Day 90 - Schwedagon Pagoda

I survived the 16 hour bus ride on an empty stomach and arrived in Yangon at around 5:30am, taking a shared taxi cab ride to the hotel. Luckily, they had a room available for me to doze off in for the next 5 hours since sleep was seldomly achieved on the entire bus ride.

I woke up to a rainy Yangon, which continued throughout the day, so very little was explored of the city. Plus, I had already been in this city at the beginning of my trip here. Given all the sights I had seen and all the cities I visited, this city has got to be my least favorite of all of them. It's the least clean, rainiest, and least easy to traverse on foot.

I decided I would visit the main attraction of the entire country, the place that clearly symbolizes all of Myanmar – the Shwedagon Pagoda. I decided I would give in and pay the $5 entrance fee to the government given all the details I learned throughout my trip. Five dollars really wouldn't help the government all that much, and I'm sure some of the money went to the maintenance of the Pagoda, since this was the MAIN ATTRACTION. Neglect of other sights could be excusable, but not at the Shwedagon Pagoda.

I took a taxi with my new Japanese friend, who I met on my three day trek in Kalaw. The pagoda was very impressive, not just in size, but in the glimmer that was created by the lights at night. It was almost as if I was in Hollywood, or Las Vegas, given the grandeur of the structure. I believe the entire center Pagoda was covered with a sheet of pure gold, which gave it a unique luster that was not seen at any of the numerous other pagodas I had seen throughout the country.

I found it fitting that I would come here to see this pagoda as the last attraction on my last full day in Myanmar.

Day 89 - Nuang Shwe back to Yangon

The rain decided to come all last night and throughout the day today. Good thing we went on our trek when we did, or else we'd be traversing through even wetter and more slippery terrain than we did the past three days!

I caught a pick-up truck to the bus station about 30 minutes away to get a seat on a bus headed back to Yangon. The bus ride would be 16 hours, but I was reassured that the quality of buses would be much better than the one from Bagan to Kalaw.

The bus was similar to the one I took from Yangon to Mandalay, with the air conditioning turned to maximum, but thankfully I prepared for the chill with some socks, a jacket, and some pajamas. The buses were all second-hand buses previously used in Japan, as was evident by the old sign on the side of the bus that showed what stations the bus used to stop at in Japan.

I was running out of kyat currency and had to really think about where to spend it, as I knew I would need a taxi from the bus station in Yangon to the hotel I planned to book. Dinner was skipped to save money and it would be a hungry night with an unhappy stomach.

Day 73 – Rain in Yangon, Myanmar

The rain really puts a damper on your plans to explore the city. Today was no exception, as it continued to downpour all morning and afternoon. Instead of heading to a restaurant that was recommended to me by the students I met yesterday, I decided to head back to the Strand Hotel to get some Western Food, use the internet, stay dry, and break a $100 bill that no one else in the city would break for me.

I ended up meeting with another couchsurfer and a friend she had met, who both also arrived in the country the same day as me. We were all headed by bus to Mandalay at night, so we had dinner together and planned the guesthouse we'd be staying at once we arrived.

I'd heard many different stories about the buses to Mandalay, some decent and some horrific, so I was planning for the worst. People commonly switch modes of transportation from bus to air after experiencing it.

The bus actually wasn't bad at all! In fact, it was one of the newest buses I've been on throughout my travels, which is strange since almost every other car in the city is beat up and from the 1980s... I took the last bus out at 9PM, which was recommended by the receptionist at the hotel because the later buses didn't stop at smaller towns to pick up more passengers and would arrive at Mandalay faster. Lucky for me, there was also a new road that was recently built that would get us there quicker. Crossing my fingers for a nice, sleepful night...

Near the bus station was a place with replicas of some of the most famous sights in Myanmar

My Western Lunch

Day 72 - Conversations with Students

It has intermittenly rained throughout my travels in SE Asia, but it has finally poured here in Myanmar. Most of the early day was spent indoors, escaping the rain and planning the day.

I would take a walking tour of Downtown Yangon in the afternoon, guided by my Lonely Planet, which was one of the few Myanmar travel guides I could find in the book store back home. There were different routes you could take around the country, depending on how adventurous you were, how much money you wanted to spend, how long you were in the country, and whether or not you cared about supporting the government with your money.

I initially decided to try to avoid as many governmental fees as I could, but as I looked through the guidebook and travel resources online, I found it difficult to avoid some of the fees when you visited some of the bigger cities with some of the more exciting things to see. We'll see as I go further along on this trip since everything is slightly unplanned at the moment.

