4 ms·

Reminds me a lot of Pyongyang. Empty, wide roads, few people on the streets, and a whole lot of luxery facilities for the few well-connected.

by Aqwis 12y ago

peteretep 12y ago
Myanmar is nothing like North Korea. For a start, you can backpack around most of the cities unrestricted. Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, is just like any other South East Asian capital, and again, nothing like Pyongyang.
- nemo 12y ago
  It's only relatively recently that travelers could visit Myanmar (legally). For a very long time it was very much like North Korea - a hermit kingdom ruled by a brutal military junta under international sanctions and completely dependent on China.
  - mark_up 12y ago
    Did you actually confirm that by going there? I ask because what you describe is pretty much how the international media described Fiji in the aftermath of the 2006 coup. Meanwhile it was business as usual in Fiji, with tens of thousands of tourists enjoying their holidays without obstruction, and citizens working and partying just as they were doing prior. When it comes to describing regimes/countries that don't fit the Western democratic ideal, you simply can't trust the international media to give you a fair picture of life on the ground.
  - peteretep 12y ago
    > It's only relatively recently that travelers could visit > Myanmar (legally) That is simply incorrect.
    - nemo 12y ago
      Yes, you're right. I was generalizing about Westerners, rather than all travel. I had been told that while in Thailand years ago, but apparently there were some (complicated) ways for Westerners to get visas in the past.
      - peteretep 12y ago
        It's not even really true about Westerners
  - dnial02 12y ago
    Only if you're Westerner. South East Asian can enter Myanmar freely, but Myanmar is the only country that doesn't have free visa for other ASEAN country.
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      Americans never had a problem with entering Myanmar. All you needed was a visa from the embassy in Beijing (you could probably get one at the consulate in Kunming also).
maxwin 12y ago
The artificially built capital is kind of creepy. But other cities are not like that at all. It is authentic, culture-rich and very safe to travel.
WildUtah 12y ago
"Reminds me a lot of Pyongyang" Or Brasilia. Three cities built on the communist central planning principles of the post-war American suburb reflect, each in its own way, the oppression and alienation that motorcar-oriented planning imposes on humans. [0] There is an alternative to suburban hell. The traditional city humans have loved for thousands of years is still possible. [1] There are even great accessible, affordable examples in Burma and Brazil. In places like North Korea and the USA, the destruction of traditional free ways of life has been more complete. Though if you belong to the powerful and monied elite you might be able to afford to live in the few remaining neighborhoods in Pyongyang or San Francisco where traditional city design from decades ago is grandfathered in. [0] http://kunstler.com/books/the-geography-of-nowhere/ http://kunstler.com/books/the-geography-of-nowhere/ [1] http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2008/072008.html http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2008/072008.html
- forinti 12y ago
  I beg to differ. Brasilia was built on Modernist principles. It was very much inspired on the work of Le Corbusier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier). It has nothing to do with communism.
  - agumonkey 12y ago
    Maybe communist urbanism was inspired by Modernism ?
  - WildUtah 12y ago
    Corbu was all about controlling the details of daily life by top-down commands from central authorities. His ambitions were to wipe out and knock down Paris and replace it with orderly and easily controlled towers and sight lines. Traditional cities with their chaos, entrepreneurship, freedom, variety, and individualism didn't interest him. The tower in the park required hugely expensive (at the time) commitment to motorcars and freeways surrounding and fixing the limits of mobility for the poor and middle class. Centralised government and hierarchical businesses were needed to manage and planned lives of humans in Corbu's city. Everything about Corbu reflected the totalitarian age in which he lived. His dreams are the same as the communists' and merit the same fate.

Reminds me a lot of Pyongyang. Empty, wide roads, few people on the streets, and a whole lot of luxery facilities for the few well-connected.

by Aqwis 12y ago

Reminds me a lot of Pyongyang. Empty, wide roads, few people on the streets, and a whole lot of luxery facilities for the few well-connected.

peteretep 12y ago

Myanmar is nothing like North Korea. For a start, you can backpack around most of the cities unrestricted. Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar, is just like any other South East Asian capital, and again, nothing like Pyongyang.

nemo 12y ago
It's only relatively recently that travelers could visit Myanmar (legally). For a very long time it was very much like North Korea - a hermit kingdom ruled by a brutal military junta under international sanctions and completely dependent on China.
- mark_up 12y ago
  Did you actually confirm that by going there? I ask because what you describe is pretty much how the international media described Fiji in the aftermath of the 2006 coup. Meanwhile it was business as usual in Fiji, with tens of thousands of tourists enjoying their holidays without obstruction, and citizens working and partying just as they were doing prior. When it comes to describing regimes/countries that don't fit the Western democratic ideal, you simply can't trust the international media to give you a fair picture of life on the ground.
- peteretep 12y ago
  > It's only relatively recently that travelers could visit > Myanmar (legally) That is simply incorrect.
  - nemo 12y ago
    Yes, you're right. I was generalizing about Westerners, rather than all travel. I had been told that while in Thailand years ago, but apparently there were some (complicated) ways for Westerners to get visas in the past.
    - peteretep 12y ago
      It's not even really true about Westerners
- dnial02 12y ago
  Only if you're Westerner. South East Asian can enter Myanmar freely, but Myanmar is the only country that doesn't have free visa for other ASEAN country.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    Americans never had a problem with entering Myanmar. All you needed was a visa from the embassy in Beijing (you could probably get one at the consulate in Kunming also).

maxwin 12y ago

The artificially built capital is kind of creepy. But other cities are not like that at all. It is authentic, culture-rich and very safe to travel.

WildUtah 12y ago

"Reminds me a lot of Pyongyang" Or Brasilia. Three cities built on the communist central planning principles of the post-war American suburb reflect, each in its own way, the oppression and alienation that motorcar-oriented planning imposes on humans. [0] There is an alternative to suburban hell. The traditional city humans have loved for thousands of years is still possible. [1] There are even great accessible, affordable examples in Burma and Brazil. In places like North Korea and the USA, the destruction of traditional free ways of life has been more complete. Though if you belong to the powerful and monied elite you might be able to afford to live in the few remaining neighborhoods in Pyongyang or San Francisco where traditional city design from decades ago is grandfathered in. [0] http://kunstler.com/books/the-geography-of-nowhere/ http://kunstler.com/books/the-geography-of-nowhere/ [1] http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2008/072008.html http://www.newworldeconomics.com/archives/2008/072008.html

forinti 12y ago
I beg to differ. Brasilia was built on Modernist principles. It was very much inspired on the work of Le Corbusier (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Corbusier). It has nothing to do with communism.
- agumonkey 12y ago
  Maybe communist urbanism was inspired by Modernism ?
- WildUtah 12y ago
  Corbu was all about controlling the details of daily life by top-down commands from central authorities. His ambitions were to wipe out and knock down Paris and replace it with orderly and easily controlled towers and sight lines. Traditional cities with their chaos, entrepreneurship, freedom, variety, and individualism didn't interest him. The tower in the park required hugely expensive (at the time) commitment to motorcars and freeways surrounding and fixing the limits of mobility for the poor and middle class. Centralised government and hierarchical businesses were needed to manage and planned lives of humans in Corbu's city. Everything about Corbu reflected the totalitarian age in which he lived. His dreams are the same as the communists' and merit the same fate.