(late entry on Myanmar)
Since we went during the rainy season, 2 weeks in Myanmar was just the right amount of time. We almost couldn't leave because it was flooding at and around Inle Lake, and we needed to take the overnite bus back to Yangoon just in time to catch our flight. We went way out of our way to catch the bus partly on purpose and partly not on purpose, and after much running around, changing of buses, and confusion, we finally got on the right bus and made it back to Yangoon in time.
I thought it strange not to have internet in Yangoon, Myanmar's capital and quite a large city. But there was actually internet access at Inle Lake although it was supposed to be limited access. We could get Google, BBC World, ESPN, and our own www.mowenck.com. I can't imagine how the governmet limited it if at all. They probably just said they were watching, and that's all they needed to do to scare the people into compliance. I don't really know; I'm just assuming.
Every city we went to had places with satellite TV with Star Sports, BBC World News, HBO, Star Movies, etc. At Inle Lake, we found a draught beer joint with Russian television that showed this motorbike obstacle course competition where guys on specialized motorbikes went across, balanced, bounced, and hopped over courses made out of boulders, balance beams, and giant planks, and on another course they had to drive/climb over steep V shaped paths where the incline was at least 45 degrees. They had to do this without putting their feet down or falling off the course without penalty. It was awesome! They should have that as part of the X games.
In Bagan Ty and I were both rather surprised when we switched on the TV around 10pm, which is way past most people's bed times there, and saw naked big boobed blond european women making excruciating faces and moaning, bouncing up and down on some guy's crotch. In our room we could only see whatever the downstairs TV was tuned to. Occasionally the channel would switch to Japanese sumo wrestling or soccer, but then it'd always switch back to the porn for a while. I'm not sure what to think of it. Burmese women are quite modest in dress and behavior. And the men actually giggle like little school girls when they see scantily dressed women on TV or a couple giving each other a simple and innocent peck. It's considered impolite to show public displays of affection. And you never see local men and women sitting around talking to each other affectionately even. I may be exaggerating a little bit, but I definitely don't remember seeing any behavior between men and women that resembled anything close to the courtship process. It must be quite a bit of culture shock to the modest Burmese to see things like that in foreign tv and movies. For the time being it hasn't affected their culture, but I'm sure that won't remain the case. Ahhh, the wonderful power of tv to help in the healthy exchange of cultures.
Myanmar (Burma) was not on our itinerary of places to visit in SEAsia. However, after hearing good things about Myanmar from other travelers and considering our experiences in Indonesia-also not on our itinerary-we decided to have a 14 day lay-over in Myanmar on our way to Kathmandu.** So on 08Sep04 MoWenck landed at Yangoon's international airport. Our recent experience in Indonesia had relieved some of the apprehension we felt about visiting Myanmar but we were still concerned and did not know what to expect.
The decision to visit Myanmar was not made without serious thought. Afterall, there is a military junta (The State Peace & Development Committee or SPDC for short, a gentle euphamism if there ever was one) controlling the country, a junta that has used terror and violence to supress the opposition. The 1991 nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi (recently mentioned by G-Dub in his speech to UN General Assembly) has been under house arrest since being democratically elected in 1990. In that time her husband died (in London) and the government has crushed her opposition party. There are many 'political' prisoners in Myanmar-their families do not know where they are serving their time or if they are even alive. Prisoners-of the political kind-are often held indefinitely and used for hard labor. The government continues to fight with hill tribes (native Burmese) and therefore has banned travel in many parts of the country-good luck entering via land or going overland to China. In addition to all of this, tourism in Myanmar is controlled harshly by the junta and exhorborant fees to visit sites have been charged. For this reason Aung San Suu Kyi and many international groups have asked tourists not to travel in Myanmar until the junta relents. Wth the introduction of International Economic sanctions most multinational corporations (except for evil coke) pulled out along with the international banking community...there are no ATMs and traveller's checks are not accepted making life more difficult for the tourist.
