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Published: January 16th 2018
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4 hours into an 8-hour bus journey from Dawei to Mawlamyine and the bus stops for 20 mins with the engine off for no apparent reason. The bus is full, we are seated in the middle at the very back in the last available seats. We understand (from muddled language barrier conversations), that locals prefer not to book these seats, as it’s difficult to get off the bus. For us, these seats are luxury considering the hideously cramped 12 hour journeys we regularly endure on racing minibuses winding around country roads, with our fellow passengers reclining their seats into our knees, puking into little plastic bags and falling asleep with their heads on our shoulders. Whilst I’m on it, I should mention the ear piercingly loud music (a random variation of bad western pop covers to hard/fast electronic house music) blaring from the back to the front of the minibuses. We imagine this is designed to keep the driver awake rather than for our listening pleasure. SE-Asian minibuses are clearly not designed for lanky confused 6ft westerners that just want to sit in peace in our own reserved little space, whilst having a pleasant dreamy snooze.
As passengers get frustrated
some work to the front of the bus and get off. Unable to ask what was going on we follow suit. In the South of Myanmar, there is very little English spoken and this bus was no exception. On the contrary, our Burmese vocabulary stops at ‘hello’, ’thank-you’ and ‘vegetarian’, anything further requires a fun little ‘type and show’ game using Google translate - which has been a saviour at times! Off the bus one passenger notes our confused faces, approaches us with a smile and very helpfully says ‘engine stopped’. So this confirms it. Our bus has well and proper broken down, in the middle of the mountains. For a few minutes we enjoy the beautiful views and take photos, but the novelty quickly wears off.
The bus driver and his colleague were behind the bus with the engine door open, simply squatting down, holding a wrench and watching the dead engine. A dozen men and one little boy had now also gathered from their seats and were squatting in a semi-circle, watching the back of the bus. I’m not sure what they were all doing (maybe performing some kind of male testosterone infused ritual of collective mind
power, like they do in the UK with broken car engines on the M25?). Nevertheless, this procedure doesn't help and the bus didn’t restart.
Sat roadside on a rock and not knowing how long this was going to last, obviously I took the time to update my social media status so my friends at home could have good chuckle at our misfortune. Every now and then a car or minibus would pass at high speed, with no apparent consideration for the roadside pedestrians (aside from a loud elongated horn when they are approaching which pretty much means ‘GET OUT THE WAY, IM NOT STOPPING’). The highways in the South have been mostly in good condition and where they are not good they are being improved rapidly. It is evident that the current government is investing hugely in transport infrastructure on a local and regional level. Pretty much everywhere we go we see gravel stacks beside dirt roads, simply waiting for the road workers to arrive. Surprisingly, asphalt is also being laid on some of the more remote roads we have used. These improvements have been so successful that ferry routes that have operated for 20 years between southern cities
are suspending services due to lack of demand as people choose the quicker more comfortable option.
After just 30 minutes of rock sitting, two passing busses stop and speak with our driver, who is still squatted at the back of the bus. He then shouts something in Burmese and our fellow passengers rush towards the busses (aside from some of the men who remain at the back of the bus, still performing their ritual). Not knowing what was going on, with some charades I asked the driver for our backpacks and we jumped on a bus. There were no spare seats however, in yet another demonstration of the wonderful Burmese hospitality we regularly experience, some passengers gave up their seats for the foreigners. We would be happy to stand however, it seems rude not to accept their offering. Plus we can’t communicate anyway and I don’t fancy performing sit-down / stand-up charades in front of a bus load of people that already look at us like we're another species!
Burmese people are exceptionally friendly, welcoming and generous. Their kindness and curiosity is something I have never experienced before when first arriving in a country. Simply walking around in
towns and villages provokes curious stares and smiles, people regularly say ‘hello’ or in Burmese ‘mingalabar'. Local children seem amazed to see us and just stop and look confused as if to say ‘what are they?’ When we wave, their faces light up with the biggest and sweetest of smiles. We notice teenagers challenging each other to come and say ‘hi’ to us, before running away giggly and shy. At pagodas and temples locals love to take photos of us, especially with them in it! The most amusing times are those that do selfies with us in the background!
We recently went to a small pop concert in Dawei and the event photographers had a field day taking our pictures! Other concert goers smiled across the field at us, kids waved and some would bring us snacks. One family bought us BBQ’d sweet corn and the father and daughter simply smiled proudly when handing it to us. On other occasions we have been given bags of local sweets, free desserts with our dinners and discounts in shops. We feel that local people are genuinely very happy to see foreigners visit their country and want to learn about us as
much as we do about them and their country. This warmth and humanity is something we shall never forget.
The sun has set and our substitute bus is travelling at speed. It’s an older style bus with no air-conditioning and shaky open windows. As usual our fellow passengers are handed little plastic bags for vomit, which sure enough are filled and lobbed out of the windows. We have no idea where we are going however, we are still heading North at least. After roughly 30 mins of travel we park at a roadside restaurant in a small town called Ye. Everybody leaves the bus to order food.
These casual eateries have no menu however, have a selection of pre-cooked dishes on display behind glass. These dishes mostly consist of meat and fish however, as vegans we have finally learnt how to use the word ‘thetalot’ properly. This means ‘vegetables’ and is our most likely way of getting good vegan food. Mistakes are often made though and as frustrating as it can be, it is especially important not to get upset and angry when things are not right. The people are genuinely want to provide us with enjoyable food
and service. There are simply cultural differences and language barriers to contend with. When mistakes are made, we find a way of letting them know, give a smile and things get rectified. Burmese people are very apologetic if they feel something is wrong and almost seem embarrassed that they made a mistake, even if it’s our fault (such as forgetting to say ‘no egg’)! At one restaurant, the lady serving spoke good English so we were confident there would be no misunderstanding. The food tasted great however, at the end of our meal we realised the soup had a couple of small shrimps in the bottom. These things happen. As we get further North we are starting to see more explicit vegan options so things are changing slowly, as they are in our home countries!
That’s it for now as we’ve just arrived in Yangon and need to drink Myanmar beer at our hostel! Part 2 will include some more on:
• The next stage of the ‘broken-down’ bus journey!
• Our favourite sights in Myanmar to date
• General acts of kindness by Burmese people
• Current politics and thoughts
• Burmese living standards pre/post NLD
• Local festivities we have stumbled
across (including transgender spiritual dancing and blessing!)
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