Mingalabar is a Burmese greeting which simply means hello or good day.  We spent 10 days backpacking Myanmar and this was the very first Burmese word I learned to pronounce correctly. Thanks to my Burmese friend Htoo, who was very keen to teach me his language.  This auspicious basic word would always come in handy whenever we walked into a new place where I would always try my best to correctly greet the people with a happy “Mingalabar!” and they would joyfully greet me back or sometimes giggle and smile if I mispronounce it.

     So when i was making this video compilation of our 10 days in Myanmar, I immediately thought of "Mingalabar" as part of its title which captures the sentiment that echoes the experience we had in this beautiful country. A country that was once a mighty kingdom of the early civilization in South East Asia which is now on the edge of a great change following its opening to the western world after 50 years of harshly imposed self-isolation and the emerging democratization led by its President and Nobel Peace Prize awardee Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. A country that is authentic, beautiful, culturally diverse and untouched by mass tourism.