The first stop on the tour was the over 2,000 year old Sule Paya (Pagoda) right smack in the middle of downtown Yangon. The temple was recommended by Lonely Planet as an alternative to the most famous temple in Yangon, the Shwedagon Paya, which required a $5 governmental entrance fee. Upon entrance, I was asked to donate money when I took off my shoes to enter. I asked if the money went directly to the restoration and maintenance of the temple or to the government. It was hard to understand them, so I only contributed 200 kyat ($0.25). This made me think whether I would have to second guess every single payment I made to see anything here...

Walking around the temple, I met with three university students who were on vacation from school. They had just come from an orphanage they were volunteering at and were exploring the city as well. I told them that I was from the United States and they immediately told me how lucky I was... They each had different majors, and I asked them what they would do after they finished university. They said they'd have a hard time finding a job afterwards. One of them wanted to be a journalist in Chiang Mai, but knew he'd probably have to work as a taxi driver after university. To be a journalist would mean that he would have to escape across the border to Chiang Mai, instead of being a pseudo-journalist (or propagandist) in Myanmar. I asked why they would spend so much money on an education if it would be hard to find a job anyways, and they said it was because it interested them to be educated, despite the difficulties afterwards. The fees for them were 30,000 kyat ($40 USD) per month.

We decided to meet for beers after I took a tour of the city. I asked them if I could take a picture of them, and they refused, saying that they were part of the September 2007 monk protests and were afraid of the repercussions if the government saw the pictures or that they were speaking with me. Some of them showed me their scars, which they got after being hit by police batons during the protests.

I walked through the city for the next couple hours, stopping by a catholic church, mosque, and Hindu temple. You could really tell how diverse this city was because of this. All of these religious centers were all within walking distance of each other in the middle of the city.

I stopped by the Strand Hotel, which was a luxury hotel with British Colonial elements throughout the hotel. At the front of the hotel were little kids trying to sell postcards. I ended up purchasiing 10 of them. The little kids asked me what my name was, how old I was, and where I was from. Upon answering that I was from America, they would each recite the same thing to be at different times. “Oh? America? Basketball. Michael Jordan.” I think they have a little spiel everytime they meet people from different countries. They told me they were hungry, and I joked that I was hungry too. I decided to buy three of them a meal, but instead of the meal, they wanted ice cream! I told them it was not healthy and that they should eat vegetables, but they insisted on ice cream, so we went to the local grocery shop and they chose their ice creams.

At the end of the tour, I went back to meet with the students and we stopped by a local restaurant to have dinner and beers. They told me a lot of interesting tidbits about the political climate and history of Myanmar (They don't call the country “Burma” themselves).

The country itself was ruled by the British until 1948, when the country gained independence. The military took control of the country in 1962 and had continued to take control of the country until recently, when the country held elections and is now a so-called “democracy.” The students believe that the country is slowly headed in the right direction, and hope to see more changed in the coming years.

I asked them why the rate of exchange of the USD was so low, and they associated it with the Chinese bringing in USD to buy gemstones recently. I also asked about how they felt about me trying to dodge the governmental fees to visit some of the sites in the country. They told me that the money that the government receives from tourism is so small compared to the dirty money they collect from selling gemstones, that it didn't really matter if I did contribute to the government. They appreciated the thought, but told me that it would be fine to pay some of the fees if I came across them.

The three of them were also arrested during the September 2007 monk protests, which initially began due to the sudden increase in prices of local transportation and food, among other things. The government gave no explanation for these increases. They served terms ranging from a couple months to a couple years, one of which worked in the rice fields. They also told me stories of the torture tactics of the government, including water droplet torture, where the prisoner sits as a single droplet of water drips on their head for hours. I didn't think this was torture, but they explained that you could get incredible migrains from this type of torture.

I also asked if there was still forced labor in the country, and they explained that there was, and most of them were prisoners, but stometimes, the government take people from the streets at night, which is one of the reasons why people are home by 10pm. Such an enlightening, but intense conversation to end the night! I was surprised they were so open to speak to me about it, but maybe things really will change for the better.

Sule Paya

"Water Fountains" throughout the city

Day 71 - Yangon, Myanmar - First Impressions

Sleeping at the airport was actually somewhat entertaining. Quang and I decided to grab a couple beers from 7-Eleven and play some cards at night. It was actually more luxurious than some of the dingy rooms I've stayed at. We had rows of seats to sleep on, airconditioning, and nice bathrooms that were constantly cleaned.

