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British Mensa Travel Special Interest Group |
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The
Golden Land If you happen to mention to someone you’ve been to Myanmar you’ll probably get one of four responses: a) A rather interested but confused look followed by a knowing nod when you add, “you know, it used to be called Burma”. b) A completely confused look. c) An “Oh I LOVED it there”. Or d) A jump to attention followed by a lecture on ethical tourism. I want to share with you my impressions of this fantastic place, and most of all the wonderful people, but I feel compelled to start with the ethical tourism question. Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi asks us not to visit Myanmar. She argues that tourist money goes straight to the coffers of an unelected government, which denies Burmese citizens basic civil rights. Other Burmese pro-democracy activists contend that tourism is economically important and also vital to their movement for a two-way flow of information into and out of the country. Both arguments have credit and potential visitors to Myanmar (and all such countries of course) should do their homework, examine their commitment to responsible travel carefully, make their decision and run with it. For me, well if I hadn’t gone I would have missed a magical month, several hundred dollars would not have been put into people’s pockets, I wouldn’t be writing about it and you wouldn’t be reading about it. At the moment there are two ways to travel in Myanmar, either with a fully hosted government tour or with a pack on your back and a guidebook in your hand. On organised tours your money all goes through the government. Independent travellers on the other hand are able to stay at privately owned hotels or guesthouses, travel and eat using non-government establishments, theoretically putting their money where it has been earned. It’s hard to avoid the state tourist agency completely but my travel partner and I had a good try, taking the backpack option and a four-week visa. So what about Myanmar as a place to visit? You’ll almost certainly arrive in Yangon (formerly Rangoon). It’s a typical Asian capital city in that it has too many people, too much noise, too many harassing tri-shaw drivers and run-down areas of former colonial opulence. It does however boast the huge, splendid Shwedagon Paya, one of the many self-proclaimed eighth wonders of the world that seem to proliferate Asia these days. It is the “must-see” of the Capital. Having taken in this gold colossus surrounded by ornate stupas, pavilions and shrines we swiftly moved on in search of the ‘real’ golden land. According to Lonely Planet, Kipling never actually took the trip from Rangoon along the ‘road to Mandalay’. You can’t hire cars in Myanmar, but it is possible to use the road by bus or private taxi. Yangon to Mandalay is a long trip, the road is unreliable and the views fairly boring and this is one occasion where most people succumb to spending their money on a government train. Once in Mandalay, you’ll find it’s the nation’s cultural centre and the most Burmese of the large cities. The huge grounds of the old fort and moat are overlooked by the hill from which the City took its name. A walk to the top provides good exercise and panoramic views in all directions across the fertile plains to the surrounding mountains. Interesting temples are located throughout the city, notably Kuthodaw Paya, the world’s ‘biggest book’, and it took a hard couple of days to slog around them. The eating experience in Mandalay was for us the finest in the country. Traditional teahouses will serve you up a huge variety of delicious snack foods with which you can fill your belly for about half a dollar. In the evening a traditional local curry house will serve you a bowl of curry, bucket of rice, plate of beans, sweet corn and tomato salads, soup, all sorts of inedible fish parts, plenty of green stuff and gallons of tea for around a dollar. If you’re feeling arty after your traditional meal head for the Marionette Theatre, it’s a skill retained from the most ancient of Burmese cultural history and is of the highest quality. From Mandalay it is possible to take several side trips to towns such as Kalaw and Hsipaw where the countryside is lush and unspoilt, and first-class hiking tours abound. Here you are near the ‘tourist border’, where large tracts of the country closed to non-nationals. You’ll start feeling a bit closer to the politics and people in these areas are happier than those in the cities to talk about the government if that’s your thing. People seemed to be giving out the message that the country is effectively being annexed by China; that it is “buying everything”. We witnessed things that seemed to support these claims. The number of lorries heading north towards the border laden with rice, coal and teak was almost matched by the number heading south full of electrical goods that the average citizen on a monthly wage of $7 could never afford. Having said all that we didn’t see any absolute poverty, and as I will illustrate later I found the Burmese people the friendliest and seemingly among the happiest I have met in around fifty countries of travel. Moving west
from Mandalay via a gentle cruise down the scenic Ayeyarwady River, we
arrived in the Bagan Running out of time we had to “rush” by private taxi ($50 for ten hours and a stop at Mount Popa on the way) to the Eastern side of the country and our last stop on the standard tourist circuit, Inle Lake. Inle is famous for floating villages, floating markets and floating gardens. A one-day boat tour does the lake and everything that floats, but several more days can easily be spent walking or cycling through stunning unspoilt countryside to monasteries and hill tribes that rarely get visited. For us four weeks had flown by and it was time to return to Yangon and our flight to Bangkok. Myanmar isn’t a beach holiday destination, though it does have some, and its infrastructure is still developing. Take plenty of cash with you into the country because like the Internet cash points aren’t allowed just yet. We stayed in decent private guesthouses and hotels, like most of this region accommodation is charged per room so travelling with a partner is good for the budget. Breakfast is always provided, which is great if you love eggs. There weren’t many souvenirs to buy unless you are a connoisseur of carved sandalwood or marionettes. On the plus side it can be an incredibly cheap country to tour. We lived, ate well, took in shows, replenished our clothes after several months on the road, hired bicycles, took tours and travelled around the country for four weeks on just ten pounds each per day. Our available budget was much higher than this; we just didn’t need it. I loved this country and it’s one of those places that live long in the memory. The ever-smiling people were amazing, filled with an inner peace despite all the political goings-on in their country. Particularly in the North we found people often very politely approaching us asking to walk and talk to practise their English. And that’s all they want! They don’t want you to visit their carpet shop, to change your money or show you the cheapest market in town – they just want to talk. They’d walk for half an hour in the opposite direction to the way they were originally going and then thank you profusely. It was as refreshing for an Asian country as the almost complete absence of begging. We met a student at a remote town where a bus stops for 15 minutes each day at five in the morning. At first we couldn’t work out why he was so happy to see us, but in the course of the fifteen minutes it transpired that every morning he cycles five miles to meet the bus simply in the hope of foreigners being on board with whom he can practise his English. Every morning he carries a pot of tea, which he delighted in sharing with us. People wave and smile constantly; at Inle Lake children ran from a field and gave us flowers as we passed by. It is so rare in the modern world to find people so genuinely friendly, curious and eager to learn. But then I suppose that’s the thing, today’s Burmese are still living in a world of 100 years ago. Amazing people, fascinating country First published in VISA issue 54 (January 2004) |