They headed to the Inya Lake Hotel - and were disturbed to see the gun-toting youth following and using his mobile phone.

CNN: A Tale of Two Countries

Others felt the venue, a four-star hotel on Rangoon's Inya Lake, had deterred some people from coming, with a local book festival taking place at the same time in the city centre drawing more than 4, 000 participants a day.

BBC: Burma holds its first global literary festival