Summing up

Impressions and gross generalisations

Bagan was worth the rugged trip. This is an amazing site with 4,000 pagodas spread across a broad plain next to the Irrawaddy River.

The Go or Not to Go Question

Burmese people were nice. They seem quite at ease and pleasant. English is widely spoken and when not., they are still helpful. They are somber (I guess they don’t have a lot to smile about), but are not aggressive like the Cambodians can be and seemed less moody than Laotians.

Sounds. Like India, street vendors feed sugar cane between rollers (hand propelled by a large wheel) to produce a fresh drink. In Yangon, some vendors attach bells to the wheel, so as it turns, there is a distinctive tinkling sound. Although I didn’t buy the drink, I always enjoyed the sound.

Happy pigs. From the train, I saw many pigs (of all ages) in the villages, usually tethered in pairs … while some were sunk in a muck of mud, most were very frisky and were clean and appeared well cared for.

Eating is a problem. Many of the restaurants simply do not look clean enough, or have no English menu and are not welcoming. This meant that I was restricted to the places which either catered for Westerners or served Western food. As I got my bearings, I found a few more places I could venture into.

Burmese food is good .. I liked the curry which is not as spicy as an Indian curry but still has a zing. Several beers on offer but a large bottle of Myanmar Beer at $1 in the shop ; $2 in a bar or $3 in a hotel was excellent value.

Poverty. This is a very poor country and after a while, it is depressing.

Dirt and filth .. the locals seem oblivious to the piles of rubbish and garbage. It seemed odd that shops selling computers or developing films were all crisp, sterile clean, white tiled places, while restaurants were often grubby and unclean.

Transport … trains and boats are slow and distances long, so I found the travel exhausting. I prefer to use public transport when I visit a country but here it was rarely an option. Buses are packed, the “taxis” are small trucks with planks in the back for seating .. normally also packed. There are regular taxis available but these require negotiation skills.

Lights out. Both Yangon and Mandalay closed down early in the evening. By 9pm most shops and restaurants are closed (hotels are still going but seem to lack customers). Perhaps it was just as well that I was forced back to the hotel since walking at night is very dangerous. In addition to the lack of pavements (sidewalks), the majority of the vehicles do not have (or at least do not use) lights. Small trucks, bicycles, cars are all traveling without lights .. only posh private cars , motorcycles and big trucks had their lights on .. but they make up less than half the road traffic. It is dangerous!

Burmese monks. I came away with the idea that religion in this country is mostly business. Monks are very worldly (the young monk with the smart Calvin Klein square sunglasses clutching his cellphone is not quite my image of humility). Many of them travel in great style and have an arrogance that reminded me of the mullahs in Iran as they swept through the crowds with their silk kaftans, seemingly oblivious to the suffering of the masses.

The Go or Not to Go Question

There are strong views of whether anyone should go to Myanmar (Burma) as a tourist and certainly the backpacker brigade seem very opposed to the idea. This is discussed in great detail in books and on the Web. I opted to go because I thought it was possible that by independent travel I could avoid putting any substantial money into the hands of the government. And for practical purposes, (my age to be specific), I cannot wait for a regime change.

Having been there and talked to a few people, I have decided that tourists should go. The Burmese people benefit a little from tourism and it is also important to have witnesses to the conditions in the country (even if you do not see the forced labour or prisons, it is clear that the mass of people are downtrodden).

Reading newspapers in Burma and Thailand, I can see that tourism as a source of income for the government is probably very small beer. The legitimate sources of government funding are oil + gas and logging. Thailand, India and China are all vying for the oil + gas.

Aung San Sui Kyi is quoted as saying that people should not go as tourists. In 1997 she said that one of her chief concerns was that the country was not ready for tourism because locals, isolated and crippled economically hadn’t ‘a chance to develop self-confidence’.

I find this reasoning odd and wonder when she would allow tourists to visit if she were to take power. A bigger danger (as I see it) is that the vacuum of Westerners is being filled by the Chinese – this was most evident in Mandalay. Some analysts already say that China controls the economy. If in 25 years the country is studying Chinese rather than English, the Do Not Go policy will seem short sighted.