The name is obviously a spoof of Orwell's famous novel but somehow 'daze' seems appropriate. I visited Myanmar in 2004 on Red Cross business. I spent several days in Yangon (Rangoon) as well as up in the northern Shan State, in and around Kengtung (pronounced shan-tung). The entire time I felt as if I was in another 'zone'. The strongest feeling to remain with me was of a land and people cocooned in a weird time warp. It was as if some alien force had placed a bubble around Burma and then retreated back into space. Time hadn't exactly stopped in Myanmar but it barely moved. I was pleasantly surprised with the strong Indian flavor of the culture, from Hindu shrines on the street corner to a very syncretic curried cuisine and pockets of Nepalis and Bengalis that popped up in the most unexpected places. Like many African countries the land is rich with gems; unlike most African countries, they are still traded openly on the streets.

In the middle of my trip there was an internal coup. Nothing happened. Traffic didn't stop. Tanks didn't appear. The nightly news showed the biggest of all Burmese generals visiting an animal husbandry project in the provinces. It was only on BBC that we learned the entire government and top layer of the bureaucracy was either out of work or behind bars. Nothing so much as a breeze rippled the Burmese political trees.

Next to North Korea there is not a more weird, creepy, yet gorgeous and fascinating place than Myanmar.