After a military junta took over from Ne Win in the late eighties, Burma opened up to the outside world. What you get to see is a country steeped in Buddhism and South East Asian traditions. Most men still wear longyi , as sarongs are called in Burma. Many of them smoke cheroots , the local cigars, and the pavements are red from betel spitters. The country's main cosmetic is thanaka bark, that women put on their faces to keep a light skin.
Consumerism is on the rise today.
Billboards of Japanese, Thai, European and Indonesian companies cheer up the streets of Rangoon, Burma's capital city. Burma still does not score high on any of the world's human rights indices. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi got the Nobel Peace Prize for her resistance to the current military government. She spent many years isolated in a Rangoon villa, with not much more than her piano to keep her company. Farmers are forced to work on infrastructure projects without any pay.