“By the old Moulmein pagoda lookin’ lazy at the sea. There’s a Burmese girl a-settin’ and I know she thinks o’ me, for the wind is in the palm trees and the temple bells they say ‘Come you back you British soldier, come you back to Mandalay!” – George Orwell
Like all of southeast Asia, Asia and Europe, Burma has been profoundly influenced by Indian culture. Like India, Burma has inconceivable ethnic, religious, cultural and geographical diversity. Twain wrote poignantly about India and how sincerely mesmerized he was by the experience ” . . the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined” . . . Twain is irresistible and as popular, maybe more, than ever. Unfortunately, for Twain, he never visited Burma – The Golden Land.