Travelogues by Bill Pfeil
Burma
February, '07
Stepping out of the airplane in Yangon is like out of a time machine. Little has changed since British rule up to 1947. Buildings and infrastructures remain. Smoking, overflowing, clunker buses. The few cars Burmese can afford are resurrected wrecks from neighbor Thailand. The government lifting the tourist spending and invitation-only restrictions is opening their country to a few inexperienced dreadlocked backpackers with refrigerator-sized packs and experienced retirees.
I set my $11 'rolex' back one-half hour from Thai time. Burma and India are only countries on a half-hour clock. There are 1270 kyat ('chet') per $1 on the underground dollar economy (500 kyat/$1 gov't exchange). There are no coins. Personal motorcycles, bikes and cell phones are outlawed except by seldom-granted expensive permit. Omnipresent military presence pose no threat to sightseeing visitors. 'Myanmar' is the official name to the ruling generals, but 'Burma' is commonly used by SE Asians and publications. It is a communications black hole. Western websites are blocked, but can be hacked at rare internet cafes. Congregation of foreigners is not allowed. It is not feasible for an expat to settle here. Burmese will secretly confide that they despise their military government. Citizens have a hard life but are high-spirited and friendly. It is fashionable for ladies to paint their cheeks in swirling designs. 90% of Burmese are Buddhist, so there are many huge ornate wats for tranquility and mumbling pray ers for their future.
Contrasted with Thailand which has major interaction with the West, Burma has practically zero. Went with a retired professor I met at breakfast at our hostel to the 3 hour circle train slowly clacking and swaying around Yangon. Cost is only one crisp unmarked U.S. dollar for tourists, but apparently free to the dirt-poor peasants going to/from their shanty shacks. Saw an industrial area and some nice homes, probably government connected. Saw no other Westerners all day.
Cal track buddy Dave and I power-walked one day through Yangon. I asked at closed gates at several universities if they wanted me to give a talk to ag students on mango farming in Hawaii. An administrator would appear and say 'must get approval' (= 'no'). I discovered that logistics are difficult but possible to travel to rural south Burma. But not by bus which are often stopped by police or soldiers who are paid next to nothing, and extort. Some day I'd like to visit these reportedly gorgeous islands in the Adaman Sea.
Burma must have been a jewel in the 1930's. Latitude, climate and natural beauty is the same as Hawaii (and Thailand). One wonders if there will be some long-term value in the generals keeping Burma so isolated and suppressed. Will it emerge in the future with culture and values superior to the West?
Bill's Farm, Box 317, Kaunakakai, Hawaii 96748
Phone: 808-567-6734
Email: BillPfeil@yahoo.com
|