LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION
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Festivals & Events
Independence Day, January 4
Kachin State Day (Myitkyina), 10 January
Shwedagon Festival (Yangon), February/March
Buddha’s Birthday, full moon, April/May
Water Festival (Thingyan) & Burmese New Year, mid April
Dawei Thingyan, April - Few foreigners make it here to see local men don 4m bamboo effigies and dance the streets to a drum beat.
Nat Festival (Mt Popa), Nayon full moon, May/June
Start of Buddhist Rains Retreat, full moon June/July )
Nat Festival, near Amarapura, after Wagaung full moon, August
Tazaungmon, full moon October/November -Taunggyi’s balloon festival is a particular highlight.
Must Reads
Burmese Days by George Orwell
The Trouser People: A Story of Burma in the Shadow of the Empire by Andrew Marshall
Living Silence by Christina Fink
The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh
From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey by Pascal Khoo Thwe
Letters from Burma or The Voice of Hope by Aung San Suu Kyi
Culture Shock! Burma by Saw Myat Yin
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason
The Lady – Aung San Suu Kyi: Noble Laureate & Burma’s Prisoner by Barbara Victor
The History of Burma by GE Harvey
Souvenirs
Longyis (sarong-style lower garment)! Found wherever a breeze might blow
Pathein’s paper parasols
Myanmar’s best lacquerware at Myinkaba
Traditional-style lacquerware in Kyaukka
Delta-born glazed pots from Twante, near Yangon
Moustache Brothers T-shirt from Mandalay
Cheap DVDs in Yangon
Marionettes from Yangon’s Bogyoke Aung San Market or in Mandalay
Jade from Mandalay’s local market
Water buffalo in Kengtung
Lonely Planet recommends World Nomads Travel insurance
