Well! Thanks for 3proxy.com, greetings from Yangon, where it has been raining for 3 days, and rain is forecast for the next 3 months or so. It’s a shame, because the giant puddles and general nasty conditions are stopping me from seeing what I can tell is a city I would love.
We arrived this morning at 8:30 am local time (we’re 11 1/2 hours ahead of NYC). The Yangon International Airport was as big as you’d expect….but ours was one of only two planes on the tarmac. The other was an Air Bagan plane – for domestic flights. But the wide empty tarmac was just the beginning of the rather spooky airport. I entered the arrivals hall expecting grit grime and dilapidation. Instead, I was greeted with sleek, modern steel and glass. And completely silence. No announcements. No bustle. No other passengers competing for a place in the immigration queue. Just a giant, Logan-worthy arrivals hall with a few sleepy foreigners and many sleepy Burmese. (As we were leaving the airport I checked the arrivals screen – the only flights I could see arriving today were from a few from Bangkok, one from Taipei and one from Singapore. )
I had been planning to stay at a “mid-range” hotel here, but at the luggage carousel we were greeted by Zin Minn from Motherland 2 guest house (a great cheapie option, according to Lonely Planet). He offered us free transport to the city, so we decided eff it – we’ll go with him. I’m glad we did. Zin (who’s sitting right next to me right now printing out welcome notes for tomorrow’s arriving guests) and the rest of the staff here are extremely friendly and helpful. They just helped us book a bus ticket to Kalaw for tomorrow. We had been planning to spend another day here, but the rain is awful and Marjan is not happy. (I’m starting to worry that she’s very negative and suspicious, which will make traveling with her – especially in this nutty place – quite difficult. I hope I’m wrong!) So anyway, we’re heading north to the cooler and hopefully drier hills.
I wish I had the time and capacity to write about my first impressions of Myanmar and Yangon, but I’m exhausted from the long day and I have to get up early tomorrow. I have a 18-hour bus ride to look forward to. My poor ass.
Hope all’s well with everyone out there. I’ll log on again when I can.
Taking The Fork 
Hope you missed the worst of the typhoon…
Ya post as soon as you can so we know…
We are, of course, worried. Please let us know as soon as possible that you are okay.
The fogartys and I hope you escaped the typhoon. Let us know that you are OK ASAP. We are seeing that there are many casualties. Be safe!
Love, Mom
Hope you’re ok!
Hey. We are firmly on board the worry train. Please post soon, you are in our thoughts. xo
FROM THE Consular Section – U.S. Embassy, Rangoon. Both Zoe and I have reached out to the US embassy in Rangoon – Here is what they wrote me….
Please note that we currently have no reports of American casualties caused by the cyclone in Burma. At this stage, we are thinking it is unlikely that any U.S. citizens were harmed because most of the fatalities occurred in an area of Burma that is already difficult to access under ordinary circumstances, and thus less visited by foreigners.
Most telecommunications in Burma are currently down, and it is very difficult for us to contact people directly when their exact location has not been provided. If you could give us any precise information on where your friend currently is staying, we would be able to more effectively search for her. We have put in a request with Burmese Immigration authorities to inform us whether they have record of your friend departing Burma. We will of course inform you when they reply. Also, should she get in touch with us, we will tell her that you have been inquiring and offer her access to e-mail at the Embassy.
I will keep people posted but I am sure its going to be a few days more before we hear anything….
Hey, I dont know Christina personally but was linked to this blog from her former coworker because I am an avid traveller but if you read her post on April 28 she reports that she was going to kalaw the following day which is pretty far up north and very unlikely that the cyclone caused any damage there. Yangon is right on the coast of myanmar where all of the major damage took place. Also, there may be very scarce internet access up in the hills – remember that Myanmar is a poor country and if she is in fact up in the hills access to the internet is probably far and few in between.
Hopefully she is safe and sound.