Quang left back to Ho Chi Minh City while I moved onto Yangon, Burma. The flight was around 1 hour and 15 minutes. It was interesting to compare the aerial views of Bangkok compared to Yangon. You could definitely see the difference in development of both countries. Huge buildings and strong infrastructure filled Bangkok, while in Yangon, everything was green and natural.

Upon arrival, I went through customs smoothly and hired a taxi cab to take me to the center of Yangon. The cab ride cost $10 USD. I tried to lower the cost to $8, but the cab driver explained about the decline in the value of the dollar, which has continued ever since the shake up in the government in the country. A year ago, you could get at least 1,000 Burmese Kyat for each US Dollar. Now, you'd be lucky to get 800 on a good day.

I've read articles about the matter, and some of the blame is put on the influx of US Dollars by the Chinese who are attempting to take over many of the new business opportunities that are now afforded foreign countries since the government shakeup.

After settling into my guesthouse for $8 USD, I found out that most hotels only accept US Dollars. I changed about $100 US Dollars at the airport into smaller denominations, but felt I needed to change more, so I walked around looking for someone to change my money. I managed to get a jeweler to change by $100 to 5-$20s. The $100 bill had to be in crisp, pristine condition with no creases in the center of the bill or else it wouldn't be accepted. I went through some of my bills before one was accepted.

I researched on the internet about the best places to convert currencies. The best place was through the black market and at some of the local markets in the city. The official exchange rate is less than 10 Kyat per $1 USD, which is useless. I headed to the Bogyoke Aung San Market and walked around looking for money changers. I asked around to establish the expected exchange rate before agreeing to change money with a Burmese man of Indian descent named Pale, who agreed to change my money for $1 = 765 Kyat. Walking to his store, I asked him why the US Dollar was depreciating so consistently over the past year, and I suggested maybe it was because of the government. He agreed, but then also told me to keep quiet about any open talk about the government...

There is a certain procedure to take when exchanging money. Since the foreigner would be getting around 75 paper bills for every $100 exchanged, they are given the money first to count. After establishing that the amount is correct, the foreigner hands over their money in exchange. If you do not count the correct number of paper bills, do NOT let the money changer count the money, as they could scam you with their sleight of hand.

I ended up not having any “acceptable” $100 bills to exchange because there were slight creases in the center of Benjamin Franklin's face, and some of the ink was fading, so they agreed to exchange them for $1 USD = 740 Kyat. I'm worried that I won't have enough “acceptable” dollar bills to use on this part of my journey!

After lunch, I walked around the city just to see the city life. The sidewalks and streets were very underdeveloped. I think you'd easily trip on one of the slabs of cement that was used as part of the sidewalk if you didn't watch where you were stepping. Most of the people in the town looked of Indian Descent, and many people (including the men) wore traditional Burmese sarong-style pants called Longyi. Many people also had what appeared to be mud smeared across their faces. In actuality, this substance is called thanakha (powered bark) and is used by everyone as make-up and sunblock. Some of the women looked as if they were crying because of the way their applied it to their faces.

The internet access is very slow here, similar to a dial-up connection, and there are restrictions on some of the websites you can access. It was a little difficult for me to find a place to purchase a bottle of water. There aren't any chain convenience stores here, and after asking around, I had to purchase one at a market that was hidden in the back of a clothing store.

I'm a little worried about traveling here alone, not because of any safety concerns, but because I don't have a clue which routes to take around the country and which modes of transportation to take to get there. There are so many suggestions online, but it's a little overwhelming, and there isn't really a standard “backpacker” route since this country isn't as commonly visited by backpackers. I messaged some couchsurfers and local, so hopefully I can meet up with people!

At night, I walked around again, and settled on a Chinese-Shan style restaurant where I had some Shan Noodles with Chicken and Myanmar Beer. I figure I should avoid some of the street food and stick with restaurants that look crowded to make sure the food has high turnover and is fresh and hot. The last thing I need is for me to get sick here.

It was difficult walking around at night because there weren't too many street lights, and if there were, they were all dim. There weren't many lively buildings that could provide more light either. The city sleeps early. By the time I finished dinner and after using an internet cafe, it was 10PM and the streets were empty. I think it'll be like this the whole trip, unless there is some sort of festival or celebration I can hopefully stumble upon.

What $300 USD gets you in Kyats