Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
stead, through quaintly colonial
PyinOoLwin
towards the Chinese border, the areas around
Kyaukme
and
Hsipaw
offerthechancetostayinethnicminorityhomesintraditionalmoun-
tainvillages,whilethetrulyintrepidwillwanttotravelfurthernorthstill,to
IndawgyiLake
,
for a taste of Kachin State's wilderness.
BURMA OR MYANMAR?
Thisisalandwithtwonames-three,infact,forthecountry'sofficialappellationhasbeen
the
RepublicoftheUnionofMyanmar
since1989.Thatwastheyearinwhichtheruling
military junta decided to officially change the name from
Burma
,in line with a policy that
also saw Rangoon renamed Yangon. The official line put forth was that Burma's name de-
rived from the majority Burmese population, and that unlike neighbouring Thailand, Laos
and Vietnam, they wanted a title more inclusive of minorities.
Myanmar
was thus born -
or reborn, in fact, since the first known usage of the name (actually “Myanma” in the local
vernacular) dates back to the thirteenth century, thus predating Burma as a national title.
Whilethosesympatheticto(oratleasttolerantof)themilitaryregime,andsomeminority
groups, are happy to call the country Myanmar, those in opposition - including the
Na-
tional League for Democracy
and many international governments - tend to prefer the
name Burma. Most travellers end up picking one, whether intentionally or otherwise, and
using that for the rest of their trip - you'll be placing yourself in no danger by using one
or the other. In this topic, the term “Myanmar” has usually been used when describing the
country,thoughthedifficultyinformingademonymfromthis(somelocalsuse“Myanmar
people”) means that “Burmese” has been used as the generic adjective for local people or
traditions.
