Are you worried yet.

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Saigon

Saigon

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MaseratiGent said:
I hope you have great fun. I am fortunate to have travelled a lot but I fell in love with Burma back in 2010 when sanctions were in full sway and Westerners were all given 'police protection' and followed. The only decent bar in Rangoon was the Savoy Hotel bar (maybe could seat 10-15 people). Over 2 weeks were only saw 15 foreigners - I suspect it is very, very different now. It was a 100% cash economy without ATMs and foreigners couldn't get mobile phones or roam.

I remember being in an Irish bar in a hotel in Rangoon that had no Guiness (sanctions)!

We sent Christmas cards from Burma. They all turned up 6 months later in the UK and had been read and the envelopes sellotaped back down.
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It was the same when I first went there, had my UK bank account suspended because they found out I was working there. You could see the road through the taxi floor, and the only way to pay for anything was in USD, and they had to be in perfect condition. I was in the Savoy last week and the hotel you mention with the so called Irish bar would have been this Sadona, It’s 5 star now but still no Guinness.
 
BennyD

BennyD

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Nothing to worry about; when it’s your turn, it’s your turn. Best not to waste time between now and then worrying about when then might be. F*ck it, I’m having another bottle of Corona.
 
Felonious Crud

Felonious Crud

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BennyD said:
Nothing to worry about; when it’s your turn, it’s your turn. Best not to waste time between now and then worrying about when then might be. F*ck it, I’m having a Corona.
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Yeah, just steer clear of the Desperados. They make you rude and offensive.

Oh, wait...
 
Saigon

Saigon

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lifes2short said:
except beer tinnies, tried one that was 2 years out of date, still tasted ok to me
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About 15 years ago I went through a phase of making home brew, last year I came across 20 bottles in the back of the shed, what to do ? . They were fine, and on power with the so called craft beers now so popular, and expensive. I didn’t remember them being so good when I first brewed them, can beer mature. Or do we just think something tastes good now if it costs a lot.
 
MaseratiGent

MaseratiGent

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Saigon said:
It was the same when I first went there, had my UK bank account suspended because they found out I was working there. You could see the road through the taxi floor, and the only way to pay for anything was in USD, and they had to be in perfect condition. I was in the Savoy last week and the hotel you mention with the so called Irish bar would have been this Sadona, It’s 5 star now but still no Guinness.
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You made me smile with that. Yes, I remember only fresh, crisp, new USD notes would accepted. I had to go to a few banks in Bangkok to get those. You're spot on about Hotel Sadona - I looked it up and came across a YouTube clip with the same band we saw at the time (
).

I quite liked the local wine and remember well the dabbed, white blobs on womens' cheeks.

I had a crack at reoppening the Rangoon Gymkhana (the building is still intact...as of Dec 2011 anyway). I spoke to the Dubai Capital Club about it but they were focussed on a new enterprise in Beijing. I could see the huge potential of Burma back then and knew it would open up as a country very soon.
 
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