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Published: August 18th 2007
What's with the face?
All the women and children in myanmar wear thanaka, which is combo sunscreen/perfume (not strong)/lotion, something like that. women don't like to have their picture taken w/o it on!August
Before i write about my time in burma, i thought it was worth just putting out some random facts about this strange little country - in no particular order, or meant to go together, just a few notes.
Government - As most of you know, the gov''t is a military dictatorship since 1962. Former british colony - only independent since 1948!
- The gov't has been criticized internationally for serious human rights abuses include forced labor, human trafficking, and sexual violence as an instrument of control. there is evidence of all these abuses, not just rumors.
- The gov't is allowed to do whatever they want because there is NO judicial branch whatsover outside the executive power. This means you don't want to get in trouble in Burma because you have NO RECOURSE. torture is reported at the jails, and in 2001 a foreigner was tortured until he surrendered his personal possesssions. messages at all the airports have written everywhere "carrying drugs can lead to the death penalty".
- In the first election held in 30 years (and brought on by much int'l pressure) the democratic party leader WON the free election with over
Best (worst) public transport in the world
We entertained ourselves all day trying to capture the most overloaded bus. they are definitely the most crowded public transport vehicles i've seen anywhere in the world, with even the roof COMPLETELY packed! 60% of the vote, and over 80% of parliament. The government annulled the elections and but the party leader under house arrest where she has remained ever since. When her husband died in London a number of years back, she didn't go to the funeral because she knew she'd be exiled from the country if she ever left. You will probably never hear a burmese person mention her name, though i think a lot of them really like her.
- The US actually does have an embassy in Yangoon, which is a bit of a surprise since they hate us and i read a newspaper article there (the propaganda is unbelieveable) abt how the us embassies officials have been seen visiting democratic party supporters in the past few months. I believe the title was something like "imperialists try to impose their ways upon us" or something to that effect.
- The US currently has full economic sanctions on Myanmar.
- The name? the current military changed the name of "burma' to "myanmar" stating that burma was only based on one ethnic group, the burmese and myanmar was more appropriate. They changed the name of a number of
A million dollars!
Well, less than $100 actually, but can you believe the biggest bill here is a 1,000...and the exchange rate is $1 = 1,200 kyat, so literally the biggest bill is just a few quarters. We have to carry around wads of cash in plastic bags! other places, such as Pagan (bagan), Rangoon (yangon), something to do with the colonial time names. i've heard ppl say that this is just a backward's gov'ts way to try and rewrite history.
- The gov't used to be called the State Law and Order Restoration Council. In 1997 they hired a WASHINGTON, DC PR firm to help with their image who suggested they cange their name to the "State Peace and Development Council". unbelievable.
- The gov't believes the imperial powers of the world are trying to take them over and corrupt them. in recent years they have actually surreptitiously moved the effective capital out of Yangoon, to somewhere about 120km away, noone is REALLY sure where, so that if somebody attacks yangoon they will still be safe. now there are a bunch of old, abandoned gov't buildings in yangoon.
Tourism - Not high on the tourist radar screen, Myanmar receives only 1.4%!o(MISSING)f the visitors that Thailand does each year.
- The gov't recognizes the economic opportunity here and in 1996 launched a massive "visit myanmar" campaign and used forced labor to construct many tourist sites, such as fake palaces. All foreign visitors
Speaking of being burmese...
Strange traveling with 3 asians, who can, and often do, pass as local burmese. entereing the country had to change $300USD to $300FEC money, which were like little travelers checks, but just used as a way to make sure teh gov't was getting the real money.
- The democratic leader under house arrest asked tourists NOT to visit burma, and hence supporting the gov't with $$s in the late 1990s ( we haven't been able to hear from her since). Tony Blair has also said the same.
- It's possible to visit burma and get your money in hte hands of the ppl who it can help and not the gov't - lonely planet estimates over 80% of independent traveler's money goes to local's pockets. One meal or night accomodation can mean a lot to people here. Packaged tours, however, can put all your money in the gov't pocket. it's very important to research first what is gov't owned and what is NOT - so that you can avoid supporting them. it can be surprising, but they have their fingers in just about everything (of course if something is doing well economically, you know the gov't is goign to take a cut somewhere!) for example, the main beer of the country, Myanmar
beer, is a góv't JV...and many travelers don't know that!
- There are no ATMs in Burma, not even one! No bank will accept traveler's checks. it's virtually impossible to find a place that will accept a credit card, but a couple can, and they process them out of networks in Singapore. All of this is because there is not a SINGLE international bank in Burma!! I heard from one tourist that a place in Yangoon will give you cash advances on your cc for a whooping 7.5% fee, not including what your credit card charges. If you think about this for example, that means you need a LOT of cash. Think about packaged tourists who are spending $100 / night on hotel room, AND you have to pay for your plane flights which can range from $50 - $100...cash of course! I felt nervous going into a country where there was virtually no way for me to get more money. That also means that every single tourist is walking around with at least hundreds of dollars of them at any given time.
- As a follow up to the last sentence above, tourists SHOULD be serious targets for crime - i mean the payoff woudl be massive. However, and this is a MAJOR MISCONCEPTION about burma in the US i think, Burma is SO safe for tourists! It is by FAR the safest place i've been in the past four months (except maybe beijing). A large part of the time, i didn't even wear my money belt, just carried it around in my bag. it was such a great feeling to feel safe, both from theft, and also personal safety.
