"Myanmar is a destination for travelers rather than tourists, and a country best seen in retrospect", was the enigmatic introduction of our guidebook to this large, secluded Southeast Asian country that we still prefer to call Burma. Therefore it should not have come as a surprise that mostly overpriced accomodation and bad food awaited us on our trip from Yangoon to The Golden Rock, Inle Lake, Mandalay and Bagan. 

But a source of even greater annoyance were the government-imposed entrance fees to all tourist attractions. Indeed, the despicable ruling regime was always lurking somewhere - be it as the laughably indoctrinating "New Light of Myanmar" newspaper in the hotel lobby, the pitiful convicts doing road construction near Mandalay or the minister who took up all the rooms in a hotel in Pyay and left without paying - and added a foul taste to our trip.

Was it right to go? On the other hand we experienced Burma as "one of the most (...) exotic countries in the world, a land of gentle charm, where timelessness and the quest for Buddhist nirvana fly in the face of Western efficiency and capitalistic wealth". A country that thrives on its rich buddhist heritage and still lives according to its century-old traditions almost untouched by Western influences. 
And we found a friend in Yangoon.