Myanmar 1/6: Yangon

After over a month off from traveling I was amped to get back on the road. Even more excited due to the destination being Myanmar. She exceeded expectations and was absolutely incredible. Reminded me why I love traveling as the people impressed at every turn. Older traverlers commonly say you should have seen Vietnam 30 years ago, or Laos is how Cambodia was 20 years ago etc. Well I was certainly late to Laos just as I was 20 years late to Eastern Europe. Not Myanmar! I took a ton of pictures and will likely post them in 6 parts as my trip had 6 distinct places, each worthy of their own post. Hopefully everybody enjoys and most will learn some things about a forgotten land.

Guessing many don't know what Myanmar looks like so I will post a map. I didn't know where any of the cities were until I looked at a map for the first time the night before my flight! ha.



In the past month I have read 3 books pertaining to Burma including Burmese Days by George Orwell which is set in a city I visited and Letters from Burma written by Aung San Suu Kyi. A little more on her later. The other was a book on the politics/history of Burma post British occupation. I was going to write a summary but the CIA-World Fact Book is more concise than I could ever be and covers exactly what I wanted to

"Britain conquered Burma over a period of 62 years (1824-1886) and incorporated it into its Indian Empire. Burma was administered as a province of India until 1937 when it became a separate, self-governing colony; independence from the Commonwealth was attained in 1948. Gen. NE WIN dominated the government from 1962 to 1988, first as military ruler, then as self-appointed president, and later as political kingpin. In September 1988, the military deposed NE WIN and established a new ruling junta. Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party - the National League for Democracy (NLD) - winning a landslide victory, the junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient AUNG SAN SUU KYI, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and 2000 to 2002, was imprisoned in May 2003 and subsequently transferred to house arrest. She was finally released in November 2010. After the ruling junta in August 2007 unexpectedly increased fuel prices, tens of thousands of Burmese marched in protest, led by prodemocracy activists and Buddhist monks. In late September 2007, the government brutally suppressed the protests, killing at least 13 people and arresting thousands for participating in the demonstrations. Since then, the regime has continued to raid homes and monasteries and arrest persons suspected of participating in the pro-democracy protests. Burma in early May 2008 was struck by Cyclone Nargis, which claimed over 138,000 dead and tens of thousands injured and homeless. Despite this tragedy, the junta proceeded with its May constitutional referendum, the first vote in Burma since 1990. Parliamentary elections held in November 2010, considered flawed by many in the international community, saw the junta's Union Solidarity and Development Party garnering over 75% of the seats. Parliament convened in January 2011 and selected former Prime Minister THEIN SEIN as president. The vast majority of national-level appointees named by THEIN SEIN are former or current military officers."

Only thing I want to add to that is that Aung San Suu Kyi was not allowed to participate in the 2010 elections.

Myanmar: Yangon

I woke up bright and early my first full day in Myanmar prepared for a productive journey. My initial impression was that Yangon reminded me of a very toned down India. In part due to the spit from betel nut lining the sidewalks and large Indian population. I would soon realize the comparison to India only holds true in downtown Yangon and Myanmar on the whole has its own unique identity.


I hoped to confirm this story but a quick/lazy google search is not helping. Bicycles and motorcycles are illegal in the greater Yangon area. This is really tragic because these are the two cheapest forms of transportation in a very poor country. The reason given by the government is that too many traffic laws were being broken and there were too many accidents resulting in death. Anybody who has been anywhere in Asia knows how many people depends on motorcycles/scooters to get around. It is the main form of transportation in most places. Anyway, nobody in Myanmar gave me this as the reason for the motorcycles being against the law in Yangon. Instead I heard the same story with slightly different variations from people in 3 different locations. Basically something happened where the car of a general was surrounded near the University by students on bikes. He became scared and the result was that both bicycles and motorcycles have been banned in the city.



Winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace prize Aung San Suu Kyi has spent 15 of the last 21 years under house arrest. I talked to many people who believe she is the only person capable of uniting all the identities within Burmese borders. In 2007 the government raised fuel prices and the price of bus transportation went from 20 kyat to 200. In return students led protests, monks who are the 2nd most powerful group in Burma behind the military also joined in. Suu said nothing during the protests but in a famous moment she accepted blessings from her front gate from monks who marched to her home. She was released from house arrest in November of 2010. Largely in part to international pressures.
her front gate


The perceptions of America always come up when people ask me of my travels. I don't have my books with me but I believe it was 1988 when over a hundred thousand protesters went to the American embassy in Yangon. They may have not have all known what American democracy is, but they knew it was better than what they had. They also had hope, America was the only thing in the world that could save them. Of course we stood by and did nothing as they fought for democracy and were thrown in jails. Eventually not even being allowed to assemble into groups of more than 4. Has that ideal of America dissipated since 1988? clearly. But I still believe much of the 3rd world continues to look to America as the leaders of the free world and places hope that we will some day turn things around for them.

Suu lives on Inya Lake. Some may recall when an American was arrested for swimming to her home in 2009.


Sule Pagoda in downtown Yangon




Sein Yaung Chi, meaning reflection of diamond


Inside

Ma Har Wizaya




Enjoyed the paintings on the walls




Shwedagon Pagoda, the most sacred in all of Burma. Sittting on a hill and standing 98 meters high it can be seen from around the city










It is made from real gold plates. On the top are5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. Plus a crowning 76 carat diamond








Around the pagoda there are 8 sections for each day of the week. 8? Wednesday evening is its own day! I was born on a Thursday which is the day of the mouse so I found my day and with the help of a monk performed my good luck ritual over the golden mouse.


Hindu temple. Previous were Buddhist, should have said that. Burma is predominantly Buddhist


A cool thing to do in Yangon is take the circle train around the city, takes 3 hours and costs a dollar. This watermelon was not very good


The trains in Myanmar do remind me some of India. 

Doesn't come off in this picture but Myanmar is much much cleaner than India.


But seeing the poverty in a country with so many resources is sad. With a better regime they could have been a thriving SE Asian nation