Burmese Days!

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Well, I’ve just lost two hours of work due to a “save as” malfunction”, so here goes again!
I’ve just spent an all too brief ten days in Myanmar (formerly Burma) but I was able to learn a fair bit of the people and culture in such a short time.
After landing in the former capital of Yangon, I was greeted by a deluge of rain that flooded the streets to knee height in places! Fortunately, I was picked up at the airport by the Ocean Pearl Inn shuttle bus. Cost of accommodation is only $13/night. Transportation and accommodation are priced in US dollars, whereas local goods and services are priced in Kyat (pronounced chat), exchange rate of 820 kyat/USD. The exchange rate is falling in favour of the kyat, so the locals no longer hold US dollars, instead unloading their US dollar holdings for gold in the markets, which explains the many gold/gem shops to be found in such a poor country. It took two days to dry out the streets enough to reveal broken pavements and footpaths, that are being left in disrepair and to go to rack and ruin with the rest of the local infrastructure. Negotiating the streets on foot, especially at night can be very treacherous, requiring a flashlight for safety.
I earlier mentioned that Yangon is the former capital, because in 2005 the ruling military junta, upon the advice of a trusted astrologer, were concerned enough to move the nation’s capital to Nay Pyi Taw in the north. Therefore, Yangon’s grand, colonial buildings, abandoned government buildings, and roads are being left in a state of increasing decay. The junta has made many strange decisions over the years. For instance, to curry favour with the Chinese, their largest trading partner, the government mandated that driving would henceforth commence from the right side of the road, over one weekend. This is despite the fact that all vehicles have right hand drive (mostly imported from Thailand). This action has greatly impaired road safety for obvious reasons. As a poor cousin of Thailand, most Myanmar vehicles rumbling around the streets are decade’s old, burning oil and falling apart. And that is just the taxis! I even saw archaic Datsuns running around the streets, but none as cute as the tiny Mazda mini-trucks running around collecting passengers. Even the local busses have been modified with left-hand doorways boarded up, with right-hand exits cut out of the sheet metal in haphazard fashion.

