The land of the monks

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We woke up at 3am in bangkok, to get to the airport to catch our plane to Yangon, which is the capital city of Myanmar (Burma). In the back of our minds we wondered if it was a mistake, we couldn't get the fact out of our mind that we'd have to take 4 bus trips that are 15 to 20 hours long each, in 10 days. How could we enjoy ourselves, when we'd have to spend our time off the bus recovering from bus rides from hell. Why bother? Bus trips in this region aren't like home.

This is when our luck seemed to change for the better. We exchanged more of our Thailand currency into American dollars. Later we recounted it and we noticed we were given an extra $100! We couldn't believe it. It was like a Godsend. We knew exactly what it would be used for, better and more comfortable travelling.

Arriving at Yangon International Airport we went straight to the domestic departures and found out a flight on the airlines was leaving to Inle Lake in 1 hour. Bagan airline, a private company. We took it, and this saved a whopping 20 hours of travel time on an old junker bus filled with sacks of rice, chickens and as many people as it could fit.

Imagine a country set back in time. A country that still uses horse and carriage, and ox cart as a common way of getting around. An isolated country with very little contact with the outside world. Most of the people in this country still live in Bamboo Huts. The men and women both wear tradtional Longgi's (not sure how to spell it) which are like long skirts or sarongs.

The news is controlled by the government. Internet is available here in tourist area's, but it's painfully slow, and most websites such as hotmail and gmail are banned and blocked. Myanmar is run by a repressive military governent that simple doesn't care about it's people. There's an absolute lack of freedom here, and anybody caught breaking the law, such as telling a joke about the government will be punished severely. I'll get more into this throughout the blog.

The first thing we realized when we arrived in Inle Lake is how rural it is. It truely looks like a setting from an old western movie. People wearing cowboy hats, riding horse and carriages on dirt roads past wooden barns. Life here is very relaxed and runs slowly. Not much to do here. There's tourists here and there, but not half as many as we expected. The people are as friendly as we expected. They are gentle and polite. They only see about 1% of neighboring Thailand's amount of tourists, and only about 50% of Laos's. This means they're still excited to see us. Walking along the dusty unpaved streets we get all kinds of hello's and where you from's. People want to get to know us, and our ways of life. Tourists are really the only way most people in this country can get a glimpse of the outside world. They ask all kinds of questions. I am careful to never bring up politics. If we get caught talking about it, that person will more than likely end up in a forced labour camp as a punishment. I do however tell them about our ways of life, and they teach me there's.

The next day we booked a boat trip on Inle Lake. This lake is surrounded by dozen's of villages inhabited by different tribes. Our itinerary included a local market, a Padung Long Necked tribe, Weavers, cigar makers and of course temples. It was all very interesting but unfortunatly for us it was too touristy. The whole thing was set up for these package tourists. For example we'd see cigar makers rolling the cigars just like they do in the village, then we would be led into the shop where the high pressure sales tactics would begin. After the 10th stop it got pretty annoying. Seeing the life was interesting, and real because they do really live this way. But it's all an act, so they can get you into the shops and make you buy buy buy. After 7 hours in the heat, we got to the monistary where bored monks taugh cats to jump through hoops, we kind of had enough and asked our boat driver to bring us back.

Guesthouses are actually kind of pricey in this country compared to it's neighbors. About $15.00. They are quite nice though, and always come with a good breakfast. We are aways careful to find out if the guesthouse (and anything else) is privately run or government run. The one thing tourists should always be careful to do is to never support the government. The money goes to further opress the people. There are some things you can't really get around but there are ways to limit the money they recieve. The government only allows tourists into certain areas of the country. They built giant hotels that attract bus loads of Chinese, Korean and European tourists, that put millions of dollars into the governments pockets, with very very little going into the local economy. We of course tried our best to do the oposite, and get our money into the peoples hands. Most of the people in this country survive on less than $1.00 a day. It's really sad to see.

