Myanmar and Burma; Yangon and Rangoon

We approached the Yangon International Airport after sundown but it was not obvious from the air that Yangon is a city of over 5 million. The city below looked nearly as dark as a country village with the occasion streetlight or house light scattered here and there. We swooped past a giant golden pagoda that seemed almost higher than our plane: we had arrived in Burma.

I should start with a bit of history about this country that has been on our “to do” list since we first came to Southeast Asia five years ago. Burma has officially been called Myanmar since the government changed the name to 1989 in an attempt to clean up the image of a nation tarnished by years of human rights abuses. The government, of course, has another explanation for the name change but I won’t waste any time with their reasons. Around the same time, several other cities also reverted to their pre-colonial names. For instance you may be more familiar with the name Rangoon, now known again as Yangon. Most pro-democracy groups outside the country still use “Burma”, while inside the country most use “Myanmar”. This is because the country is currently under the rule of a military regime that has run the country since 1962, despite a 1989 election in which they were overwhelmingly defeated by the National League for Democracy (NLD).

The reason that I’m explaining this is because many activist organizations and more conspicuously Aung San Suu Kyi, the figurehead of the NLD and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, have called for a tourist boycott of Burma to put pressure on the military junta and as a protest against the alleged use of forced labour to develop tourist-related sights and services. As a side note, Aung San, who is referred to by the Burmese as “The Lady”, is currently under house arrest for the third time since 1989. Many services such as ferries, domestic flights, and entry fees are collected in US dollars that go directly to the military junta. There is an equally compelling yet opposing opinion held by other groups and as well as active members of the NLD. They believe that tourism is one of the few ways to get money directly to the people; the military is less likely to carry out human rights violations in areas where tourists are present (however, tourists are still restricted to a relatively small portion of the country); and tourists can play a big role in getting the story of Burma out to the rest of the world.

Burma has been in the news recently as the UN has resumed discussions in regards to the human rights violations that occur here. It is clear that further action is required above and beyond the economic sanctions currently imposed by the United States and the EU. Forced labour is still commonplace in many areas. There are countless political prisoners and torture is said to be routine. Electricity is controlled by the government and blackouts in non-governmental areas occur randomly but certainly on a daily basis. In one town we visited, Kalaw, electricity is off from somewhere between 6am and 8:30 pm. How is anyone expected to run a business without electricity? Generators are becoming more and more common, but guess who controls and sells the fuel supply? Communication is severely limited in Burma. Calls outside the country cost a minimum of $5 USD per minute, $6 USD if calling North America. Not even tourists like us can afford that, let alone the everyday Burmese. The newspapers are controlled by the government; travelers listing “journalist” in the occupation box of the visa application form are routinely denied entry; email is prohibited (any access to Hotmail or any type of webmail is done illegally); and music and books are censored. Even as I write this on the boat from Mandalay to Bagan, a government worker has been checking over my shoulder every few minutes. Just innocent curiosity? Maybe. It’s the not knowing who is watching and when that must torture the minds of the Burmese.

So visiting Burma has some implications that need to be considered before just hopping on the plane. While we have been here we have done everything we can to avoid paying government fees and to help spread our money around to the people that really need it. And we needed to tell you the story of Burma. If you want more information or to make a difference, you can check out the following websites:

www.amnesty.org (Amnesty International)
www.burmacampaign.org.uk (pro-boycott)
www.freeburmacoalition.org (pro-tourism)

Now, back to our trip…

We touched down in the capital of Burma, in what is the quietest international airport I have ever been to. Not a lot of traffic in and out of this country. A representative of our hotel was there to meet us: booking the hotel in advance had guaranteed us a pick-up from the airport, 20k out of town, but the call from Bangkok cost almost as much as one night’s accommodation. In any case, it’s always nice to have someone meet you when arriving in a strange city at night. The streets were quiet and we waited until morning to do any exploring.

