This has been a sobering experience.
It is a tough country to travel in. It is emotionally draining,the heat makes it physically draining and it is mentally exhausting. One has to be aware - watching where you step - the open sewers, the uneven cement, the dirt, the puddles, not to mention the motorcycles, the cars and the dogs. I will return and venture further afield. I want to see Bagan, Yagoon , Inle Lake and the beach. It is a fascinating, intriguing country and the people are lovely. Have to make it back sooner rather than later because this country is evolving daily. It cannot stay trapped in the past for ever. Much like what happened in Vietnam - first time I was there you had to stay on the tourist path, had to stay in a government approved hotel,eat at a government approved restaurant ....ten years later the place was booming - bicycles were replaced with motorcycles and they had tourist police to help you get across the streets. Yeah, I need to revisit Nam too!
Some random thoughts and ponderings;
There was an article on the CBC news app this week - "shopping while black" well, shopping while being a tourist in Myanmar is very similar. Not sure if it is because they are desperate for a sale or if they believe that they will be available in case you need help. The minute you walk into a store, or look interested in what they have in their stall they pop up out of nowhere and do not leave you. For the most part they do not hassle you they just follow you relentlessly. Not just one person but sometimes several of them. They even want to fan you as you walk, they want to guard your shoes while you go into the temple. Anyhow, it makes me feel uncomfortable to be followed - human nature perhaps. So, instead of saying or doing anything I learned a long time ago just to pretend I do not speak English. Works well most of the time!
Smiling,saying hello and thank you.
As Professor Higgins said to Eliza " the great secret, Eliza,is not a question of good manners or bad manners,or any particular sort of manners,but having the same manners for all human souls"
Hello - Mingalabar
Thank You - Chay Zoo Baa
It costs you nothing and goes a long way. Learn a few greetings and smile. There are still people here who are not entirely use to or comfortable with tourists. They scowl and stare, the exception, thank goodness. The minute you smile at them they smile back. The minute you use their language they become putty in your hands, they love it. Like the older lady that was having a smoke on the plastic chair - she looked downright mean as I was approaching her but when I smiled at her and motioned that I would like to take a picture she grinned, when I said Chay Zoo Baa the grin went ear to ear.
A real plus to not travelling in a tour is that you can just wander till your hearts content - turn down any soi, if it does not feel right turn around and get out, try the next one.
It has been interesting being here at this particular time. The government is supposed to hand over control to Suu Kyi by the end of the month. Problem is that the current president wrote the constitution and now Suu Kyi is not allowed to be the president because she has two children that were not born in Myanmar. He has until March 31st but they think it will be sooner ....anyhow politics has never been my thing, just thought it interesting considering she has been the peoples choice for quite some time and finally she may actually have a say. (in a round about way)
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Tatmadaw and the people, cooperate and crush all those harming the union.
(Tatmadaw is the Myanmar Armed Forces.) |
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| Burmese zamboni - cleaning the moat |
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| Flowers brighten the street-scape |
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| Faceless Buddhas |
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| Yeah, let me just run this thin electrical cord over the road, wonder how long it lasted! |
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| Dust everywhere. |
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| carrying bags of gravel on their heads |
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| There is quite a beer culture here - they -100 percent men sit on these little stools inside and drink. There is at least one on every major street. |
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| Wish I could read their minds. |
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| Even though they have very little themselves they feed the birds, dogs and cats. |
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| Big boys from Yagoon are in town? |
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| Life down the soi |
You can't really see it unless you are looking but the arrival form asks the purpose of your visit : first choice is TOUTIST! Kind of like the restaurant I went to yesterday where they serve BUGARS!
I hope this country can get out of this holding pattern, they are rich in natural resources, yet destitute. The roads are horrendous, the local transportation methods are in a constant state of repair, except for the ox and the horse carts - they move right along.The trains are pretty scary looking. Vehicles drive where they want - the lines on the road are merely suggestions and probably only put there because that is what roads look like. It is pretty much the same in most Asian cities I have been to but at least in other cities the stop lights work and a pedestrian stands a chance of getting across . The air quality index would tip the scales - between the emissions, burning the sugar cane and the dust the people here don't stand a chance to breathe fresh air.
They have been under military control for so long I hope with this incoming government the people and the country can shine! They deserve so much better.
I will return - who wants to come?
Heading to BKK !
