Crumbling capital (Yangon, Southern Myanmar)

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(Day 260 on the road)Myanmar - where to start? A country governed by a ruthless military dictatorship known for its human rights abuses including forced labour, torture and child soldiers, once occupied and ruled by the British, now isolated from the world and embargoed by it (except by China, who happily finances the regime in exchange for raw materials), Myanmar is bound to be an interesting country to visit for any intrepid traveller.

I arrived in the capital, Yangon, on a short flight from Bangkok, as it is very difficult if not impossible for foreigners to enter Myanmar overland from Thailand (however, I got an email from a guy who successfully entered Myanmar overland at Ruilli from China in December 2008). The first word that comes to mind when you view Yangon is "crumbling". Everywhere, buildings and pavements are in a derelict state, and it is immediately obvious that this country is decidedly poorer than its neighbours in the region.

Walking the streets of Yangon, which is a mixture of extreme poverty and lavish golden temples (the most impressive being the massive Shwedagon pagoda), I could not help but notice a few very strange things:


• Road traffic in Myanmar these days is on the right hand side. But it has not always been like this: Prior to 1970s and a leftover from the British occupation, Myanmar was driving on the left. In 1970, in a bet to rid itself more from it colonial past, the country changed the side you have to drive on literally overnight. However, even today most cars have the steering wheel on the right, as a) people are often too poor to buy new cars and b) many cars are imported from Japan. This is quite odd, especially when riding buses, as they all have the wheel on the right and the door on the left side - so if you want to enter the bus, you have to walk around the bus onto the road to get to the door on the other side. Interesting.
• Most people, including the majority of men, wear skirts here (called longys). Different than all other Asian countries, western clothing is not popular in Myanmar, and very few people wear trousers or even jeans.
• The women, and some men even, wear makeup made from a powdered tree bark. There appear to be various styles, from small stripes on the cheeks to liberal application all over the face.
• Myanmar is not cheap. Considering that this is the poorest country in the whole of South-East Asia, I had expected prices to be lower than in places like Thailand or Vietnam. A bit of it is certainly attributable to foreigner pricing (which is quite prevailant here), but a lot of times (for everyday items or food for instance) it is not. Strange.
• Myanmar has no cash machines. Not a single ATM in the whole country. So as a traveller you have to estimate how much money you will spend during your time here and bring all the money in cash.
• In Yangon, motorbikes are completely banned, so people are forced to take public transport or walk.
• In Myanmar, the average tourist seems between 40 and 60 years old. There are considerably more older traveller than in the rest of Asia. Also, a lot of them tend to be German for some reason.
• Many international brands are not legally available here. Because of the trade embargo, Coca Cola for instance cannot be imported into the country. It is still available however (imported illegally), but at roughly seven times its normal price.



For the past few days and also for the near future, I am travelling with an easy-going, interesting German girl, Silke. It is the first time on this trip that I am travelling with someone from my own country, and I enjoy being around someone with a similar cultural background. The craziest (and scariest) thing we have done in the city is climb up one of the spires of a grand cathedral, which was completely empty when we visited except for a very old lady who was cleaning the benches: The entrance to the spiral staircase leading up the spire was unlocked, and we slowly made our way up the creaking wooden steps, which looked anything but reassuring. The higher we climbed the less light there was, until we were climbing in absolute darkness. The views from the top over Yangon where beautiful however, but the way back down was terrifying to say the least. It took us forever to walk back down the dark staircase with its narrow steps, and when we finally reached the bottom again our sweat was not only stemming from the humidity of the air.

PS. I would recommend NOT changing money near the Sule pagoda. I got very nearly robbed and/ or cheated there by some moneychangers, so be careful! Silke describes the incident as follows in her blog: "So he found him and was offered an even better rate the last time. Ben counted the money, and when it came to giving the US Dollars, the guys suddenly asked for 50 Dollar notes instead of the 100 Dollar notes offered. This is nonsense, since the bigger the notes the better. They asked one to another "Is 100
also OK?" trying to distract Ben. He shortly turned his head, but turned it back quick enough to see that one guy took a big amount of notes out of the big stack he had just counted. Not being able to cheat
on Ben, they then completely changed their rate, now offering way less then before - an offer that Ben declined."

PPS. In reference to the title of this blog entry ("Crumbling capital"): Yangon is actually no longer the capital of Myanmar. The government has established its new capital in Naypyidaw, a few hundred kilometers north. Notable for travellers about this is that the government does not want any trains passing through its new capital at night, so all convenient night trains going north from Yangon towards Mandalay have been suspended...

Next stop: Bago (Southern Myanmar).



To view my photos, have a look at pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).

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Comments

[Edward]

Entering Myanmar
I'm afraid that you have your facts wrong. I entered Myanmar by land border at Ruilli China on July 2nd 2008. I was in the country for 24 days in 10 cities, traveling alone. Please try not to publish inaccurracies here, it only hurts the people of Myanmar, when potential tourists are misled. Would love to talk more with you aboty my exp inyour intrested. see different perspectives newsletter blog. [e-mail] please edit the information you published. Thank you Edward