Arrived by plane Thursday 4th and explored the central area. Travelled to the confluence two rivers forming the start of the Irrawaddy at Myet Sone Friday 5th.Saturday 5th was spent la at sights connected with WW2, Churches, Pagodas and Temples. Sunday morning we managed a visit to a Pagoda complex with an impressive white domed stupa and 1000 small Bhuddas donated by residents. We reached the airport in time for our 11.15 flight to Mandalay. It left at 15.00.

<p><span style="font-size: 14px;">'We wish for democracy now and want it to start from here'. Words to me from the Director of the Parliament. The Kachin Independence &nbsp;Army has a cease fire agreement with government and administrative offices in Mityikyina but no per ant agreement. Yet there is a pealpable desire for change. Both government and insurgents &nbsp;ought to respond, The evidence of support for Aung San Suu Kyi is everywhere to be seen but is not universal.&nbsp;</span></p>

The Japanese conquest of Burma in 1944 had cut the overland supply route to China. The Allied Northern Combat Area Command resolved to build a new route to link up withe old Burma road at Myitkyina. A combined force of Chines Nationalists, Americans, British, British Indian and Kachin irregulars advanced eastwards from India across the river Chindwin and westwards out of of Yunnan in China. US General Vinegar Joe Stillwell was in overall command. His first success occurred on 17th May withe capture of the airfield by American special forces: Merrill's Marauders. ;The siege lasted 79 days in &amp;amp;amp;nbsp;until 11th August. The Ledo road route from India to China opened for supply convoys in January 1945. Visited &nbsp;places in the town associated with the battle: the British compound now reduced to a few decrepit buildings - the explosives store and a wooden structure labelled 'General Store' ; the 'Japanese Lane' the old front line; the Japanese hospital; the Ledo Road; and the airfield, taken at great cost in lives by Merrill's Marauders. Unusual memorials are &nbsp; the town centre clock ;presented as a memorial to the Japanese dead, a Pagoda with a reclining Buddha presented by a Japanese survivor. Perhaps the most interesting though was the wooden structure used as Kempeitaiheadquarters: a kind of Japanese Gestapo. Now it is a rather rundown family house: with remains of a US bomb, a mortar shell and trolley for carrying shells all lying about in the yard. The front of the building was still covered in bullet holes.

<p>Over the four days we met and conversed with an interesting cross section of Kachin people living in the town. This included: the afore mentioned inhabitants of the Kempeitai House. a little further on we noticed a modern house built of teak in traditional style. We decided &amp;amp;nbsp;take a look and entered the main gate. We were confronted by a pair of fierce looking Alsatian guard dogs. Fortunately, a member of the family appeared and led out to the dogs. It turned out that his was the home of the Kachin State Chief Minister. He was local leader of the USDP party. They had recently lost the elections nationally and locally to the NLD. We ere invited in for coffee. It was evident that the Chief Minister and his family had a strong sense of the Kachin identity. Next &nbsp;we encountered people in Kachin national dress attending &amp;amp;nbsp;reception to mark the opening of a new guest house. They insisted that Sarah posed with hthem for photograph. The photographers were professionals: we had got used to young people coming up to us and demanding selfies so this took it all to a new level. In a discussion over Kachin aUtonomy with one individual advocating complete independence. Later I met a retired soldier who told me what guerilla warfare had even like up in the northern hills. We spoke &amp;amp;nbsp;to farm workers on the alluvial plain by the Irrawaddy a Orofessor of Geology at the University, the Direct of the State Parliament and the Chief Air Traffic Controller. There &nbsp;is &nbsp;plainly a general commitment to the preservation of the Kachin culture. Politics were very much at the forefront of people's minds given the accession to power of the first genuine civilian regime since before the military coup of 1962. My conclusion, based on only a few days in Mityikyina was that most people will support the NLD provided that Kachin State secures it's fair share of national investment and that the insurgencies are ended through agreement on regional autonomy. &amp;amp;nbsp;Will both Kachin Inependence Army and central government make the necessary compromises?? I hope so. Conflict has gone on too long and should end now.</p>