The next day we avoided another 15 hour bus trip. We were lucky to find out that a taxi is normally $100 from Bagan to Inle Lake. But since we were doing it backwards and the taxi doesn't want to go home empty. We got it for half price. The cab itself was a junker with no shocks left. The cab ride was hellish, I couldn't imagine what the bus would've been like. I've never seen anything like it. The road was terrible. And this wasn't some back road. This is a main highway. It was absolutley rediculous. Actually it was appauling. Even in Cambodia and Laos, the roads were at least somewhat OK. Why doesn't the government fix the roads? Then we saw the evidence of why the roads were so bad. Women and Children as young as 6 years old were the ones making the roads. It looks like appauling conditions. They'd break bolders from the mountain, the chizzel them by hand into smaller and smaller pieces. I think this is evidence of the forced labour camps. Somehow though the people were still able to break a smile and a wave as we drove by. Along the way we'd stop at some villages where people would call us movie stars and show us, among other things.....Canadian Tire Money. I guess some Canadians gave them some. They were hoping it was worth something, I didn't have the heart to tell them it wasn't real money haha

We booked a Horse and Carriage to the view the temples of Bagan. Here in this ancient city there are over 2000+ temples that are 800 years old. Amazing ancient ruins. If you want to see them you should come quickly. The current government is "fixing" them to make them look new again. This takes away from what we come to see in the first place.....ruins. Also they are building more, mostly for Chinese businessmen who pay a ton of money into the governments pockets to have them named after them. What we saw were beautiful. We asked our carriage driver to bring us to less busy temples that weren't full of package tourists. I have a new found respect for the Chinese & Korean older package tourists, believe it or not. They're annoying but because they are buddhist they know how to act in temples. The Europeans on the other hand were loud and rude, pushing their way past the monks with their big cameras. I wonder if these package tourists know or care where their millions of dollars are going.

After North America and much of Europe imposed sanctions on Burma, the banks left the country. With nowhere to store their money and nowhere to invest. The people have to keep all their money "under the bed" I had no idea this was possible. The government not too long ago, cancelled their currency. This means all the money that they managed to save is now worthless, leaving everybody to start all over again. Naturally everybody weeped. They do this to keep control of everybody, demoralizing them leaving them in a desperate state of worthlessness. All over you can see old currency, sold as souvaneers for sale for next to nothing. I bought one, and casually pulled it out at a restaraunt. One of the waiters saw it and got so excited. It had a picture of the former leader and Burmese hero Aug Sun on it. He kissed the bill, and told us all about him. I gave him the bill, he was so shocked, and so greatful, I'd give him such a thing. He blessed his restaraunt with it, repeating "Lucky Money" over and over again.

We're on the move every couple days. Luck happened to us once again and we've avoided our third bus! The 13 hour private boat trip to Mandalay was also half price because we're goin backwards, so we could afford it. It's still long but it's a big ferry, comfortable with a cafeteria and we even got to pass the time watching movies! Although the bus would've got these sooner, it was much more comfortable. Why can't Laos get boats like this? I'm mean if Burma can........

We arrived in Burma's 2nd largest city Mandalay at night. The streets were so dark. I would be pretty nervous if I didn't already know that this is one of the safest countries in the world for a traveller to come to, with almost no crime happening agianst foreigners (provided he don't go to the "off limits" areas fueled by the opium & gem trade). There are constant power outages everyday throughout Burma. When I asked a hotel why this kept happening, the hotel replied "The Government" and then stopped. There was no need to go any further and risk that person getting in trouble.

That day we decided against paying the $10 each to see the palaces that Mandalay has to offer. Much of it was built with forced labour, in anticipation of tourists coming. We didn't want to support that. Even though it meant missing some other amazing sights that would've been moral to visit. Instead we rented some bikes and crusied around the streets, admiring Burmese life. The people here seem to be always smiling, and so friendly. They have time to chat to you. when we stop and look at a map, they'll come to us and ask how they can assist us. We get offers of tea everywhere we go. This is how we met Cherry. 61 year old self proclaimed former beauty queen, knew perfect English and she had the energy of a 7 year old. She was great! She took Jasmines hand and said "Follow me Maddam" She took us into some temples and even a ceremony that was going on. People would shove their kids in front of us, as if we wouldn't notice and they'd all start taking pictures haha. She brought us to a restaraunt and bought us tea, while she talked our ear off. Really nothing else to do anyway. She was really interesting. Later we saw her only possesion, a rusted bicycle with a flat tire. We gave her $2.00 to get some lunch or get that tire fixed. I felt really bad for her. Such a sweet old lady, everyone on the streets, including army generals call her mama.

