Burma and The Transfer Barge

Burma still has multiple Rebel Factions and is in an ongoing siege in the north and east of the country.  Thousands of refugees have flooded the southern cities and the place is FULL!  The tourist thing is still new to them so the prices are what they have seen in advertisements for VietNam and the French Riviera. At approximately 300USD a night for a hotel that is not on the water, but is safe enough to stay in with some style.  Plenty of backpack hostels and rooms are available but dont do that alone.  Crime is also a major factor and they say do not go outside of your hotel alone or after dark.

Cellphone service and the Internet are a MYTH.  They sell Sim cards at the airport for 30USD but those only work in a very few types of US phones and the same cards are sold to the locals for 300usd LAME HUH!?

I was inside Burma (Myanmar) for maybe 7 hours, in the dark and inside a building, so I didn't see much.  They shuttled us out to the harbor, in the late night/early morning and we got to see some of Rangoon (now called Yangon)

The town has great design elements but is in desperate need of a pressure-washing. It's a case of a large population in a small place which has just been opened up to the outside world. The Harbor was more like a trash-pile on the water and they loaded us on a fast transport boat at 2am and hustled us off to a accommodation barge about 150 miles offshore.

The Surfer 321 Fast Transport was as nice as any crew boat Ive been on.  Airconditioned and fast at 30+ MPH

The "Swiber Triumphant" Accomodation Barge, where I spent two days waiting on a chopper.

The "Swiber Triumphant" Maintains most of the supplies for the O&G platforms and work vessles in the area and it provides a transfer point between boat and helicopter. It is a floating hotel with rooms, food and entertainment for transitioning crews for the whole Andaman Sea





This is the funniest safety message I have ever seen and could only happen around here... Toilet Squatters... Really!?

Total Platform in the Distance...