However, the sanctions have been effective-when the Chinese don't ignore the sanctions and wheel-and-deal with the government (which according to some is happening all the time) and the government has responded by reducing the fees and costs to tourists. Tourists are no longer required to fork over $200 US upon arrival (you used to have to buy these Foreign Exchange Credits-FECs-to pay for hotels and transport). The political atmosphere in Myanmar is changing, for the better and so in the end, we decided to visit Myanmar. While we were there we did the best we could to funnel our tourist dollars to the locals and not the government-as the Burmese do enjoy a certain amount of economic freedom...of course, not when it comes to things like petroleum products or logging which is exclusively controlled by the bad guys. Anyway about our visit to Myanmar...
First impressions of a country should not be made at the airport. Yangoon's airport is no exception. The airport lacks the modern convenience of oh say-jetways, so even in the rain-September is the tail end of the monsoon season-you deplane directly onto the tarmac where an aircon bus takes you the 50 M to the international terminal, things improve in the terminal. There are more immigration officials than immigrants which eliminates the usual hour-long hassel of immigration. Then, there is only one baggage claim 'belt' so finding your bags is easy. Of course the airport is about 20 K from Yangoon so you have to catch a taxi (~$5 from, $3 to the airport).
The first thing I noticed about driving in Myanmar is that they drive on the right (literally) side of the road. However, to complicate things-or to make the driving on one lane roads (which is most of Myanmar) more difficult-almost all vehicles, buses and cars alike, have been imported 'domestic used' from Japan thus the driving column is also on the right (wrong?) side of the vehicle. Almost simultaneously I noticed that there were no motorscooter, motorcycles, bicycles or any kind of two-wheeled vehicles on the road-absolutely unheard of in SEAsia. As I would later find out, the government has banned these vehicles in the capital city-on the grounds that they are not safe with the amount of traffic in the city. Yes there is traffic, but nothing like a HCMC or Bangkok. Interesting. Finally if buses extend their careers in Indonesia, Myanmar is where they go to die. Myanmar buses are of wide variety-from 'modern'-built between 1975 and 1985-to post WWII Korean buses complete with hardwood benches to pick-up trucks with bench seating in the back. Public buses in Myanmar take crowding to another level. No where have I seen so many people crammed into one place. Burmese hanging from the roof, the bumbers, anything that they can grab onto ride rain or shine. These conditions must qualify as a form of human rights violations. Remarkable even for SEAsia.
Yangoon is a typical capital city with traffic and noise and lots of people. Yangoon is Myanmar's largest city. In terms of pollution, the fact that there are less vehicles and that they don't burn their rubbish-in the capital anyway, Yangoon is a breath of fresh air. Of course the fact that it rained every day we were in Myanmar might have had something to do with the 'clean air' in Yangoon. Our taxi driver proved to be a good guy and he provided plenty of helpful information. The best thing he did was took us to a clean, cheap-relatively-guesthouse in the city center. The Beautyland II on 33rd street in Yangoon is clean and the staff is helpful. The room included aircon and hot water but was a whopping $15/night! After settling into our room MoWenck went down stairs to change some money for the local casheesh-Kyats (pronounced chat) at about 925 kyats to the dollar. Considering that a drought beer costs 300 kyats and dinner about 700-900 kyats, things were beginning to look better for us, monetarily speaking. We got some good eats and some beers and wondered around the city center for a while before crashing out weary from travel.
The next day we arranged travel to Mandalay for the next day, took a self-guided walking tour of the city center and Chinatown and the markets. We intended to go to Shwedagon Paya for the sunset but we got stuck in a downpour and soaked to the bone. We retired to our hotel and planned to visit the Paya the next day before our bus departed for Mandalay at 4pm. After breakfast and checking out of our hotel-we made our way to Shwedagon Paya. This is the premier active Paya in Myanmar (and in all SEAsia IMHO). The Paya is on a hill (actually there are 2 Paya's side by side, one is bigger than the other) and is covered in 8 tons of gold leaf! The larger Paya is encrusted with 5000 diamonds (the largest is 67 karats!) and over 2500 other precious and semi-precious stones. The complex itself includes 82 buildings of varying size, architecture, art, and of course Buddha images. As we wondered around the impressive complex we came across a grand total of 8 other foreigners! Mainly, there were Burmese paying respect, praying, and or meditating. The best part of the experience was feeling like I was actually a participant-not just some tourist snapping photos (although we did take a number of shots, see photo gallery). We sat down and I prayed and meditated for about 45 minutes before taking one last walk around the complex. It was a brilliant way to spend the day before our bus ride to Mandalay.
