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I have spent a long time thinking about what to write about Myanmar. The simple fact is that my imagination was not captured primarily by any one thought. Having absolutely no idea about Myanmar before arriving a multitude of different things struck me throughout the month. As a result I have only been able to consider my experience as a somewhat related set of thoughts that are lacking in continuity which becomes very obvious below.
I'm sure the title of this post has raised an eyebrow or two so allow me to explain. While doing a little reading before we arrived I came across an interesting analogy used to describe the people of Myanmar. Within only a few hours I could see exactly how accurate it was with my own eyes. For those that don't know Myanmar (formerly Burma although the names seem to be used interchangeably) is made up of and heavily influenced by the people of surrounding countries. The bordering countries are Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. All of these people and their minority groups have fought to maintain their identity and independence for as long as they've been here. In some cases centuries. Within only hours of being on the streets it was possible to see those of Burmese heritage due to their clothing and what appeared to be yellow paint on their faces (we later found out this was a natural consmetic product created from a particular tree, used as a sun protection and skin cleanser). From visible characteristis such as colour, dress, facial features etc we could see people that were clearly of Chinese descent, Indian descent and Thai descent. Throw in Budhist monks and nuns and any number of minorities and you have a diverse array of people that appear to have been less blended in a melting pot and more thrown together like a mixed salad (the aforementioned analogy). Now i think of it, the fondue probably requires even more explanation. Strangely, of all things it was our second meal in Myanmar. Thanks heaps to our new mates Oli and his lovely French girlfriend Aurelia for putting us up for the night and of course for cooking.
Not long after arriving in Myanmar you start to notice certain things that you'd never find where we come from. After the initial onslaught of colourful sites, raucous sounds and irrepressable smells, we noticed that the streets, whether paved or not were spattered with vivid red. It's easy when you first notice this to let your imagination wander off to all the attrocities you ever heard of being committed in this part of the world. It was quite amusing for me to discover that it is nothing more than red saliva from the mouths of many people that chew parcels with red betel nut then spit it all over the streets. It's easy to pick out those that do from the stained red/purple lips as if a huge night on the red wines had been enjoyed down to the dark and decaying teeth and gummy smiles of some of the older locals. Even the sides of the older busses around the city are coated in red from those that spit large watery wads from the windows.
From this point on I should point out that all references to 'we' likely refer to Clare and Myself as well as our friends Chris and Chloe who actually instigated the trip to Myanmar. We travelled together at the same time last year as a group for a fortnight in Tasmania and now a month this year in Myanmar and we do it well. So, we look forward to hearing what you dream up for our next christmas/new years get together. This was two in a row. A third next year will make it a tradition.
Since leaving Myanmar i have had time to reflect on the nuances and in some cases surprises that have made this country so rewarding to travel in. I guess the most surprising thing is that i've never felt so secure. I say secure rather than safe because there is the constant threat from the road in the chaos that they call traffic. An ever present danger that i unfortunately got to experience far more closely than I ever intened. Myanmar feels like a secure place to be simply because no one is looking to rob you or harm you. From our encounters with the locals it was explained to us that they live by the mantra that tourist is king. A state of mind that i'm guessing may be brought about by budhist tradition and possibly, although hopefully less so, due to fear of reprisal from the police/government if their decree "look after the tourist" is not followed to the letter. A great example was on only our second day here we met a young local man in a park. He simply wanted to practice his english which he is studying at university. After chatting for a while he decided that he wanted to take the four of us out for tea and lunch. Being his guests meant that for the rest of our time together he was our host, we were his guests and his responsibility and we were his friends. This is even more significant given that as the host it was on him to pay for tea, lunch etc. To put it in perspective his father has a decent paying local government adiministrative job. It pays him $150 US per month. Lunch for the five of us must have cost him atleast $10. He would not hear so much of a word from us about paying instead of him. For the rest of the day our new friend Ko Htoo became our guide as well as everything else. He organised tickets for the ferry to cross the Yangon river so we coud go and visit his village. First he took us to hire bikes, then to a bridge, a temple, shopping to buy a Longyi (the local wrap like clothing), a scenic tour of the wider Dalat region and then ultimately to his village and to meet his family and have dinner with them. Their house is a two room bamboo hut that we were nearly bursting free from whilst attempting to sit cross legged while not pointing our feet at the Budha statue on the shelf at one end of their 30cm high dinner table. Space was at such a premium that the family actually sat in one corner while we ate on our own as their guests. Somewhat awkward for us but they wouldn't have it any other way. Funnily enough it actually got more awkward when asked to partake in the family's favourite after dinner past time. Of all things, Karaoke. The poor villagers. There was nowhere for them to hide. After all that i think the most rewarding part of the day was our decision not to buy a bunch of sweet treats to share amoung the village children as suggested might be a nice and fun idea. Instead we purchased two huge sacks of premium rice, divided it into over a hundred bags of a few cups each and distributed it to the village children. It was mayhem but the smiling faces of the kids receiving their gifts and the gratitude shown by some of their mothers made the day even more rewarding. Many thanks to Ko Htoo and his family for their hospitality. There are many of our family and friends who would be only too happy to show you the same kindness when you arrive in Australia next year Ko Htoo.
