The Union of Burma, nowadays known under it’s local name Myanmar, is a lush green Buddhist country dotted with white pagodas and centered along the Irrawaddy River. Here live a very friendly cigar-smoking people - all dressed in sarong – who are brutally repressed by a military government. The beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda in Rangoon and the vast temple ruins of the old capital Pagan are one of the most fascinating sights in the world.