September 2, 2007

Yangon (MYANMAR)

Touring Yangon: Burmese People, Street Football, and Golden Pagodas

My alarm went off at 3:30am this morning, and after a quick shower and check of my things I was ready to head to the airport. Jo's parents arranged for their driver, Kun Jack, to take us to the airport at this ungodly hour and it was a welcome reprieve from the inescapable misery of early mornings. We were flying the budget airline Air Asia (commonly referred to as AirDelaysia), which offered a roundtrip flight from Bangkok to Yangon (the capital of Myanmar, formerly known as Rangoon) for only $100USD.

We touched down in Yangon at 8:30 and were met at the airport by a well-recommended guest house offering a free ride into town. We decided it was a good deal and checked into a nice room on the fourth floor that overlooked Yangon. We took a quick nap before eating breakfast and embarking on a walking tour of the city.

The first thing we noticed about Yangon were the poverty and filth. Most of the buildings were left-over from the colonial period when Burma was a part of the British Empire, but after years of neglect the city was openly deteriorating. The Myanmar junta has bled the country dry in a lavish attempt to build a new capital in the middle of nowhere, and they are using forced labor for the entire project.

Admittedly, it felt nice to be in a country where the British, and not the United States, was the historical interfering force (i.e. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos).

As can be seen from the picture to the left, all the Burmese women and children wear a facial cream and a dress-like garment called a longyi. We learned that the facial cream is used as a multipurpose sun block and moisturizer, and quite literally everyone wears it. As for the longyi, which is a kind of long skirt worn by men and women alike, it is donned by everyone from school children to construction workers. Green is the most popular color for men while the women tend to wear a flowery or patterned style.

After a few kilometers of walking (we got slightly lost at one point), we reached the center of town where an imposing golden pagoda is positioned at the center of a roundabout. We took our shoes off as we entered and although we were told donations were voluntary, we weren't really allowed in until we paid money. By this time we had exchanged some of our dollars for the local currency, the kyat (pronounced "chet"), which is valued at 1400kyat per US dollar.

The pagoda itself was impressively golden, but the walkway around was filthy; Jo and I were disgusted walking around in our bare feet. It was somewhat strange to see such an ostentatious display of wealth when Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in Asia, but Buddhism has supreme authority here and is obviously given precedent in such matters.

After walking around the pagoda a couple times (there wasn't really a whole lot else to do), we set off to see the colonial streets near the waterfront. En route we bought a bunch of bananas (bunch as in the unit of measure for bananas), which served as a great treat for the children begging. It was a pleasant change to see the group of six or seven children laughing as they followed us, and they were appreciative for the bananas we gave them. In other countries, it is often the case that giving children food is not enough as parents instruct their kids to continue begging until they receive money.

I hate mentioning this next tidbit, but we saw two massive rats scurry past us - barely 1 meter from out feet - as we were walking. The filth in Yangon was really quite depressing to see, and it made the golden pagodas all the more puzzling. Surely that money could be put to better use, but maybe that is just the Westerner in me talking.

Although I wasn't feeling well today, we came across a group of students playing football in the streets and I decided to join them. They all commented I looked like Rooney, which is something I have sadly grown accustomed to hearing in Asia. Since they didn't speak much English and I didn't speak much Burmese (understatement of the year), we 'let our feet do the talking'. Cheesy, I know, but we did have a lot of fun playing together. I got quite dirty as the streets were caked in dirt and the flimsy plastic ball was flying all over the place.

Afterward, I began feeling quite sick and Jo took me to a small park to rest. I felt bad about being so out of it - especially because she warned me not to play and now she had to look after me - but I couldn't have asked for a better nurse. We were eventually chased away from our resting spot by a heavy rain that forced us under a small overhang.

When the rain refused to quit we hopped in a taxi and rode to the Yangon's main market, Bogyoke Aung San, to have a look at the shops. The complex was enormous, and as much as Jo wanted to buy the beautiful necklaces it was only day 1 of our trip and we wanted to make sure we would have enough money. We headed back to the hostel where we had a late dinner and watched Arsenal come away with another win.