Sitting at breakfast on our last day we asked each other what were three highlights, three lowlights and three things we learnt. Between four of us the lowlights were pretty well confined to a few days of upset stomachs, one or two cases a little worse, a lost camera and a minor run in with a car and some exhausting bus rides. When they're all the negatives to come from a month travelling in a third world or developing country it's easy to see how much of an amazing experience we have had.
Looking around Yangon (which we now know is not the capital city) on our way into the city for the last time and again on our way to the airport I noticed how much construction is beginning to take place. Cranes now dot the skyline, pockets of highrise development can be seen and in certain areas there are people sweeping clean the gutters and foot paths in a manner that reminds me of Singapore. I am very pleased to have been able to come now at a time when rural roads are abominable, many being widened and repaired by women and children, local buses are in incredible states of disrepair, the state of many of the stray animals is horrifying, much of the agriculture is done by hand and the odours to be found walking down the street are sometimes so foul that the vocabulary required to describe them is beyond me. I am not pleased about any of this because I enjoy seeing people living in these conditions, or because I enjoy poverty and certainly not because I like the fact that I am from a world where i don't have to concern myself with such hardships. I am thrilled to see, hear and smell theses things because we live in a world so far removed from these hard ships, because they are new to me and because they are so thought and compassion provoking.
I recently began reading a book written by a Burmese speaking English woman by the name of Emma Larkin. It is inteneded to describe life in Burma/Myanmar as of 2008 by following the path trodden by the famous writer George Orwell (author of Animal Farm, 1984 and Burmese Days). Orwell, actually named Eric Arthur Blair, was posted to Burma back in the 1920's as a member of the Imperial Police Force. After he returned to England he became regarded by some one of the most respected and visionary writers of the 20th century. His novel Animal Farm was compulsory reading for many of us in high school english classes where we learned that the story was a metaphor for the Stalin led Russian Revolution of 1917. Larkin's account demonstrates that Animal Farm could just as easily have been a historical recollection of Burmese history since the second world war up until 2008 and most likely beyond. In fact, the three books noted above could just as easily have been written as a trilogy on Burmese history.
Much like Orwell describes in his novels Larkin discovers a Burma where even the most basic facets of every day life are entirely controlled by the military government. They have done so to the extent of instigating such stout censorthip laws that a controlling body known as the Press Registration and Scrutiny Department headed by members of military intelligence has been put in place to vet every piece of writing that is intended to be published in any form of media. By doing so the government controls the education and therefore the minds of it's people with such efficiency that the masses can not even hope to make political changes to their benefit because most are not educated enough to even conceive of what changes might be possible. From our experience I have high hopes that since 2008 change might slowly be occuring. The country has opened itself up to mainstream tourism, the internet has permeated even extremely remote towns (some of which i'm very please to say was worth the sore bums and sleepless nights to get to), university education is more common and the government is even allowing it's citizens to travel and study abroad. From what I know it seems that the people have opened their hearts to the rest of the world, the government has opened it's borders somewhat and now the mere fact that a book such as Larkin's is being sold on the streets and in the shops is a sign that the government is even beginning to open it's mind to the rest of the world.
Their is so much more that could be said after only four weeks experience and a little readying to do with Myanmar. If you enjoy travelling to less than mainstream locations and enjoy interacting with the locals and learning about their lives and their history then Myanmar is a hugely rewarding place to travel. Even those that like to travel in a slightly more salubrious style can be catered for with some decent hotels in the cities and particularly around the main tourist attractions such as Bagan and Inle Lake and the more hard to get to places out on the west coast. The other good news is that it is even possible to fly into most of those far out of the way places saving time and avoiding what some would find to be somewhat traumatic travel. I would recommend doing so sooner rather than later if at all possible before mainstreem tourism and western culture really kicks off.
- comments
carol Sound like the people are so freindly and appreicate wot little they have glad you are enjoying your travels take care Love Carol xxx
Sue Rosen What a fantastic read. I felt I got a good appreciation of what you experienced.