Myanmar - Emerging from the Shadows?

Three years ago we visited Myanmar at the height of their hot season with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees.  It was so hot we couldn’t even get in the swimming pool to cool off!  The heat sapped our energy and we felt we missed out on some experiences in Myanmar because it was simply too hot to go out and about.

This visit was different. The recent election results, the debate over whether the military would allow the elected government to assume power, the future of Aung San Suu Kyi, and the delightful monk who sailed with us for the days leading up to Myanmar sparked everyone’s enthusiasm to explore the country.  There were discussions on the ship about whether tourism was akin to financially supporting a repressive regime or whether tourism supplied foreign “observers” who could be a positive influence and ensure that the Burmese people got the change they were looking for. Although we heard that the military still has a stranglehold on the country, its oppressive presence was almost non-existent in the places we visited. 

After a brief visit to the largest city and former capital, Yangon, and the famous Shwedagon Pagoda, we flew to Inle Lake, a community of fishermen and artisans who have built their stilt homes and life around this picturesque lake.  The cooler mountain air, bustling village life, delightful people and delicious food energized us.  

On our first full day in Inle, we borrowed our hotel’s bikes and did a 14 mile loop around the lake to see the countryside. A couple of the bikes wouldn’t shift and were effectively cruiser bikes so it was a bit more of a challenge than we thought it would be! Along the way, we witnessed all the stages of development from people plowing their fields with oxen, to pushing a basic motorized plow to the modern farm equipment you would find in the West.  

We needed to cross the lake during our ride and piled the bikes into one of the small long-tailed boats.  The driver wove his way through passageways cut through the reeds surrounding the lake.  Stilted villages are scattered along the lake’s edges and are only reached via boat.   It is remarkable to see schools, post offices, “gas stations”, stores and monasteries all raised up on stilts and accessible only by boat.  

The next day, we all piled into another little long-tailed boat for a full day exploration of the lake. Fisherman dotted the lake as they let out their fishing nets while "paddling" their boats with one leg.   We wondered how long this lake could sustain all these people and the increasing number of visitors each year.  It seems hard to believe that the lake could produce enough fish to replenish stocks with the level of fishing we saw. Another concern, especially as increased tourism is inevitable, is that there are virtually no sanitation systems anywhere and toilets flow directly into the lake that people used for cooking, drinking and cleaning.    

We were “boated” to the local artisan floating shops to see how goods were made – but really so that we would buy from their shops.  We visited jewelry making, boat making, and weaving factories, all which used techniques from the last century.  A highlight was the chaos of the floating market where people sell you goods from their boats (and don’t let go of your boat until you buy something or come up with a good excuse).  With motorized boats careening amidst the much smaller, dugout canoe style boats of the vendors, it was a miracle that no one ended up in the water.   In addition to feeding the local economy with our small purchases, we also visited a Pagoda and Monastery where we found about a dozen friendly kitties.  

We stayed in a wonderful boutique hotel near the main town north of Inle Lake - Thanakha Inle Hotel.  A canal connected the town and our hotel to the main lake and there was a constant stream of long boats roaring past the hotel each day.  We learned why most hotels do not have rooms facing the canal – those long boats are really noisy and run constantly from dawn to dusk!  

The food in Myanmar was delicious and TripAdvisor’s website steered us to great places that did not make us sick, unlike many of our shipmates.  Christy had the best salad of her life in Yangon with freshly made mozzarella cheese, pumpkin and roasted seeds (check out Sharkey’s if you are in Yangon).

On our fifth day, we navigated the rudimentary airport system and highly trafficked and pot-holed roads to get back to our ship.  Jay and Christy used the last hours in port to join thousands (and thousands) of locals in their Pagoda festival that included endless rows of markets, carnival rides and food stalls.   It was a very crazy couple of hours as we shopped and people-watched.

We left this Buddhist country loving our experiences and wanting more.  It was the most interesting country so far on this voyage and it is really poised to take off after decades of mismanagement and oppressive government.  We can only hope that the democratic transition actually happens and the new government can deliver on improving life for the Burmese people.  Next up...India!

Myanmar/Burma – A Country Undergoing a Massive Transition

We have dreamt about going to Myanmar for many years, but its a tough destination because the country has been largely closed to tourists since 1989.  Over the past year or two, the military government has been opening up the country and paving the way for an open democratic election in 2015, when Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi is expected to become the President.  The US re-established full diplomatic relations only in the past year and as we were planning our trip, the chance to visit Myanmar was the primary impetus for us to visit Asia after South America.  We really wanted to experience it as it begins opening up to the outside world. 

