Travelling Myanmar
Myanmar
Myanmar is magical. Spectacular. A place worth lingering a while. The typical tourist visa to Myanmar is only valid for a month, but we found that this wasn't nearly enough time to explore this mysterious and isolated country. The only solution? We have to go back again, and it can't be soon enough! These days Myanmar is slowly opening its doors to the outside world, and it seems likely that this will bring a lot of much-needed change to this undeveloped country. It may also mean the loss of traditional values and ways of life so I feel that travellers would be well-advised to go see Myanmar soon.
 

Inle and the Shan State

Mandalay and environs
Check out these links for photos and information about some of Myanmar's most popular destinations, or read on below for an overview of Myanmar.
 
 
Burma: The Basics
  
     
 
  One of the first things that you will notice upon entering Myanmar is that the nation is profoundly religious. An indigenous Nat worship exists alongside the dominant Buddhism. I have never seen as great a number of Buddhist monks and nuns as I have seen in Myanmar, and nowhere have I seen a people more devote to the Buddhist doctrine. It is particularly striking that in a country as impoverished as Myanmar, all of the Buddhist stupas are caked with thick layers of gold-leaf. People who are unable to buy so much as a postage stamp are still likely to make a religious pilgrimmage to one of the important Buddhist sights and donate a small square of gold-leaf to the upkeep of the temple. It doesn't take long in Myanmar before you understand why it is named 'The Golden Land'.
I don't know for certain that the gentle, peaceful way of Burmese people is due to their endoctrinisation in Buddhism, but in any case the people of Myanmar are some of the most amazing people you will meet anywhere on this little planet of ours. Even though life is extremely difficult for all but the wealthiest of Burmese, the people are always smiling and welcoming, generous to a fault, and very interested in meeting foreigners and learning whatever they can about the outside world. They are also generally keen to share with tourists a sense of Myanmar and to show you their own lives and customs.  
 
 
Most areas have not been widely exposed to tourists, so the people will be as curious about you as you are about them . Photo books or 'point and speak' guides are invaluable in making friends with people who don't speak English, and you will soon find quite a crowd gathered. Besides that, most people have never seen or heard of digital cameras. It is quite a novelty for everyone to have their photo taken and be able to instantly see their likeness captured on the little screen.
     
     

 

 

 

  
     
x
People in Myanmar are extremely photogenic! One reason for this is the common use of 'tanaka' makeup, a white cream applied to the face. Sometimes it is applied to the entire face, sometimes in beautiful patterns.Another reason behind the beauty of the Burmese is their pure grace of movement. A lifetime of carrying things on their heads has given them an elegant upright posture. They look all the more graceful for wearing the traditional 'longyi', a type of sarong. Western fashion has still not permeated Myanmar, so men and women both wear longyi and it is very uncommon to see trousers worn by either sex.
 
Stuff you Need to Know:
Before things start to sound negative, let me preface this section by saying this: Myanmar is the most memorable country I've ever visited. It is my top recommendation to any traveller and a definite must-see. There is no place on earth quite like it and you will have an amazing journey here. Do go. Do it for yourself and for the people that live here. It is a safe country for visitors and very easy to travel through. But responsible tourism means knowing the facts and I have attempted in this section to give a brief outline of some of the things you will want to know about before you go. For the brighter side of travelling in Myanmar, check out the links at the top of this page.
 
Money: Everybody needs it, nobody has it. The money situation as of February 2005 is that foreigners need no longer exchange a mandatory US$200 for government-issued FECs. This means that tourists can avoid putting money into the coffers of the ruling military junta and can see that local people get your hard cash instead. It would foolish to consider exchanging money at a bank or any 'official' exchange counter. You will receive only a fraction of your money's value and, again, your money will directly aid government opression. Visa and other credit cards can no longer be used in the country. Traveller's cheques are not easy to exchange. American bills will fetch the best exchange rate but $100 bills will get a more favourable exchange than smaller denominations and bills that are new and crisp will get a better exchange than worn or creased bills. Rates are better in the capital than in more remote towns. Ask around before you settle on a place to exchange money, as rates can vary widely. Generally the best places to exchange money are hotels or small businesses such as travel agents or gold shops.
  Bear in mind also that inflation is rampant! Prices in our guidebook, in the course of a little over two years, had increased approximately eightfold. Because of this, you can help Burmese people a great deal by paying them in more stable foreign currencies that are not likely to lose value overnight. Think of how fruitless it is to try to make savings in Myanmar funds when your money is likely to shrink to a quarter of its original value in the course of a year. Another thing about money is that you have to think about where you are going to keep it. Take a look at this photo of US$100 and it's equivalent in Kyat. By the way, these are the largest available denominations of Kyat! You are going to need a very fat billfold if you are exchanging a lot of money at once!
 