Yangon is like every other large Southeast Asian city and like no other. The streets are crowded with people and commerce. Vendor stalls spill out onto the sidewalks from all sides. Motorcycles and vehicles vie for space in the crammed streets and the smell of smog is heavy in the humid air. But there is a deep sense of preserved culture that this city seems to have maintained while others have not. There are still the modern-looking stores selling shiny refrigerators and air conditioning units. There are even digital camera shops, eye glass shops and cafes. But there is an overwhelming feeling of tradition that is most visibly obvious by the style of dress. Men here still wear the traditional longyi, a floor-length, sarong-like garment that is sewn into a tube, stepped into, and tied in the front. Women’s dress is similar but the longyi is wrapped around and tucked in front instead of tied. Many women, children, and the occasional male wear thanakha , which is a pale yellow paste, smeared on the face to act as both make-up and sunscreen (see photo below). And temples are everywhere. Buddhism is strong here – more than 85% practice Theravada Buddhism and for millennium the people have been erecting payas, also known as pagodas or stupas. Monks are all over, especially in the morning when they make rounds to collect alms. Unlike the bright saffron robes of the Thai monks, the Burmese wear robes of a beautiful deep maroon. Nuns wear robes of pink. We saw very few other foreigners in Yangon.

Our first task was to change some money. The Burmese currency is the kyat (pronounced “chat”). In most countries we do a withdrawal at the airport ATM of enough money to last us at least the first few days. Burma does not have ATMs. None. Visitors must bring with them as much US currency as they think they will need during their stay – few other currencies are accepted for exchange and US dollars are accepted by many hotels and some restaurants. The exchange rate at the airport is approximately 450 kyat per USD but on the black market it is more like 1200 kyat per USD. Our hotel recommended that we go to the big local market to find a money changer. We negotiated a rate from the most honest-looking shifty guy who approached us and did what seemed like a very clandestine exchange in a small alleyway of the busy market. We only changed $100 USD at first and once we were able to use some of our new kyat at a shop, we went back and exchanged $200 more. Unfortunately, the largest kyat note is 1000. When our $300 exchange was said and done, we were left with about 360 - 1000 kyat bills. We felt rich!

We spent the rest of the day exploring the market and nearby stupas and seeking out good food and coffee. In the evening we discovered a lounge on the 20th floor of a high rise building. With glass on all sides, we had a beautiful view of the city including the mother of all stupas (the one we saw from the plane), Shwedagon, lit up like a pillar of gold. Beer was relatively expensive - $3 for 750 mL – but the view was worth it. There was a live band playing jazz. They only knew about four songs which they kept playing over and over again, but it felt like luxury and no one seemed to mind that we were wearing our fanciest shoes: flip flops.

The next day a four hour bus ride took us to the city of Bago. We were dropped on the side of the road and surrounded by a swarm of tri-rickshaw drivers, none of whom spoke English. This was a bit of a unique experience as usually there is at least one person who speaks at least a bit of English but we finally communicated our desired destination and were taken to our hotel. In the afternoon, we met two really nice young Burmese rickshaw drivers and negotiated a tour of Bago. We started at a monastery, the third largest in Burma. As we entered we could hear the loud buzz of hundreds of voices and came into a large hall full of monks cross-legged on the floor reading from their texts. It was a beautiful sight and it felt more than a little strange standing there watching them. We moved to another large hall where the novice monks – those under 20 years of age – were reading. They were a bit less serious and a bit sillier, laughing at Kevin’s long hair.

Later we pedaled to a cigar factory, which was really about 30 women and girls sitting on the floor rolling cigars; a longhi factory, which was two women weaving on handmade looms that looked like torture devices; and an enormous reclining Buddha that was only to be outdone by an even more enormous reclining Buddha, still under construction less than 1km away. The theme of the Buddha shrines seems to be: the bigger the better. Keeping with the theme, at sunset we went to a huge stupa, at 112 metres, 14 metres higher than the huge stupa we saw in Yangon. Then it was beers with our guides who were really nice guys and who had managed to avoid for us the $10 government admission fee for the Buddhas and stupa.

The next day we arranged for a private car and driver for the day (ridiculously inexpensive) to take us to the Kyaiktiyo where we planned to do a six hour hike through the mountain trails to see the Golden Rock, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Burma. We missed the trail and ended up walking for about one hour up a steep mountain road before catching a truck to the end of the road, still a 45 minute steep hike to the top. The Golden Rock is a precariously balanced rock perched on a ledge on the top of a mountain. It does indeed look quite odd and considering the number of earthquakes in the area, it is amazing it has not gone tumbling down into the valley below. A very large plaza has been built around it with all the usual elements: some stupas, a lot of statues of Buddha, and souvenir stands. There is a small monastery as well. Many Buddhist make a pilgrimage here, believing that the stone is balanced so carefully due to the placement of one of Buddha’s hairs in the stupa topping the rock. Only men are allowed to touch the rock and rub gold leaf on it if they wish. We spent the rest of the day at the top, until hoards of noisy and disrespectful package tourists drove us down the hill. We were surprised to find that most of the tourists in this country are older than the average backpacker (and even older than us) and are here with some sort of package tour. The independent traveler seems to be more rare here than in the other countries we have visited, which is too bad as much of what package tourists spend goes straight to the government in the form of hotel and food taxes, transportation and accommodation at government-run hotels.

