So Near And Yet So Far

In September 2000, Andrew Marshall a scotsman and I set out from Kunming China, travelling to the Wa autonomous region near the border with Burma in search of a fabled lake called Nawng Hkeo on the Burmese side of the border. This lake had not been seen by any...

Magic Man

It is not that the mountains of Burma are more pointed than mountains elsewhere. If you were to look closely, you could see that nearly every one of them is crowned with a pagoda spire rising ever upwards. To the south of Mt. Popa, an eroded volcanic throat of...

Gem Scams

By Richard K Diran, professional gemologist In every trade and business where big money is involved, the unscrupulous will find a way of separating the naive and the greedy from their cash. Fake antiques, fake paintings, fake coins and fake gemstones. Here in...

Naga Hill Tribe New Year Celebration

The north-western area of Burma is known as Naga land. Naga land had been off-limits for a half century, and the last comprehensive book on the Naga, the naked Naga by Christoph Von Fureh Haimendorf, had been published in 1939. The Naga were and probably still are, in...

The Crippled Girl

Although Burma herself is viewed and vilified, particularly in the west, as a pariah, the acts of kindness by the people themselves reflects a far deeper kind of cultural compassion. I have been a frequent visitor to the country for over 20 years and have been witness...