-------- Original Message -------- Subject: 1930s Rangoon map Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 16:31:32 +1100 From: [log in to unmask] ------------------ I forgot to add one map to my list of available Burmese maps: "Rangoon Guide Map", 1930, 3":1mile (ie 1:21,120), colour, published by the Surveyor General of India. This map, a large 2-sheet city plan, has been reproduced in full colour and scale, and is available for purchase from the antique shop in the Strand Hotel, Rangoon. The Strand is of course the third of the three Asian colonial hotels built by the Armenian Sarkies Brothers, the other 2 being Raffles in Singapore and the Eastern & Oriental in Penang. There is a framed copy of the map on the wall of the hotel, and copies can be had for US$155 rolled, or US$180 rolled in a nice woven rattan tube-shaped carry case (ie a rattan version of a mailing tube). When I asked about ordering from overseas, the boutique owner introduced a friend of his in shipping, who said he could ship it for around US$150! Posting it through the Burmese postal system is probably consigning it to oblivion, but there is a DHL office in the Traders Hotel also in the city. The shipper thought DHL would be even more expensive, but I think not. DHL should be able to ship it worldwide safely, in their triangular mailing tubes without a problem. And if you have a DHL account at your end, payment for the service should be relatively painless given credit cards are useless in Myanmar. Anyone wanting to purchase this map (and it is very nice) should contact the Strand Hotel in the first instance, as I have no name or details for the boutique owner (there's only 3 shops in the hotel, so there's little chance for confusion). Having a contact in Rangoon able to take it to the DHL office would simplify things too. Strand Hotel 92 Strand Road Yangon Myanmar email: [log in to unmask] ph 95-1-243377 fx 95-1-289880 -- Dr Brendan Whyte, School of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010, AUSTRALIA [log in to unmask]