Catching the bus to Mandalay was interesting. The highway bus center of Yangoon is located about 25 K outside the city. When we bought our ticket we arranged to have a 'ferry' take us to the station. The ferry took forever and by the time we got to the 'station' I was bursting-literally-from my bladder. After finding a not so pleasant toilet/hole, I took in the whole madness that is the highway bus center for Yangoon. A muddy field with massive puddles, pot holes and who knows what else. There were about 80 buses lined up in front of run down shacks (where I found my toilet). Getting in and out of the place required driving skills. Our driver, obviously no stranger to hellish road conditions-got us going in the right direction. It was a rather uneventful bus ride (only 1 flat tire and 1 government checkpoint) that lasted 16 hours but included frequent stops for food and rest. Easily managed. The bus station in Mandalay is about the same as Yangoon, a muddy hole in the monsoon season and probably a dusty hole in the dry season.
Mandalay is the second largest city in Myanmar and is considered, dare I say it??? the cultural center of the country. After finding accom and eating breakfast we took a much needed nap. That afternoon we ventured out to Mandalay Hill to catch a view of the city from above. In the evening we walked around the city and found some eats before retiring. The next day we woke up early and went to the ancient city of Mingun (by boat) and spent the afternoon wondering around the streets and arranging travel forward to Bagan.
Walking around Mandalay-a sprawling, crumbling city-I noticed that many buildings-particularly the nice ones owned by the wealthy-had generators. When the power goes out, which is quite often (it was off most of the 3 days we spent in the city) the rich fire up their generators and become power brokers-selling energy to their poorer neighbors. Lu Maw of the Mustache Brothers Comedy Troupe claimed when the generals and party leaders come to town the power is always on. He joked that he liked to see the generals in town and wished they would stay for 5 years so "we can have the power".
Which brings me to the Mustache Brothers a Pwe troupe-a form of Myanmar entertainment that includes cultural dancing, music and often political comentary of the comedic variety-a sort of vaudeville. Traditionally Pwe troupes perform at important Burmese social functions such as Paya festivals and weddings and typically a show will last all night. The Mustache Brother's Troupe-a family affair as 3 sisters and a wife round out the cast-performed at these functions for 30 years developing a large following. In 1996, during an Independance Day performance for Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition party Par Par Lay, the eldest brother, told a joke: "In the past thieves were called thieves. Now they are known as cooperative workers." To quote Homer Simpson: "It's funny 'cause it's true". The SPDC failed to recognize the humor and decided a crime was committed. Par Par Lay and his cousin were subsequently arrested (dragged from their beds at midnight) tried (behind closed doors) convicted and sentenced to 7 years in prison. Lu Maw, the brother who was not arrested, and the rest of the troupe got off easy-they were blacklisted and no longer allowed to perform except at their home in Mandalay and then only for tourists. Like true Burmese the family perservered...the brothers served their time (6 years) and now perform nightly for tourists.
The show was entertaining enough but the jokes have definitely been tempered and the brothers are careful about what they say and do. Indeed, they have guards out front keeping an eye out for any police raids. It was definitely worth while to check out the show and meet the now legendary Par Par Lay.
From Mandalay we took a pleasant 8 hour bus ride to the city of Bagan. Bagan is famous for its ruins. There are over 3500 temples, monastaries, stupas, Payas and the like in the archiological area of Bagan. The ruins date from the glory days of Burmese influence in SEAsia or from 850-1200 AD. In 1975 there was a devastating earthquake and many of the ruins were damaged. The ruins however have been restored-tastefully and the whole area compares favorably with Angkor Wat and the Siem Reap area of Cambodia. The best thing about Bagan is the freedom you have to visit the sites at your own pace in relative peace and quiet (there are locals at the big sites trying to hawk there crafts..."you say it's a living, we all got to eat."). Both days we rented bicycles and cruised around the archeological site. There were breathtaking landscapes and views. Of course I got two flat tires (16 holes in two tubes!) and needed repair in a village. It took 2 hours and cost 3000 kyats but the family needed the money and we sat through the hottest part of the day.
