We haven’t got a single photo of this museum! However, I found some pics on the web so have included them.

 Aung San Suu Kyi’s father is the general that negotiated Burma’s freedom from Japanese and British rule in 1947.  He was assassinated with 6 of his colleagues soon afterwards on 19 July 1947, now known as Martyrs’ Day.

The Bogoyke Aung San Museum (Bogoyke means General) is only open one day a year in Yangon – on Martyrs’ Day, 19 July, which was the day we were leaving Yangon.  We told Khaing’s dad how disappointed we were not to be able to go there.  The museum is the detached villa on a hill that Aung San Suu Kyi grew up in, the house where her mother and father lived.

We were astonished the next day when Khaing’s dad told us that the government have decided to open the house for 3 days a week starting today, 18.7.12!  So we were going to go there before lunch.

We drove up in our minibus and piled out, cameras at the ready.  We were astounded to see about 30 armed soldiers/police around the house, having seen very little evidence of them over the previous week.  We were sent back to minibus to leave cameras, phones, bags, everything.  We went through the equivalent of airport security, all very intimidating and then directed to the house.

Each room is set out as it would have been with the family books, pictures, letters, photos and even the late general’s car.

The dining table has place settings showing where the family would have sat.   They had a tall toilet!  The children’s bedroom had 3 wee beds, one was Aung San Suu Kyi’s cot, as the youngest of the children. Sadly, in the grounds, is the large pond where Aung San Lin, Aung San Suu Kyi’s brother died. It was an amazing place to visit, full of personal story, hope and tragedy.  The government have set it out beautifully and it was probably the best visit we made in Yangon.  So frustrating not to be able to share a photo…. and of course… no postcard stall here!