- I didn't meet a single american the entire time i was in burma, which i think might partially be due to the misconception above. basicallly all the other tourists were european, and for some reason TONS of french people are there! it's quite strange and even when i asked the french ppl, they don't know why. I think it just caught on there.
- There were actually quite a few tourists in burma, i thought. i expected it to be the most "remote" country i've visited, but it wasn't - maybe second though, to Rwanda being the first.
- It may have SEEMED like there were a lot of tourists in burma because foreigners are SEVERLY restricted as to where they're allowed to travel in burma, you can't leave set regions, etc. and basically lots of places you have to fly to becuase you aren't allowed to travel overland. (remember i couldn't reach yangoon overland from bangkok). this is a serious pain.
- Plus, the gov't is monitoring your every move - in fact, even as a tourist you actually have to be careful about saying stuff about the gov't, etc. you don't want to get in trouble. Foreigners are only allowed to use licensed EVERYTHING - hotels, guides, etc. each night at the hotel they turn in 6 copies of the foreigner data to various military and police officials.
People - As is the case everywhere, people here just get on with their lives. Here, though, they are rather cut off from the rest of the world.
- People are very poor here (again, except the military generals). someone can make 3,000 kyats a day, which is about $2.50. even the bottom miliarty level, basic solidiers, they are making 30,000 per month - $24.
- The burmese are the NICEST people ever. Collectively, definitely the nicest people of any country i've been to! after you get to know someone a bit - share a meal, etc. they take to calling you "sister"or brother". they always want to chat, they are so friendly. when they ask "where are you from"they really want to know. They are so curious and so hungry for knowledge of the outside world.
- it's UNBELIEVABLY difficult for a burmese person to get permission to leave the country...even if they don't have enough money to fly, they could cross overland to other countries...but they are not allowed. basically they aren't allowed to leave. they would have to have a special reason. IN FACT, they are not allowed to Travel everywhere WITHIN the country even!! some of those areas restricted to foreigners, above, are ALSO restricted to the burmese!
- one of the few places in SEA where ppl still wear traditional clothing...basically longyis, which means the men wear skirts (i'll have pictures of this in my later blogs)
- they are SO fascinated by digital cameras here...you have to show someone their picture everytime you take one! but many ppl are actually very camera shy, especially women not wearing thanaka.
- basically everyone is budhist, even more so than the other countries i've been to. Monks are everywhere, and pretty much every burmese boy becomes a monk at least twice in his life - even for a short while, like 10 days minimum - once as a novice monk, under 20 yrs old, and once as a real monk, over 20 yrs. the more senior/older you get, the more rules you have to follow.
- So they drive on the right (US side of the road) in burma. they used to drive on the left but then the gov't changed it because they said it was a legacy of the british colonization. (we're back to the rewriting history thing again). THe thing is, all the cars still have their steering wheels on the right (british side). Which makes things really awkward and passing really dangerous because the driver can't see anything! oh, and the cars are SO old in burma, i don't really think they're importing any new ones - maybe just more old ones from china.
- They are under strict political and media control. They have NO political freedom whatsoever, and the media is completely censored. tehre are 2 gov't TV channels. RIch people have satellite, but there aren't really many rich ppl - and if you ARE rich you're probably a military general or something, and even if you do have satellite you have to speak english.
- It was illegal to teach english in schools until about 20 years ago.
- The internet was illegal here until 2001, the first internet cafe opened in 2002, and now it is HIGHLY regulated.
- It's illegal for a burmese person to have any email address other than @myanmar.mm.com - which obviously is a gov't one that can be screened. the US consular site says that the gov't reads all emails. Sites such as yahoo mail, hotmail, are blocked by the gov't.
- Burmese ppl will not talk about their gov't with you, if it comes up they are looking over there shoulder all the time as there are secret police everywhere. it is illegal to discuss the gov't with foreigners, and the penalities are STRICT.
In conclusion I just wanted to get some of the facts out there, I feel like i've made it seem like a terrible place, but the thing is, my impression is that the entire country and the people are so lovely. it's also much more developed than i expected - yes ppl are poor, but there doesn't seem to be the chaos typical of 3rd world countries. the impression of burma is that there is peace and happiness, a quaintness to life - BUT, that is what you, the tourist, are supposed to see, and the face the gov't is oh-so-careful to preserve. I guess the reality is that we just don't really know what's really going on below the surface.
That's it for my introduction to Burma! I"ll write more soon on my adventures there.
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P.S. we also received a nice email from the Korean woman we met in Laos!:
Dear Patty and Kate Jackson,
As you may remember me, I met you and yor friends at Hanoi dated Jan. 26.
Thanks to you and your friends, I arrived at my home safely. If I could not meet you, I may had terrible trip.
I will remember you and your friends forever, and, I hope that you and your friends again if we can make a chance.
Sincerely yours,
Y. J. Cho from Korea
P.S. - This is from my comapny servor So, I will inform you my individual e-mail address is heracyj@hotmail.com
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justin
non-member comment
Ok, Jaime, read back over your blog and insert a quick "Why would Jaime travel to Myanmar when..." in front of every bulleted statement under the heading "government". How did that not scare you, or any reasonable person, off??? However, from you experience, it sounds like it was safe, and i'm sorry I didn't go. Nicer than people from laos?