lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

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112To Chin State(31mi)PaukTo BudalinAlonMonywaHpo WinDaungA MyintMyineYebyaYesagyoTo ShweboKyaukkaThanboddhayPayaTo ShweboChaung U SagaingMyinmuInwaSAGAINGREGIONMyingyanPakokkuTaungthaNyaung UOld BaganGonkorNew BaganBaganAyeyarwadyRiverSeikpyuChaukSalayChindwinn RiverMt Popa(2418ft)KyaukpadaungBodhi TataungMyingyanPlainMANDALAYREGIONMeiktilaSadaungNwa-htou gyiThaziMadayaTaungbyoneMandalayAmarapuraPaleikMandalayAirport1Saman RiverKyaukseMyittha4SHANSTATETo Hsipaw(68mi)Pyin Oo LwinMyitngeRiver0 40 km0 20 milesLawksawkTaunggyiBAGAN & CENTRAL MYANMARAyeyarwadySinbyugyun2RiverSalinYenan-gyoung2SaguMinbu Magwe2TaungdwingyiBeikthanoMAGWEREGIONYangon-BaganHighwayYangon-MandalayExpresNAY PYI TAWswayPyawbweYamethinLeweTatkonPyinmanaKalawNay Pyi TawTrain StationAungbanInleLakePinlonRAKHAINGSTATETayet2PyayShwedaungMyaydePaukkhaungThayekhittayaBAGOREGIONSittoungTo Bago (106mi);Yangon (155mi)1RiverYedasheTaungooOktwinKAYINSTATEBagan & Central Myanmar Highlights1 Watch from a hot-airballoon (p 113 ) as the sunrises or sets over the templestuddedplain of Bagan2 Hit the Ayeyarwady Riveron a Bagan–Mandalay boat(p 120 ), or on a half-day trip tonearby temples (p 165 )3 Pay respects toMyanmar’s 37 nat at theirspiritual home, the monkeyaramavolcanic mountaintoptemple at Mt Popa (p126 )4 Hang with elephants at aworking camp east of Taungoo(p 137 )5 Explore the colourfulriverside market in themorning and the hilltopShwesandaw Paya in theafternoon at Pyay (p 143 )6 Ponder what the Buddhawould have felt to see hislikeness fashioned as a30-storey concrete statue atBodhi Tataung (p 133 )
HistoryMoving armies led by various people – thePyu, the Mon, the Burmese – have swishswashedacross this central plain, the ‘heartof Myanmar’, over the centuries. The areaaround Pyay served as the Pyu capital fromthe 5th to 9th centuries AD; some considerthe Pyu to be founders of Myanmar’s ‘firstempire’, though little is known of this vanishedgroup.Bagan’s burst of energy ran two-and-ahalfcenturies, beginning in 1047 and endingas the pounding footfall of Kublai Khan’sraiders approached in 1287. See p 149 formore on Bagan’s history. The latest empireto lodge in the area is the military junta,which founded the new capital of Nay PyiTaw in 2005.8 Getting There & AwayNyaung U is the principal gateway for Bagan,with a train station, a jetty and an airport. Mostvisitors by boat come downriver from Mandalayor Pakokku. Most long-haul bus routes (egYangon–Mandalay) miss Bagan, instead stoppingat Meiktila. But there are a few direct buslinks between Bagan and Yangon, Mandalay andInle Lake. Trains to the Bagan area are slow andimpractical. The more interesting road routefrom Yangon to Bagan is via Pyay and Magwe.BAGAN%061One of Myanmar’s top attractions, the areaknown as Bagan (pug®) or, bureaucratically, asthe ‘Bagan Archaeological Zone’, occupies animpressive 26-sq-mile area 118 miles southof Mandalay and 429 miles north of Yangon.The Ayeyarwady River drifts past its northernand western sides.The area’s most active town and chieftransport hub is Nyaung U, in the northeastcorner. About 2.5 miles west, Old Bagan isthe former site of the village that moved to 2miles south to New Bagan in 1990. Betweenthe two is Myinkaba, a village boasting along-running lacquerware tradition.Connecting the towns are paved roadsmaking a 12-mile oval. In between andaround these towns, of course, is the bulk ofthe Bagan action: the plain, featuring most ofthe temples, all connected with a vast networkof bumpy dirt roads and trails. At times, you’llbe about a mile from the nearest paved road.This section includes sleeping, eating andtransport options; see p 149 for the historyand descriptions of the temples themselves.GOVERNMENT FEESAll foreign visitors to the Bagan ArchaeologicalZone are required to pay a $10entrance fee, which goes to the government.If you arrive by boat or air, thefee will be collected at the river jetty orairport. You’ll be given a credit-card-sizedplastic ticket embossed with a number,for which you’ll be asked when you checkin at nearly all accommodation. The feecovers a one-week visit, but it’s unlikelyyou’ll be asked to pay again if you staylonger. Entrance fees to the ArchaeologicalMuseum and Palace Site also go intogovernment coffers; see p 21 .2 ActivitiesBoat TripsSunset chasing in Bagan isn’t restricted tothe tops of temples. An interesting alternativeis a dusk boat trip ($10-15) on the Ayeyarwady.The hour-long tours offered bythe boat folk at the Old Bagan jetty tend tocater to package tourists, but drop by to arrangeyour own ride.You can also arrange an interesting boatand taxi side-trip to the mountaintop TanKyi Paya (see p 155 ), one of four stupas thatmarked the original edges of the city. Anotherpossible boat trip is to three templesnorth of Nyaung U (p 165 ).BallooningThe best way to truly appreciate Bagan’s sizeand sprawl is from the basket of a hot-air balloonbelonging to Balloons over Bagan (Mapp 121 ; %60058; www.balloonsoverbagan.com; officein Bagan Thiripyitsaya Sanctuary Resort; per personstand-by rate $290). These magical 45-minuterides over one of the world’s most highly acclaimedballooning spots only run from Octoberto March. Sometimes sunrise flights arebooked up to a month or more in advance,but if there’s space, any hotel or guesthouseshould be able to arrange a ticket.The slickly run Burmese company, ownedby an Australian-Burmese couple and employingBritish pilots and some 80 locals,has five balloons that usually fit eight to 10passengers and a pilot. The experience beginswith a pick up from your hotel in oneof their fleet of lovingly restored, pre-WWIIChevrolet CMP buses partly made of teak.You can have coffee and snacks while watchingthe UK-made balloons fill with hot air,113BAGAN & ACTIVITIESCENTRAL MYANMAR ACTIVITIES
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10TOPEXPERIENCESCHRISTOPHER GROENHO
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Pyin Oo LwinPyin Oo Lwin (Maymyo; p
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Ngapali BeachTake with a pinch of s
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13TransportMoney» Cash only. Credi
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16MonthbyMonthTop EventsWater Festi
