All you ever wanted to know about Myanmar

A quick and quirky guide on what to see, do, eat and drink in this up-and-coming Southeast Asia star.

Take a cab to town after arriving at Yangon's International Airport and you’ll quickly realize you've arrived in a place like no other.

Your taxi driver may have replaced his seat with a garden chair.

Without doubt, he’ll be wearing what looks like a skirt and chewing betel, which has turned his mouth a crimson red.

There might be a hole in the floor of the vehicle, or the steering wheel could be upside down.

It's a theme that'll continue throughout your trip.

With a lack of international brand saturation and an abundance of parks, lakes and gleaming pagodas, vibrant street life and friendly locals, Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city and former capital, is a city worth getting to know before venturing elsewhere in this strange, wonderful country.

For information on Yangoon's hotels, nightlife and shops go to 'Why Yangoon is hot right now' and 'Yangoon: Colonial buildings, artisan cheese and local art'.

For information on what to eat go  to '10 meals every visitor to Myanmar should try'.

For information on Myanmar's beaches go to 'Myanmar's best beaches'.

Footnote: A recurring theme in articles on Myanmar is good accommodation is in short supply so make sure you have a rock solid reservation before travelling.

Bagan: Trip of a Lifetime

Bagan in central Burma is one of the world’s greatest archeological sites, a sight to rival Machu Picchu or Angkor Wat but – for the time being at least – without the visitors. The setting is sublime – a verdant 26 square-mile plain, part-covered in stands of palm and tamarind caught in a bend of the lazy-flowing Irrawaddy (Ayeyarwady) river and framed by the hazy silver-grey of distant mountains.

Rising from the plain’s canopy of green are temples, dozens of them, hundreds of them, beautiful, other-worldly silhouettes that were built by the kings of Bagan between 1057 and 1287, when their kingdom was swept away by earthquakes and Kublai Khan and his invading Mongols. Some 2,230 of an original 4,450 temples survive, a legacy of the Buddhist belief that to build a temple was to earn merit.

To read the full and informative article go to The Telegraph.

Can Burma Avoid the Curse of Sex Tourism?

Rangoon’s so-called “model shows” are hardly salacious affairs compared with the raunchy sex shows that have made Bangkok one of the world’s sex-tourism capitals. But Burmese officials and human-rights groups are worried about what could come next as tourists pour into Burma after decades of isolation.

Burmese fears are well founded. Human-trafficking networks have long operated in the country, funneling thousands of women and girls into Thailand to fuel the sex industry there, to say nothing of the many women (particularly from the impoverished border state of Shan) who voluntarily go. Many are underage and willing to sell their virginity for high prices,

Read more at Time World.