Nightlife in Yangon is at a premium with most Beer Stations, as the bars are called, being forced to close at either 2200 or 2300 hours, depending upon the license received. Early bar closings were mandated after the 2007 petrol riots to keep a lid on an unruly populace that saw much violence and casualties. Myanmar Lager is the local favorite and my fellow traveler, Dennis and I took a punt on a flagon of the local Mandalay Rum one night, for only 600 kyat/flask, or 0.75 cents! This was even cheaper than the can of Coke we had for mix, at 800 kyat!
My mobile phone doesn’t operate on the CDMA network, which is at odds with most of the worlds GSM networks. The internet connection is also quite impaired with many sites being banned or restricted by the ruling junta, like; Facebook, Hotmail, Yahoomail, You Tube, and so on. There are ways to circumvent the restrictions as the locals are adept at doing, but the results are sporadic, even when hooking up to the V-Tunnel server, which promotes itself as being able to “get past pesky URL or IP based filters”.
I spent some hours, including viewing sunset at the iconic Shwedagon Paya, with 53 tons of gold leaf, standing at 98 metres, a veritable beacon of brilliance, dominating the city skyline, visible from every corner of Yangon. This stupa is SE Asias most famous, and at 2500 years old, Myanmar’s most important Buddhist pilgrimage site. We took the 5 story lift from street level to the base of the shrine’s compound, containing 83 other ornate buildings and shrines. Our guide, Zed, explained that as I was born on a Monday, my holy animal is the Tiger. I poured 9 cups of holy water over the head of the Buddha and the Tiger effigy for good luck and prosperity before we left the grounds for street level. Earlier in the day, at Sule Paya, I released many captive sparrows, at 500 kyat/bird, also for good luck, being placed into my hands, one after the other, by the ambitious street vendor, until I called “No Mas”! I also watched in amazement as the local Buddhist nuns, dressed in pink, went door to door, singing for alms consisting of food items or monies, provided by local businesses. On another occasion, I went up to the 20th floor of the Sakura Tower’s Sky Bistro, for wonderful panoramas of Yangon and surrounds and to witness the sunset over the Shwedagon Paya, witnessing the gold brilliance develop as the floodlights took over from the receding sunlight.
One day, I took the 3 hour Yangon Circle Line to see the surrounding areas of Yangon. After the first hour I was ready to get off of this ancient, colonial era train, clouds of dust rolling up through the wooden floorboards, a strong, sour smell of rotting trash filling the wooden seat coaches, from the piles of garbage all along the tracks. After the second hour, I was moved to a window seat by the conductor who moved a local man, so I could take photos of the passing landscapes. At many whistle stops, the conductor would pass the green flag over to our side of the coach for one of the locals to wave the all clear to the engineer, so he wouldn’t have to get up and do that. Blazing along at a whopping 10 kph, vendors patrolled the cars selling everything from stationary, bags of crabapples, little tin cups of water refilled from a larger water bucket, snacks, crispies, the ever present bettle nuts (chewed by a majority of the population who spit vast quantities of the red juices all over the streets!), and an old woman, her remaining teeth stained red from bettlenut, cutting buns in half with a pair of scissors to pour condensed milk inside for sale.
I experienced an air conditioning unit that was blowing cold air on my face one night, and felt some discomfort when I woke up in the morning with a sore throat. This situation got worse each day, until I was forced to see a Dr. Suwe in Mandalay some days later. My throat was getting so sore; I was only eating non-spicy chicken noodle soup for many days. The nurse at the hospital brought in a tray of instruments perched carefully upon a plastic chair near my gurney. Upon examination, flashlight held by the attending nurse, the doctor proclaimed no obvious injury to my upper respiratory tract, but he was unable to see below my closed esophagus. He did see a lot of inflammation and prescribed a three-day course of precautionary anti-biotics and anti-inflammatories. If no improvement, I was to see a doctor upon my return to Bangkok. I actually did get worse upon arrival in Bangkok coming down with a severe cough, sinus congestion and a moderate headache I could not shake. Instead of going to the doctor, I self-prescribed various meds from the pharmacy down the street, which has helped somewhat to alleviate my symptoms. It is no wonder, in retrospect that I had breathing problems with the clouds of dust in the air, and so much pollution caused by the decades old vehicles plying the streets, belching diesel fumes and too many burning oil. In comparison, the air in Bangkok is relatively much cleaner, which is not something I would have said before this trip!
Getting back to the street food stalls, the plastic furniture consists of child-sized mini-tables below knee height, and even lower, tiny little stools , that leave your knees above your ears when seated! The favorite local tea is sweetened with condensed milk, consumed in quantity at the many tea shops, populated mostly by men. Most men wear the traditional longyi, a long wrap-around cloth, tied in the manner of class or region, and the men are always fiddling with it, tying and untying it all the time.
Breakfasts at all guesthouses countrywide consists of one egg, two white toast, jam, and seasonal fruits, with a sickly sweet pre-mix coffee. I would have preferred a local breakfast, but this is what the guesthouse proprietors believe westerners desire. I do pine for my Italian style espressos I was so enjoying in Melbourne not that long ago.
After staying at the Ocean Pearl Inn in Yangon for $13/night, I stayed at the decent Royal Guesthouse in Mandalay for only $9/night. Great value for such amenities. The Royal Guesthouse has a great rooftop terrace upon which my buddy Dennis and I could share a couple of beers, listening to the sounds of silence, a strangely unnaturally stillness, in a city of nearly one million. With only the chanting monks from the temple down the street, and the hourly chimes of the Christian church across the street to disturb the stillness, Dennis and I shared many a travel story from our many combined years of adventure travel abroad. A curiosity worth mentioning is that the sinks here drain onto the floor by your feet, running to another floor drain near the toilet! What am I doing with toothpaste on my feet you ask? One other noteworthy observation is that the average age of travelers to Burma is in the middle-aged category. Not sure why that is, except to suggest that there aren’t many partying options for the younger backpacker, who aren’t exactly looking for peaceful serenity or cultural experiences.
While walking around the streets of Mandalay, I saw a lady selling what appeared to be bundles of cream-coloured sticks. I was curious as to their purpose and pantomimed to the vendor lady their use. For eating, as I made a chewing motion, like a corn cob? Followed by a laugh and a headshake. Making music as I pounded the sticks together? More laughs and then the vendor demonstrated how to make the paste from the Tanaka Pim (tree). The stick is ground onto a flat stone with a little water, and the paste is liberally applied to the faces of the local women for sun protection and as a beauty decoration. In the interest of local cultural enlightenment, I allowed the lady to apply the paste to my face also, creating quite a humorous stir and more than a few giggles, among the locals as I walked back to my guesthouse for a face wash!
Dennis and I went to see a local variety show of the low budget version, put on by the notorious Moustache Brothers of Mandalay. The brothers have been a constant thorn in the side of the ruling junta for decades, with Par Par Lay and Lu Zaw having served lengthy prison sentences of hard labour for their anti-government parodies. Lu Maw, the English speaking comic, pokes fun at everyone, including his brother who puts on a set of chains for the act. He also teases his much younger wife and promises a 5 hour massage instead of the usual 2 hour effort. Lu Maw also entreats all visitors to enlist the aid of Somali pirates to come to Burma and take away all the Generals! He told one excellent joke in the beginning monologue, by relating his trip to Thailand to have some dental work done. The Thai dentist asked why he would come all the way to Thailand when there are qualified dentists in Burma. Because Lu Maw explained, if he opens his mouth in Burma, he’ll be arrested! Currently, the Brothers are only allowed to perform in their own home, with ancient sound equipment, the microphone looking like something left over from British WW2 surplus. The steep 8000 kyat entry fee is largely used to support the more than 2000 political prisoners still locked up in Myanmar’s prisons with food and water.
From Mandalay, Dennis and I continued our travels to Nyaung U in the Bagan Region, famous for the 4400 temples scattered over the plains, constructed over a period of time, more than 800 years ago, during the time of Cambodia’s Angkor Wat. But much more special to us, was being able to witness the gathering of the rural farmers for miles around, congregating at the Ananda Temple in a massive encampment of families, men, women and children, attending the annual full-moon, Harvest Festival. Entire families travelling for days by ox-cart, making camp in and amongst the temples, coming to trade their produce for tools and large clay, storage pots to cart home for next year’s harvest. This was a definite highlight, observing the simple farming families, setting up simple shelters, cooking rice over small fires, and approaching us tentatively with curiosity and a welcoming smile. Their smiles turned to laughter when we showed them the results of the digital photos we had just taken, which is the beauty of this technology.