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18ItinerariesWhether you’ve got a
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20PLAN YOUR TRIP ITINERARIESINDIABA
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22TO GO OR NOT TO GO?PLAN YOUR TRIP
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24PLAN YOUR TRIP RESPONSIBLE TRAVEL
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26WHO ARE THE CRONIES?PLAN YOUR TRI
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28DON’T VISIT MYANMAR IF...PLAN Y
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YangonTemples Shopping Food Temples
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33Mandalay &AroundTemples Culture S
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To Bago (48mi); YangonNorthPyay (17
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40YANGON IN…YANGONTwo DaysStart t
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SeeWestCentralYangonMap(p46)e42YANG
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44YANGONEast Central Yangonæ Sight
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46YANGONWest Central Yangon #e 0 50
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48ABC6D66ÿ#KAMAYUTUniversity16of Y
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50YANGONNorthern Yangonæ Top Sight
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52HOW THINGS CHANGE…Today, the St
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e#54YANGONSTART THONE PAN HLATEASHO
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56YANGONBeautyland Hotel II HOTEL $
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58YANGONon the other hand, may insp
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60YANGONZawgyi House BURMESE, INTER
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62YANGONL’Opera Restaurant ITALIA
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Page 90 and 91: TRAVELRESTRICTIONSForeigners are re
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that temple styles changed in Bagan
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ick monasteries in Bagan were singl
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THAZI TO INLE LAKEThe rolling hills
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169Jinghong4SHANSTATEMong LaWan Nye
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Return the way you came until you r
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ooms and lots of potted greenery. M
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BUSES & PICK-UP TRUCKS FROM KALAW17
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Dagon Beer Station CHINESE, BURMESE
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Mingala MarketMARKET(Map p 178 ; Yo
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TOFU & HOT SPRINGSLocated on the no
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y concepts such as Shan guacamole,
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From Nyaung Ohak, a covered stairwa
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oat’s motor. Bring ear plugs or s
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also be called the Shan Fashion Mus
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look for the narrow alley with the
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and travel to the border areas is s
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Kengtung (Kyaingtong)æ Top SightsW
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BORDER CROSSING: THAILANDTachileik
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NAVIGATING MANDALAY201Mandalay city
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Greater Mandalayæ Top SightsûüDr
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Northern Mandalayæ Top Sights19 Ro
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Central Mandalayæ Sights28 Sut Nga
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Legend claims that many figures wer
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ÉÉSTART EINDAWYA PAYAFINISH VIEW
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105 and 206 are windowless. You can
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5Eating & DrinkingMandalay’s dini
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Sin Chun Yin BARBECUE $(Map p 202 ;
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pay commissions to drivers or guide
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WHICH MANDALAY BUS STATION?221Manda
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MANDALAY TRAIN ROUTES223Sample fare
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Technically, U Bein’s Bridge is p
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high and 9ft in circumference. The
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will probably be charged $3 for a M
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TACTICS FOR MINGUN VISITORS231Mingu
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PeopleThe north is sparsely populat
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State and Xishuangbanna (China) in
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239» Journeys are fastest in autum
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INDAWGYI LAKE241About 110 miles sou
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merous remnant bricks and posts rem
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lock inland from there are the hote
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IRRAWADDY DOLPHINSThe Irrawaddy dol
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St, with many beer stations in the
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TRAVEL PLANNING FOR THE MANDALAY-LA
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Pyin Oo Lwinæ Sights19 Family Rest
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Win Thu ZarBEER STATION(Mandalay-La
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play areas add to the attraction fo
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A PALACE TOO FAR259Several years ag
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Hsipawæ Sightsü Drinking1 Banyan
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a sea of rucked-up mountain ridges
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Lashioæ Sights1 Central Mosque ...