We arrived back in Bago quite late and the next morning spent a little bit more time sightseeing with one of our rickshaw buddies who this time took us both on the back of his motorcycle to see a 115 year old boa constrictor that lives at a monastery. It is the largest snake I have ever seen and she was very gentle and docile and did not mind being pet or handled. Her midsection is over two feet in diameter so she spends most of her time just sitting around, moving once a day to her pool for a bath. The monks told us she is a sister so has never had any children.

Later that afternoon we boarded a fairly comfortable bus for a night ride to the town of Kalaw, Situated at 1300 metres above sea level, the British used to use Kalaw as a summer getaway to escape the heat – similar to the hill stations in India. Now there is a very nice town of about 25,000 spread over several shallow valleys. We stepped off the bus at 5am and found our way to a guesthouse. Because of the elevation, Kalaw is very cold at night but in the day when the sun comes out it is a comfortable temperature. We left early the next morning for a two day hike with our guide, Robin, who is a third generation Sikh Burmese whose grandfather came from India to help the British build railways. He was given the Anglicized name “Robin” when he attended British-run missionary schools as a youth. There are many Indians, Nepali and Chinese in Burma as a result of the British occupation. The military expelled many of them in the early 1960’s but many still remain. This enriches the culture and makes for some very good restaurants!

During our two day trek, Robin took us off the beaten path where we did not see any other tourists. We hiked under sunny skies over rolling hills and through fields of rice, vegetables, castor beans, bananas, tea and sesame seeds. Although agriculture is widespread, the villages are concentrated into small areas and we visited several of them, invited into the homes of strangers as if we were family. Village houses are built of hard wood and are raised on stilts to give more room below for storage and livestock. They are very clean but bare of all furniture. A small, low wooden table is brought out a meal time and put away when finished. All homes have a shrine to Buddha and most villages have a monastery. The people here are farmers and work very hard. Goods are sold at the market in Kalaw or for a better price, taken by train to Mandalay.

We visited three different ethnic groups who live peacefully in a relatively small area. We were lucky enough to lunch the first day at a village where almost everyone was getting ready to go to a wedding in a nearby village. The women dressed in beautiful traditional costumes for the occasion. At night we hiked up a steep hill to a guesthouse called the View Point which is run by a Nepali family. It was paradise there with a beautiful view over the surrounding area, including an unlogged teak forest, and a huge garden containing fruit, vegetables, and flowers. We were served a massive, delicious dinner made from vegetables fresh from the garden and slept warmly under a massive pile of blankets.

Robin was a great guide, intelligent and interesting with a fascinating family history both in India (where he has never been) and here in Burma. He was a good translator between us and the local people – he is well known in the area as he used to help his father deliver goods to these villages. He invited us into his small home and we got to meet his beautiful wife and seven month old son. The locals we visited and passed by were friendly and welcoming but sadly shy about their beautiful brown skin: they value light coloured skin and the women are covered almost completely when working outdoors. One man, who we gave some Advil to help ease the pain of his arthritis, was reluctant to even shake our hand. They cannot understand that our culture spends a lot of time and money to get brown skin!

When our hike was over we went back to the Golden Lily Guest House in Kalaw, which is owned by Robin’s family. And by now I think I’ve written enough so I will leave the rest of our Burmese adventure for Kevin to tell.

B.

Photos:
Sorry, I'm not able to upload the photos from here - government conspiracy. Check back for them on December 14th when we return to Bangkok.
December 13: Back in Bangkok. Here's the photos...
Yangon Stupa at Night
A Wealthy Man
Our Bus Ten Minutes After it Was Supposed to Leave the Station
Monks at Study
Seated Buddha in Bago
GIANT Reclining Buddha
Golden Rock
Golden Rock at Sunset
Burmese Buddhist Nuns
Buddhist Snake
Dressed for a Village Wedding
Thanakha Makeup/Sunscreen
Sunset at the View Point
Our BASIC Room at the View Point - Note Dirt Floor
Inside a Local's House with Host and Robin
Us and Robin

FFP: Thanks Heather for emailing this post's FFP. Fond memories of Hobbit Feet in Thailand...
FFP 15 - Hobbit Feet