As we looked ahead to Myanmar, we had two things that made us nervous.  First, there had been fighting between the Buddhists and Muslims and many Muslim homes had been burned and people killed (see our blog post on Thailand to read about the protest we witnessed there).  On the first leg of our flight from Laos to Myanmar, our flight attendant even warned us to be careful since the airline had warned their staff.  Second, forecast temperatures were between 100-106 degrees and after suffering in the 95 degree heat in Bangladesh and Bangkok, we feared we would literally die in Myanmar. 

Because of these fears, we cancelled one destination (90+ degrees, mosquitoes, no air conditioning,  no pool – a really bad combo) and shortened our time there.  We never saw any hint of conflict, but temperatures were scorching.  You know it is "crazy hot" when it is too hot to even go into the pool.  We now have three definitions of extreme heat - the stifling heat and humidity of the Amazon Jungle, the city heat combined with more conservative dress (no shorts!) in Bangladesh, and the extreme dry heat in Myanmar!

We visited the old capital cities of Yangon (Rangon) and Mandalay, with their magnificent Pagodas, and spent a few days in the ancient city of Bagan, with its 2200 temples that were built between the 11^th and 13^th centuries.  Bagan was our favorite town in Myanmar and reminded us of Angkor Wat, Cambodia with its endless crumbling temples.  One day, we met two young boys, astride a rusty bike far too big for them, who followed us back to our hotel after lunch.  The boys were 9 and 13 and spent their days during summer vacation selling postcards to tourists.  They offered to be our tour guides and proceeded to wait outside our hotel each evening to show us around.  They proved to be wonderful guides and our boys had fun exploring the ruins with them.

We also met a constant stream of entrepreneurial people trying to make a living in the developing tourist trade.  It was a tiring process to negotiate constantly, but we helped support the local economy by taking horse cart rides to temples and buying water and handicrafts from the numerous hawkers there. 

Part of the Burmese culture for men is spending a week to a year as a monk while between the ages of 5 and 16.  Monasteries and monks are everywhere and the Buddhist religion permeates life.  We were most amazed by the numbers of young novitiates who were Luke and Ryan’s age.  We kept pointing out how quiet and well behaved the monks were, but our kids did not seem to take note even after we threatened to send them back to Myanmar to spend a month as a monk.  

After the Buddhas themselves, Ryan was likely the most photographed image in the country while we were there.  In the way we run up to cute puppies, the Burmese seemed to be attracted to him.  Poor Ryan wanted nothing to do with all the people that touched his hair, kissed his cheek, held his hand and wanted a photograph with him.  We aren't sure if it was his blonde hair and fair skin, his young age, or the elephant pants he liked to wear – we only know that he was a magnet.  We had to laugh, because at first we tried to discreetly take photos of the monks and by the end of the trip, the monks were taking pictures of Ryan (and all of us).

We were impressed with the immense sparkling Shwedagon Temple in Yangon.  After burning our feet during a daytime visit in the blazing sun (you have to remove your shoes and socks before entering the temples), we returned at night to the sparkling golden exterior and what we call "Buddha meets Vegas".  Another highlight during our scorching walk around Yangon was stumbling upon an indoor snow palace that had cheesy ice sculptures and sledding.  We thoroughly enjoyed our half hour of ice heaven!  

We learned a lot about the history and changes occurring in Myanmar.  It gained its independence from Britain in 1948, and spent the 49 years from 1962-2011 under military rule before the current gradual transition to civilian government. The country was called Burma until 1989 when a new military group took power and wanted to rid the country of British’s influence including the names of many cities and the country itself.  Many western countries, including the US, continue to call the country Burma since they do not recognize the military government. 

Since 1989, the country has been isolated and largely closed off from the outside world.  Things are starting to change and today, property is being returned to the citizens, industries are being decentralized, people can travel in and out of the country and there is a vibrant optimism about the future.  The Burmese welcomed us with open arms and told us how much they liked America and frequently commented about Obama, who visited in November.

As Myanmar opens up to the world and the elections are held is 2015, we expect the country to grow rapidly.  With its natural beauty, smiling happy people and welcoming attitude it is sure to become part of the beaten path in Southeast Asia.  We were only able to scratch the surface and look forward to returning for a more in depth visit sometime soon (well not too soon - we do want to be home for a while)!