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MU-SE & THE MYANMAR-CHINA BORDER267
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270RAKHAING OR ARAKAN?The interchan
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272WESTERN MYANMAR RAKHAING STATEop
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274WESTERN MYANMAR RAKHAING STATETA
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276WESTERN MYANMAR RAKHAING STATESi
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278WESTERN MYANMAR RAKHAING STATEDA
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280AB8 # Ú#e 0 0.4 milesCDMrauk U
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282WESTERN MYANMAR RAKHAING STATETh
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284WESTERN MYANMAR RAKHAING STATEBO
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286WESTERN MYANMAR RAKHAING STATEL
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290population per sq kmMYANMAR USAU
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292MYANMAR (BURMA) TODAYMyanmar’s
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294HISTORY PRE-COLONIAL BURMAKINGRe
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296HISTORY COLONIAL BURMAPublished
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298HISTORY COLONIAL BURMAREVOLUTION
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300MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT THE TATMADA
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302HISTORY POST-COLONIAL BURMASAO H
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304HISTORY POST-1990 MYANMARTHANSHW
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306NUCLEAR AMBITIONS?HISTORY POST-1
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308PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA) MAIN E
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314PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA) WOMEN
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316POLITICS, ECONOMICS & SANCTIONS
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318POLITICS, ECONOMICS & SANCTIONS
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320In November 1999, the UN Interna
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322One end ofthe 1860-milelongHimal
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324ENVIRONMENT & WILDLIFE FLORA & F
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326ENVIRONMENT & WILDLIFE NATIONAL
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328Food is so enjoyedin Myanmarthat
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330EATING IN MYANMAR (BURMA) A BURM
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332EATING IN MYANMAR (BURMA) DRINKS
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334Drinking VenuesYou’ll be hard-
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U336EATING IN MYANMAR (BURMA) EAT Y
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338When Myanmarlocals go onholiday
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340RELIGION & BELIEFBright red robe
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342RELIGION & BELIEFThose with agen
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344BestBuddhistBuildings» Shwedago
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346ARTS & ARCHITECTURELacquerwarece
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348ARTS & ARCHITECTUREMyanmar dance
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Cinema350Myanmar has had a modest f
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352According to localcustom, AungSa
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354AUNG SAN SUU KYImachine. Histori
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356AUNG SAN SUU KYITHE SWIMMERFor a
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358
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360DirectoryA-ZAccommodationMyanmar
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362DIRECTORY A-ZCustomsRegulationsF
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364DIRECTORY A-ZMapsThe best availa
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366DIRECTORY A-ZYANGONPICK-UPShippi
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368DIRECTORY A-Zminute to phone Nor
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370DIRECTORY A-ZVISA ON ARRIVAL?In
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372TRANSPORT GETTING AROUNDDEPARTUR
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374TRANSPORT GETTING AROUNDBicycleY
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376TRANSPORT GETTING AROUNDCargo Sh
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378TRANSPORT GETTING AROUNDsee the
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380TRANSPORT GETTING AROUNDMajor Tr
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382TRANSPORT GETTING AROUNDwindows
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384HEALTH IN MYANMARInfectiousDisea
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386HEALTH IN MYANMARthat receive le
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uu388LANGUAGE ACCOMMODATIONWhat’s
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390LANGUAGE TIME & DATESNumbers1 ts
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392LANGUAGE GLOSSARYWordsacheiq lon
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394LANGUAGE GLOSSARY©Lonely Planet
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