Is insulting people? For the OP, if you are different in ANY way (abnormally short, tall, fat, white, black, etc.), get used to people staring, laughing, making comments, asking rude questions, etc. Its like a country full of 2nd graders. I disagree with all that has been written on this thread. I have NEVER been treated as poorly as I was in Myanmar. For the OP, bring ample cash, especially in small bills. Everything will be quoted in dollars and you will be thoroughly screwed over every chance you get. Get used to being viewed as a walking dollar instead of a human being. I was quoted 5 dollars to go two miles in a taxicab. Its cheaper than that in the US let alone in a country such as this. The market is filled with lots of crap and things you shouldnt be buying. ivory, turtle shells, rhino horns, elephant tusks, etc. Apparently #2 in Myanmar's official creed of ignoring other countries who try and pressure Myanmar knows no boundaries. Get used to monks begging and demanding money, get used to kids with hands in your pockets, get used to betel nut spit on the ground and occasionally on your feet or other parts of you, and get used to a country with some of the most beautiful icons in the world being visited by some of the worlds poorest people. I couldnt care less about the political issues of the country. Change comes from within and I frankly do not think that the people there are ready to change. The government reflects the people and the people reflect the government.

If youre this close to going then you are going, but just be prepared and have realistic expectations. If anything, you can count yourself as one of the roughly 50,000 visitors that should visit this year. If youre from the US, you are roughly one of 7,000. And JD3, I am sure your wife and her family are all very nice and treat you like royalty. But as someone traveling alone and who knows no one there, I was not. I was made to feel so uncomfortable that I left and will only return under very very particular circumstances.