Barack

So great excitements, Barack was in town today. We knew this some time in advance of the press release, courtesy of the ex-pat rumour mill. We also knew roughly where he would be going, courtesy of the newly painted curbs. Basically if Barack was going somewhere the curbs were cleaned and painted red and white… and if he wasn’t they weren’t.

It is now possible to buy Barack t-shirts (alongside Aung San Su Kyi t-shirts), and American flags too. We also enjoyed this slightly scary Obama graffiti at the weekend. Cross between Stevie Wonder and a vampire (the teeth are particularly disturbing).

I was at work today so alas missed all the excitements… well aside from admiring the newly painted curbs on the way to work, and the strategically placed, but ancient, fire engine outside of the old Parliament, and the hundreds of military police and battle trucks scattered about the place.

My personal favourite Reuters photo of the day is Obama at Shwedagon. I love it because looooook they all had to take their shoes off. Even the secret police/ commando body guard people! Apparently rumour has it they nearly didn't go to Shwedagon because of the security risks involved in walking around barefoot (indeed). Nice that they did manage to fit in a bit of sightseeing… 6hours in Yangon isn’t long.

Ant on the other hand spent the day following round the Obama motorcade (by the looks of it it wasn’t hard to miss). Here are some of his photos.

Left: Conducted arrival of President Obama towards the old Parliament (note: traffic conductors don’t usually wear white. Perhaps it is some sort of ceremonial uniform?? or perhaps they aren’t really traffic conductors). Right: Some American loving Myanmars. Apparently America is the only country in the world with full human rights and democracy. Would. You. Believe. It. ????

  

Uncommon sights in Yangon - shiny new roads and empty at that… until of course… ta daaaa along comes Mr President… travelling light… only 2 jumbo jets full of entourage. Ant counted 30 cars. Apparently the imported American ones were slightly better than the beat up Myanmar 4x4s.

  

Everyone loves Obama… and all his cars. Is that an emergency American ambulance I see trailing the procession? One can never be too careful one supposes.

 

It should be noted that “the Lady” travels far lighter… and is even allowed to open the windows of her car and wave. So as a final photo please admire the right arm and hand of Aung San Su Kyi.