Myanmar, former Burma, the country became independent in 1948, after first have been occupied by Japan under world war 2, bur were taken over by the British (again) till 1948. But a military coup in 1962, ended the time of democracy. In 1990 they held a democratic election, and NLD, with Aung San Suu Kyi, won by a landslide, the military were not willing to hand over power though, so she were put under house arrest for almost 20 year, till she were set free in 2010, and won back her seat in the House of Representatives in 2012. till she in 2016 were appointed new minister of state and foreign affairs, by president Htin Kyaw. She won the nobel peace prize in 1991, and were often called Asia's, Nelson Mandela. but lately she have been criticized tremendously, for closing the eyes for the Rohingya Crisis, widespread violence, including evidence of indiscriminate killings and ethnic cleansing has been reported, under her government. the thing though is that she still is mostly named as leader of the country, where the military is still hav the real power, and are doing what they want. We actually do not know how much power she have, but at least she have been able to change a little, so people feel more free today, and the country opened for tourists.
It is a beautiful country, although i just visited Yangon, formerly known as Rangon, and the capital of Myanmar till 2005, when the military decided to name Naypyidaw as the new capital of the country, a city with not alone a huge
military base, but also a huge complex, that houses many senior officers and other key officials, an area not open for the public. Moreover Naypyidaw, do not have the facilities, one would expect of a Capital. But this is where the real power of the country is located, Aung San Suu Kyi, though are still located in Yangon, Myanmar's by far biggest city, with over 7 million people, and second largest is Mandalay with 1,2 Million. a place we regret we did not have time to visit, but for sure will do next time.
