“Trust Us. We Know Better Than You Do”
Posted on 19. Jul, 2011 by Paul Sochaczewski in Environment
“TRUST US, WE KNOW BETTER THAN YOU DO” Brown-brown arrogance is the new standard LOIKAW, Burma Bishop Sotero Phamo argues that “the only way for our rural people to join modern society is through education.” Speaking enthusiastically in his diocese headquarters, which houses what is certainly the best school in the region, Bishop Sotero adds […]
Read MoreJumping Through Buddhist Hoops in Burma
Posted on 30. Aug, 2010 by Paul Sochaczewski in Curious Travel
INLE LAKE, Burma “Come on Brochette, jump through this hoop. Arnold Schwarzenegger can do it – it can’t be that hard.” My friend’s ginger cat in Geneva was doing what cats everywhere do – exactly what she felt like. Which at this moment was not jumping through a hoop. I was trying to accomplish a […]
Read MoreWatch What You Say in Burma’s Sacred Forests
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by Paul Sochaczewski in Articles, Environment
What’s a more powerful conservation incentive – a government jail or a spiritual punishment? ZEE O THIT HLA, Myanmar Myint Naing has one of the easier jobs in the Myanmar forestry department. Since 1999 his task has been to protect the Zee-O Thit-Hla sacred forest, which has been a government forest reserve since 1988. No […]
Read MoreMoses Dreams of Reversing Jewish Exodus in Burma
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by Paul Sochaczewski in Articles, Curious Travel
Caretaker of Rangoon’s only synagogue dares to dream. Will his children go forth and multiply? RANGOON, Burma “Ah, you want to see Moses Samuels,” says R., the front desk manager at a Rangoon guest house. “He’s an old school friend. He’s a Jew and I’m a Moslem, but we all got along just fine. Give […]
Read MoreSearching for Orwell
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by Paul Sochaczewski in Articles, Curious Travel
A backwater town in Upper Burma was the site for Orwell’s Burmese Days, a book that takes no prisoners KATHA, Burma There are worse travel strategies than to visit places with evocative names. There’s Timbuktu, Congo and Okavango in Africa; and Salvador de Bahia, Darien and Patagonia in Latin America, names which purr with history […]
Read MoreBurma’s Generals Hope White Elephants Provide Jumbo Support
Posted on 25. Jun, 2010 by Paul Sochaczewski in Articles, Curious Travel
Burma’s Generals Hope White Elephants Provide Jumbo Support Trying to restore some of the good vibes that come with rare pale pachyderms RANGOON, Burma Most new national capitals feature monumental architecture, statues to independence heroes, broad boulevards, cultural centers and shopping malls. Burma’s new, deliberately-isolated and rarely-visited capital, Naypyidaw (which means “royal capital” in Burmese), […]
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