At the Bagan airport, on our way back to Yangon on the 18th, Dennis and I were tailed through the terminal by a suspicious looking man, who turned out to be a not so subtle plain-clothes agent. He was dressed in a distinctive white fedora, pacing around with his hands behind his back. No matter where we walked in the terminal, he would peer over our shoulder, listening to our conversation with the shopkeepers, and made a general nuisance of himself. When his back was turned the local woman made a sign of shivering when indicating the snoopy man. While this episode was unnerving to a small extent, we were further unnerved in Yangon when we went to visit the HQ of the National League for Democracy offices, provisionally to gather some information on the movement, but specifically to see if we could catch a glimpse of the leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was recently released from 17 years of house arrest. Suu Kyi wasn’t there but we took a few photos inside and outside anyhow, which may have been interpreted as provocative by the local authorities. Because by the next morning the police came to our guesthouse to ask for copies of our passports and our return flight details. Needless to say, Dennis and I weren’t feeling too comfortable until our flight was safely in the air later that night. Our edginess was further increased when the Air Asia flight was almost two hours late.

Now, back in Thailand, I will miss the bright, warm, welcoming smiles of the people of Myanmar, and their many instances of gentle kindness. I look forward to returning and continuing my explorations in the future. Currently, tourism to Burma is measured in the thousands, not the millions that Thailand receives, and that has a lot to do with the lack of infrastructure in Burma, and the difficult road conditions experienced. The country is decades behind in development, due in no small part to bad governance, and the various embargoes placed on the country, which makes Myanmar such an enigma, but also an interesting travel destination for hardy travelers.

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Comments

[escapeartist123]

Bagan
Looking good dudes. x