September 5, 2007

Yangon (MYANMAR)

Catching a Bus to Yangon and the Magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda

After a full day spent traveling and climbing to Golden Rock (quite a feat considering we left Yangon the same day) we were understandably groggy this morning. Were it not for habit, getting out of bed at 5am would have been difficult. The sad truth is that after two weeks of traveling together another early morning is simply par for the course.

We caught the first sawngthaew of the day to the Kyaktiyo bus station, and from there we hopped on a bus heading toward Yangon - via the busy city of ??.

When we finally arrived in Yangon it was 2:00 in the afternoon and we were starved for food. We decided on a Thai-Burmese restaurant that is recommended in my guidebook as we were too tired to deal with scouting out a good place to eat. The food was pricier than anything we have had thus far - granted, our past few meals were all meant to be eaten with our hands - but it made up for all the hardships we endured (or maybe it was the beer that deserves credit for that).

We hung around the deserted restaurant chatting for a few hours as it was yet another (!!) rainy day in Yangon. Eventually, we decided it was time to see Shwedagon Pagoda, which is what Myanmar touts as being its most magnificent sight to behold. While the collection of gold-adorned stupas, temples, and shrines all form an impressive mini-community, such ostentatious displays of wealth and prosperity in a country as poor as Myanmar is sickening.

Here are a few cases in point: 1) At the top of the main stupa is a collection of jewels that can be seen using binoculars (or pictures in the museum). When I say 'collection' I am being unfairly modest: there are fist-sized diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other valuable 'rocks' to make the Queen of England blush. The value of these jewels alone could modernize the country in one fell swoop - taking Myanmar from being one of Asia's poorest to the land of growth it deserves. 2) The government actually built an elevator to spare tourists the hassle of walking up the steps to the pagoda (surely this money could be put to better use when the streets are all overflowing with sewage), and 3) Like so many other Asian countries (such as Thailand, China, and Cambodia), the populace are inspired by Buddhist sights adorned in gold. From the garish Golden Rock (it would have looked far better left alone as a dull rock caught in the middle of a miraculous balancing act) to the sight of gold temples next to shacks I fail to understand where people's priorities lay. Surely when children and families are starved for food and dying of malnutrition people would question the logic of wasting all the money on impractical displays of wealth? Not so, and as a result I don't enjoy gawking at such things.

Regardless, I keep such opinions to myself whenever I speak to a Burmese as these sights are of great significance to them - I will attribute it to a difference in thinking between some countries in the East and those in the West.

We hung around Shwedagon for a couple hours while two local Burmese acted as our tour guides (we didn't have much say in the matter). Jo was approached by a university student who was formerly a monk while I had a now-out-of-work university professor from Yangon University. My guide told me he was formerly a history professor who was removed from his position when the junta took power. I didn't know whether or not to believe him, but he spoke great English so I am sure there was an element of truth to what he was saying. His tendency to bring up politically sensitive issues put me off as I was not about to get involved in that mess. For one thing, I don't know if he is a government spy, and if he isn't then he should be more careful about discussing such matters.

After Shwedagon, Jo and I had an early dinner and an early night as tomorrow morning we have **surprise surprise** a 7am flight to Inle Lake.