Transportation: It can be a lot of fun to use the local transportation. Ox-carts are a common form of transport, as are simple horse-drawn carriages. A pedicab driver can be an excellent tour guide. Long distance buses crawl along single lane highways at about 40km/h, making long hauls quite gruelling. Some routes have somewhat comfortable buses with reclining seats, though many routes have ancient buses with wooden floors that are packed. Tiny plastic stools in the aisle become an extra row of seats and you are likely to have baskets of fresh produce and chickens under your feet. Car taxis are available in larger cities but are only recommended for day trips.
 
 
 
Poverty: The ruling military junta has isolated and mismanaged this country for so long that the situation is dire indeed. Slave labour is common practice, and you can often see people conscripted for highway labour working under the hard sun for no pay. Civil service jobs rate only slightly higher than slave labour. The working conditions may be somewhat better, but they only earn starvation pay. Post office workers receive a daily salary equal to the price of a stamp, making the temptation to steal the stamps off of your letters quite difficult to resist. On the sreets of larger cities you will see tourists airmail letters, minus the stamps, being sold as language learning material. Teachers don't have it much better. It used to be that teachers earned $5 a month and were kept from starving by a stipend of rice. Now the government has eliminated the rice stipend and the teacher shortage is severe.. Teachers survive by charging money to students for passing grades. Not that most people can afford to complete elementary school anyway. At a cost of about $30 a year, it is beyond most people's means. Still, you will be amazed at the high literacy rate in this country. Books are for sale everywhere and there seems to be an insatiable thirst for reading material.
A school at Inle Lake, one of the more prosperous regions of Myanmar due to the presence of tourists.
 
  Although the suffering of the Burmese is general and widespread, the hilltribes and ethnic minorities seem to be the worst hit. Large cities have intermittant power. Villages have none. Some minorities fighting for independence have brought about the wrath of the junta and the people of these ethnic groups suffer various forms of torture. As a tourist you will not be exposed to any of this as much of the country is not accessible to foreigners. But minorities fleeing the country cross the border into Thailand and expose their plight to the world. Recent medical tests on refugees proved that chemical weapons are being used against them. The Padaung 'Longneck' tribe has been fleeing to Thailand for years to escape being kidnapped and caged as tourist attractions at upmarket hotels. Still, all is not dispair. There are many reliable tour guides in Myanmar who can take you trekking into hilltribe villages and teach you about the lives of these diverse peoples. The guides act as agents between humanitarians and those who need help the most. We have seen villages where regular tourists have made financial commitments to provide eletric generators (and the cost is very small!). Others have taught villagers crop rotation techniques to escape being enslaved by opium growing. Any skill, knowledge or financial contribution greatly improves the lives of these marginal groups.
As does exposure. Not just to hilltribes in particular, but to the Burmese in general. The people of Myanmar are desperate to share their plight with the world. They hope that visitors will come and see what is happening with their own eyes and hear the stories of the Burmese people. I personally feel that we, as visitors to Myanmar, have a responsibility to share what we see and hear in hopes of realizing a regime change. But tourists also have a responsibility to protect Burmese people. Locals should not be pushed to express their political views as their lives and the lives of their families are put in direct danger by doing so. If people do choose to tell you their stories, make sure you are well out of hearing range of others, as spying is a well-employed tactic of the junta.
 
Child labour is common practice throughout Myanmar. Here, a young girl is employed at a cheroot cigar factory.
 
 
A woman of the Palaung tribe offers goods for sale.
 
 
 
Visiting Myanmar is controversial: While the ruling military junta maintains its grip on power, the democratically elected NLD led by Aung San Suu Kyi is kept under house arrest and not permitted to govern. In response to this, many powerful nations actively bouycott Myanmar and advise people not to visit the country. The hope, I suppose, is to starve the people into a revolution or to cut off supplies to the junta so that they will not be able to run the country. But the reality is that the military has powerful friends in countries such as China and Thailand, and business with these countries keeps the junta afloat while it is the citizens who suffer the brunt of bouycotts. Ultimately, I think a revolution remains the choice of the Myanmar people alone, and this choice should not be forced upon them by well-meaning third powers.

 

What do the people of Myanmar want? Well, you'll have to go there and ask around for yourself, but I'll share an antecdote or two. One man I met urged me to spread the word about the condition of medical facilities. Because reputable medicine producers face embargos and cannot export to Myanmar, shady companies in unregulated countries make deals with the ruling junta. The military maintains a monopoly on medicines and distributes drugs which are mislabled, past expiry and often inaffective or dangerous. Another individual asked me to encourage everyone I know to visit Myanmar. Visitors bring hard currency into the country, and it is a way for local people to get access to money, something in very short supply.

 

I personally feel that Myanmar is one of the most rewarding countries in the world to visit. It is beautiful and uplifting and will renew your faith in the goodness of humanity. I also feel that tourism is necessary in order to open Myanmar up to the world and to put pressure on the junta by exposing what is really happening there. As long as the country remains closed, the military is free from criticism and can rule in whatever way they wish. I realize that there are a lot of people who feel differently than I do about the issue of Myanmar bouycotts. If you would like to leave your opinon, please post your message on my message board. All reasonable comments will be kept on archive in an attempt to present a balanced view of this beautiful and troubled nation.
View my guestbook