We ate at a Chapati street stall that night. Must have been the best meal we've had on our entire trip. Both meals + drinks for $1.50! Although the Burmese order smaller meals for about 10 cents. Burmese food and culture is an interesting mix of Indian and Chinese. Unlike Singapore and Malaysia time has stood still here and traditions have not been forgotten. Here at the Chapati stand we met two trishaw drivers, who we agreed to take us to the bus station the next day. We agreed on $1.00 each for the 7km bicycle ride. However we knew in our head we'd give them extra because it's a long way. That night we rode our ramshackle rented bicycles to the Moustache Brothers entertainment show.

The Moustache Brothers have a special story. Years ago on stage they made a political joke, which got one of them sentenced to 7 years hard labour building roads with a chain gang. The joke would is nothing compared to what kind of jokes are said everyday on TV about George Bush by Americans such as Leno and Letterman everyday. Being jailed this caused an uproar in the entertainment community around the world. usually people die in these chain gangs, but now the world is watching. After 5 years he was let out and continued to tell his jokes. He was told not to, but he continued anyway. They are now banned from performing anywhere in the country except, strangley enough, in their home and only for tourists. I don't know how they pulled that off haha. There jokes weren't all that funny, and it was silly that this was all illegal, technically maybe even for us to even be there. It is performed in their living room, on a dirt floor, with us sitting on plastic chairs 1 meter way haha. This is the most exciting thing to do for nightlife in Burma!

We headed to the market where we met a pharmicist. He said he trades perscription drugs to the Naga Tribe in exchange for handicrafts. The Naga Tribe lives in an area that is banned for us to go because of the opium and ruby wars going on. They are a headhunting, naked tribe of canibals. He had all these crafts decorated with monkey skulls, bones and so on. He assured us that the one in my hand was made of human bone. I assured him i couldn't buy it because I would never get it over the border.

That afternoon we met our trishaw driver who were patiently waiting for us to show up for our ride to the bus station. He told me that this is their first job this week. I felt bad that I was only going on a $1.00 ride. At the end I actually gave him $2.00. We had a long conversation on the 7km journey. I found out that he loved to tell political jokes. Then he'd end it by saying that someone was jailed for 5 years telling the same one. Throughout all this I realized that the Burmese love to laugh and need to tell these jokes. It's their way of fighting the government, even if it's in secret. He told us that his country wasn't free, and they weren't offered a proper education. He really wanted to know what was going on in the outside world. He was educated in the monastary as a monk. He asked me if I could come back in 2 years to see if things are changed. He wanted to know because they recieve no outside news. I agreed to meet him at the Chapati stand in 2 years. Although we didn't set a date he assured me he'd be there. He asked if I could bring him a gift from Canada........SNOW!!!! haha I said I'd do my best.

We now finally have to board a bus for 15 hours. Luckily for us this is on the best roads in Burma. Surely built on slave labour. (The roads are still terrible compared to Thailands shitty roads) We lucked out though. The Chinese busses are actually nice and the airconditioning works. There's no chickens or sacks of rice. The only problem is they're tiny with no leg room, surely built for asian people. Noone seemed to know English on the bus yet they played English movies all night long. This definatly wasn't the worst bus ride of our trip. it was still horrible though and bumpy as hell. Imagine your head being bumped against the side of the bus for 10 hours while you try to sleep.

We've now arrived at our last stop. Yangon (formerly Rangoon), the capital city of Myanmar (formerly Burma) The military dictorship government changed their name. The first thing I noticed is the crumbling colonial buildings, nothing modern whatsoever in this city. The dark crumbling streets are filled with vendors selling everything you can imagine from meat to movies. Pretty much anything that is smuggled through Thailand and China's borders. I managed to get my hands on some DVD's that had 12 movies on each disc for only $1.00. Hopefully they work!

We spent our days exploring the city. We saw virtually no tourists here. This is true and real untouched Asia. Even China has Coca Cola. You can find smuggled Coca Cola from Thailand, but the drink of choice is Star Cola. It was amazing to witness it all. it has no westernization whatsoever. We managed to get an all you can eat meal for 30 cents each. This is where we met our two new friends from Vancouver. We spent the night chatting away in the darkness at a Chinese Restaraunt. There's really nothing else to do. but it is overall pleasant to witness the culture.
I's so sad though. Homeless people everywhere. Ladies and their babies, look at you with desperate eys saying what little English words they know "mama baby, mama baby" I can only hand out to so many people before I can stop. One postcard seller little girl got caught by the police. She ran like no tomorrow. I told the police it's ok, they ignored me. I had images of the girls working on the roads in forced labour camps. I hope she'll be ok, luckily she got away.

