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Published: April 15th 2010
Here we are now at my final destination - the capital city of Yangon. After Mandalay, my expectations weren’t too high, but I’ve got to say that while it isn’t Phnom Penh or Vientiane, it was probably more appealing (and functional) that I had expected. Certainly in the city, the streets seemed to flow a little better, and there were some great-looking old buildings down at the riverfront on the Strand. The very dominant landmark of the city is the very high gold-spired Shwedagon Pagoda, which on the one hand is very impressive, but on the other hand, you wish you could cut up all the gold and share the wealth around! I had a couple of drinks at the Savoy Hotel (not as grand as it might seem!) in the company of a number of ex-pats, for whom it appeared a pretty regular drinking hole.
So what have been my overall impressions on my short stay in Burma after an absence from the country of 36 years? Well, I note from my 1974 travel diary that I had commented that “Burma has a very low standard of living, but it doesn’t reflect in the people, who are generally
friendly and hospitable”. If I were asked to sum up the current visit, I would use almost identical words. So, has much changed? Obviously my memory is not that good, but I’d have to suspect very little. The country is still very primitive, and it is hard to see any building, structure or vehicle that shows any semblance of ‘newness’. But that should not be seen as detracting from its appeal, so long as you don’t come here with expectations of 5 star luxury.
So is there any gratuitous advice I can offer any would-be independent travellers? Some general comments are included below:
1. Weather. While my timing for this trip was dictated by my Thai activities, I’d certainly recommend not visiting around this time of year. I think the ‘coolest’ daytime maximum reading for my trip was 41 degC and I understand it tipped the scales the day I was in Bagan at 44. This meant that in effect you are limited to doing any sightseeing from around 7am through to midday, and then after 5pm, unless you are a masochist. I was fortunate in that I went a bit upmarket with my accommodation, which generally had
aircon in the rooms plus a pool, but for those on a budget, the middle of the day would be pretty severe, and tends to make you very listless.
2. Currency. I can’t really comment on the necessity to bring absolutely crisp US currency, as having brought that with me, I had no problems. But I did make the mistake of bringing most of my US currency in $100 bills. Apart from the fact that this almost represents the GNP of the entire country, with an exchange rate of around 1,000 kyat to the USD1, and with the 1,000 kyat note virtually the biggest note regularly used, any such exchange generally gives you 100 banknotes. So bring a sturdy suitcase with you! Therefore I would suggest bringing more $20, $10 and $5 notes, as these are easier to exchange, and in fact most hotels, restaurants and drivers are more than happy to take this form of currency direct. Of interest, to get out of the country, we had to pay a USD10 departure tax, which had to be paid with a crisp, uncirculated note - absolutely no exceptions! I believe those travellers who couldn’t get hold of one of
these are still waiting in the line to get out!
3. Airlines. I had been given some bad vibes about the reliability of some of the domestic flights before I came, which concerned me, given my tight schedule. Maybe I was lucky, but my 4 Yangon Airline flights all ran on time, with planes of a similar quality to back home, so I couldn’t fault them. As I mentioned earlier, some of the safety procedures are non existent, but they served their function well.
4. Communications. Don’t rely on daily internet or newspaper once you get out of Yangon and Mandalay, and IDD phones are hard to find anywhere and are incredibly expensive (USD7 for 1 minute as against USD1 for 30 minutes in Thailand!), so don’t tell your girlfriend you call her every day! When I finally reached Yangon and got access to the internet again (slow as a wet week), I couldn’t access any of my regular websites, and was advised that the government blocks most foreign websites at the flasher hotels. So go downtown if you must, and get a much cheaper rate anyway.
5. Power. The government appears to decide to cut power
at random at any time of the day or night, and only the very expensive facilities have their own generators. These cuts can be for a few seconds, or sometimes for an hour or two, so just be ready for this.
6. Locations. After less than an enthusiastic rap for Tachileik and Mandalay, I’ve got to say I enjoyed the smaller town atmosphere around Bagan and Inle Lake. I was even expecting the worst when I returned to Yangon, but actually felt this was much cleaner and more ordered that Mandalay. And yes, after giving me a wide berth in the first couple of locations, the hawkers were alive and well, although I generally felt they accepted a firm ‘no’ or ‘later’ with better grace than their cousins in other parts of Indochina.
7. Travel Agent. I can’t leave without putting in a bit of a plug for my agent, Myatt from MT&K Tours of Yangon. With credit cards and ATMs almost non-existent in Burma, cash is king. But I didn’t want to be carrying around heaps of cash, so I made prior arrangements for all my flights and accommodation with Myatt and just t/t’d those funds in advance into his Singapore account, which meant my cash only had to cover meals and day trips etc. All these went well, and as advised earlier, Ms Aye certainly did a great job for me at the border. If anyone should want their contact, drop me a note.
Finally, some of you may have wondered why throughout my blogs I have referred to the country as ‘Burma’ and not the current name of ‘Myanmar’. My research suggested that the country’s name change was synonymous with the coming to power of the military junta, and continued usage of ‘Burma’ is considered to be a mild protest in the name of democracy. That’s as political as I’ll get, folks. Thank you and good night!
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Stanley G
Stanley Gleiman
Great Blog- Down to Earth
I found it was hard to find information on first hand travel to Myanmar and your blog filled the bill.Since all your day to day impressions were current it will really help in my future visit,especially the use of small denominations for exchange(its nice to know you need crisp dollars to pay the tax at the airport).I had a lot of doubts about this trip but your descriptions have really felt I made the right decision for a visit to Myanmar.Thanks