From Bagan we made the 10 hour bus/taxi journey to Inle Lake in the Shan district. Inle Lake is Myanmar's Venice. There are many canals running through the villages that are used as byways and highways. The canals feed into the shallow lake where the locals have built their homes on stilts above the lake. An amazing form of agriculture is also a local specialty. The crops are grown on rows of soil out on the lake shallows. No need for irrigation here. Inle is truely a unique lake and experience for SEAsia. We spent a day on a boat cruising around to markets, temples, craft shops, hot springs, and my favorite the 'jumping cats' monastary where the cats perform on command from the resident monks. Despite the clowdy-sometimes rainy-weather it was a great day on the lake.
As the rains continued to fall, Inle and the canals began to swell. Soon the village we were staying in was about 50% under water! It was looking bad, Dakha Bangladesh (where we had our next lay-over) was also under water and the rains were not letting up. We decided to go for a hike in the hills surrounding Inle to visit the villages and take in the views-and forget our worries. It was a good, if a bit muddy, walk. When we came to a local school the kids were a blast. They sang us a song and I taught, with some success, two boys the University of Southern California fightsong and how to point with two fingers and say "fight on". They thought it was funny. I thought, "Go Bears!"
The next day we caught-after some misguided wonderings-a 17 hour bus ride from hell (actually a city called Tuniggy) to Yangoon. We had only one night in Yangoon to prepare for our flight to Kathmandu via the still wet Dakha. It all turned out swell and we were easily able to catch our flight.
Our visit to Myanmar was an overwhelming success. The Burmese people are beautiful, kind, educated, and eternally optimistic. They are spiritual and amazingly friendly. A mixture of many different hill tribes all burmese people looked different. The women are graceful and beautiful while the men-well lets just say they are in desparate need of a dentist. They all chew this thing called bidday and it turns their gums and teeth brownish-red. When they smile, it looks like they are wearing thos halloween gag teeth popular this time of year.
Finally, Burmese food. Yummy! It is a mixture of Chinese, Indian, Malaysian, and Thai but distinctly Burmese. Typically you get a mild curry (chicken, mutton, beef) with rice, soup, and some veggies. The portions are usually small but the meal is all you can eat. The servers will bring you unlimited rice, veggies, and soup!!! You finish a dish and magically it is refilled as if the tiny bowls have no bottoms. It is a good thing I'm no goldfish or I might have burst from over eating.
All in all it was a great experience. Now we have made our way to Nepal (we are in Pokhara) via Bangladesh. That is another blog at another time. For now, I am going to enjoy the majestic Himalayan Mountains that surround this quaint city before we set off on our trek for 20 days. Hope all is well back stateside and, I said once already: Go Bears!
Notes:
The pictures for Myanmar are up in the photo gallery.
I have added a picture to the Indonesia photo gallery. It is a stiched together panoramic of Mt Rinjani in Lombok. I am quite pleased with the results.
*Quote from the movie About A Boy
** We arranged our travel to the sub-continent on Biman (Bangladesh) Airlines. It was the cheapest way to go Bangkok->Kathmandu->Delhi->Bangkok. Of course, you have to stop in Yangoon (lay-over optional) and there is a required over night stay in Dakha, Bangladesh from Yangoon to Kathmandu. That is fine considering the airline put us up in a hotel for the night and fed us dinner, breakfast and lunch! Go Biman! Please note: Mo got sick from the food on the flight from Yangoon to Dakha.
Well, we are on our way to Myanmar this afternoon so I just wanted to post a quickie blog...
I started my Indonesia blog in mid-August but only recently published it, you can find a link to Fair sack of a flaming salivoy, man! on the left under recent entries. Also, please note that the Indonesia photos are up in the photo gallery.
I just packed my bag and it is weighed down more than usual (sleeping bag, altimeter, warm clothes-all for Nepal). We will be 'on the road-or track as the case maybe-for the next 3.5 months. What a life...