"This is Burma and it is unlike any land you know about" said Rudyard Kipling over a 100 years ago. 

Still true today and it is with a sense of wonder we discover the quirks and differences that makes Myanmar, as it is known today, so different from other parts of South East Asia.

First indicator is transport. Our taxi from Yangon airport to our hotel has the driver on the right hand side, but then we quickly see that traffic drives on the right too. It seems so strange that the driver sits on the outside edge of the road and not the middle. Buses and trucks have a "look out" person to assist the driver. In a bizarre twist there are quite a few left hand drive vehicles also. Lucky we are not planning on hiring a car here! 

Another early indicator of the uniqueness of Myanmar is thanaka. This is a yellowish white cosmetic paste made from ground bark and is worn daily by most women to soften their skin, as a sunscreen, and a decoration. Often it is applied in decorative patterns.

We have joined a G Adventures 14 day tour for most or our time in Myanmar. Our fellow travellers are a mixture of Brits, Swiss, Germans, one other Aussie and an amazing young Burmese guide, A Kay, who is passionate and extremely knowledgeable about her country.

Our first day took us to the centrepiece of Buddhist Culture in Yangon, the glorious Shwedagon Pagoda. In 40 plus degree heat and bare footed we "clockwised" the Pagoda platform and said our prayers at our "birthday corner". I even had a monk hold my hand and say a prayer for me, family and friends, whilst I poured water the customary 3 times and laid flowers at the Friday Corner. What struck us most this first day was the happy cheerful nature of the Burmese and that they wanted to take OUR pictures! Another striking thing of note was most of the people at Shwedagon were Burmese - hardly a European or Aussie in sight.   

A 5 hour bus journey, followed by a 1/2 hour roller coaster uphill mountain ride in a crowded 4 wheel drive "cattle" truck and a 1 hour uphill hike, saw our group arrive at Golden Rock. Suffice to say this is not an easy place to get to, making it a very special "un-touristy" place, busy with excited Burmese travellers, monks and worshipers.

A superb sunset throwing that special light that photographers dream about was just reward for a hard travel day. As in earlier in the day, the Burmese wanted to be photographed with us on their phones. How the world has changed since we started travelling!  

We stayed the night at a mountain top hotel before reversing the journey and modes of transport. Our guide took us to several other places on the bus trip there and back including a massive reclining Buddha, a WW2 war graves cemetery and a very strange sight of a huge jet plane in a field in the middle of nowhere that is destined to become a bar. 

Internet is still not widely available and when it is, it is the speed of the old "dialup". Australian phones do not work here, but it is obvious that Myanmar is on the cusp of becoming tourism savvy. Our advice? - visit soon whilst it is so untouched by mass tourism!