanmar, has been very much out of the loop as far [...]