Now for the main event. The 2000 year old Shwedagon Paya. With 7 tons of pure gold, thousands of huge diamonds, rubies and saffires. it's quite awe inspiring to see. It's more massive than Bangkok's grand Palace. And even better there's almost no tourists here. Unlike the 1000's who take the Grand Palace over each day. Mostly it's Burmese people there on spiritual Journeys. Words can't describe how beautiful and massive this place is. it's said to contain Buddha's hairs which has protected it from dynasties throughout the centuries. We were quickly aproached by a monk who took it upon himself to give us a tour explaining the entire faciltiy to us. This happens everywhere and it's a hassle. It happened in India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam & Laos. he shows us around then expects a sometimes rediculous amount of money up to $20 for a donation to his temple which really goes into his own pockets. He did a blessing on us for our families assuring it wasn't dangerous. he was gentle and polite and since he was a monk I didn't want to tell him to get lost like I would to someone else. After an hour he said he's finished, shook my hand and said goodbye. That's it??? This didn't seem right, he didn't ask for anything. He spent all this time on us, he must want something? I took out my wallet and offered a thousand kyat (pronounced chat) (80 cents) He declined it. So I put it in one of the offering boxes. Burma's a special place. It's the one country where you can leave your bag at a bus station, go for tea and come back and it'll still be there. It sucks I have a hard time trusting strangers in Asia, because the Burmese have been nothing but honest the whole time I was there. Not once were we hassled or overcharged. (Except by the government and their fees). I ran into another monk who expressed to me how much he wants to come live in Canada, told us how lucky we are to be free and to say and do as we want. I told him about how Cambodia had a terrible governent not long ago, they're still struggling but it's now democratic and free It's a start and hope Burma will gain that status soon.

These people truely have nothing, yet they are so friendly and always smiling. They are so well behaved. Each night the young people will go out for tea and listen to love songs haha. We can really learn a lot from them. Living in these conditions but still enjoying life as they know it. I hope I get to meet my buddy at the Chapati stand in 2 years or whenever the country gets better. Then I will try and bring him snow =)

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Photos

Novice Nuns
They loved posing for the camera, and it was a special treat for them to see themselves on the digital camera screen

Inle Lake
One of Inle Lakes rural 5 day markets

Long Necked Woman
Playing Guitar

Buddhist pilgrims
@ The Shwedagon Paya

Bamboo Hut
Most of the 52 million Burmese people still live in bamboo huts

The local Bus
People crammed into the back and on the roof of a pick up truck is their version of "the bus"

Saiging
From the boat we could view the 500+ temples of the ancient city of Saiging. Beautiful and breathtaking.

Inle Lake
The row their boats with their legs! This takes skill

Lexi!
This looks just like our friend Lexi!!! Old women smoke corn husks here. We brought one home for Lexi in hopes that she will also smoke it

Ancient Bagan
We took a horse and carriage through the 2000+ 800 year old temples through Ancient Bagan.

Myanmar Kyat
The biggest note is 1000 Kyat which is about 85 cents USD. Exchanging $100 meant a giant wad of money for me. The government will give you half the exchange that they will on the black market. Can you guess where we went?!

Postcard sellers
At each of the temples kids would want to sell us postcards. We bough about 20 that we didn't need. They were just too cute.

Coconut Pie Boy
The stuff on his face is called Thanaka. The local people use it as sunscreen and make up

Shwedagon Pagoda
2000 years old, 7 tons of pure gold, thousands of huge diamonds and rubies. Absolutley awe inspiring place

Burmese Nuns
Cruising past one of 2000+ of Ancient Bagan's temples

Praying at the Shwedagon
Prayer is really the only thing many of these people have.

Burmese Monk
He gave us a tour. Burmese robes are a different colour than the ones of Thailand

Meat Market
We got sick in Yangon. Probably because the meat market slook like this

Horse and Carriage
To this day, this is still a popular mode of transporation in Burma

Comments

[m lung]

Dave, You are truly lucky to have experience this first hand. This journal has made me realize how much we take for granted living in Canada. We have so much compared to people in Burma and yet people in our country can still be so greedy, arrogant and rude. The people in Burma sound like very very nice people. It's disgusting what the military is doing to the monks over there right now.