A spaghetti western in communist Burma

It was a scene that would have made Clint Eastwood laugh.

I had learned that Burma was allowing travelers in on 72-hour visas, and since I would be traveling in the Far East I booked a flight out of Thailand to Rangoon.

The country hadn’t allowed people to travel there and placed a lot of restrictions on those who did.

I stayed at the Strand Hotel. It had been a resting place for the likes of Oliv...