Myanmar Revisited
Myanmar RevisitedLike many baby boomer travellers I'm fascinated by politically and socially backward countries and cultures. Age-old agrarian societies, seemingly untouched by industrialization, afford me a rare glimpse of how my forefathers would have lived off the land 100 years ago. So, when I heard that Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi was released Nov. 13 from more than 20 years of house arrest in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), I immediately pictured revisiting the beautiful country where time seems to have stood still.
The Burmese still farm with oxen and plows, spin lotus filaments into religious vestments, weave fabric on hand-looms, drive carts and bikes more often than cars, and row longboats with their bare feet.
"Giraffe" women continue to stretch their necks with golden hoops and everyone uses chalky bark paste from Thanakha trees in place of sunscreen, beauty products and acne creams.
Men wear traditional longhi skirts even with a jacket and tie -- and not as a fashion faux pas like David Beckham.
I visited Yangon (the former capital Rangoon) as well as Inle Lake with my family as part of a round-the-world cruise with the floating university, Semester At Sea about four years ago. At the time, Aung San Suu Kyi, known by democratic Burmese as "The Lady" had urged tourists to keep away while she and other political opponents of the repressive regime were still incarcerated.
However, our ship was docking there so we had little alternative than to break the tourism taboo. After much debate, we decided to position ourselves as citizen diplomats, reporting back home about the realities of everyday life in Myanmar.
Now the tourism boycott of Burma is over, I am hoping that more foreign currency will trickle down to some of the poorest people in the world with the worst health-care system (ranked bottom of the World Health Organization chart) and few opportunities for entrepreneurial or academic advancement.
Despite its societal shortcomings, the country is replete with history, remarkable religious icons, unspoiled people and scenery, and South Africastyle wildlife. Currently tourism grosses around $200 million US annually, a pittance compared to Myanmar's biggest money-spinner, natural gas which nets the regime more than $2 billion US per year.
Since her release, Aung San Suu Kyi has relaxed her opposition to tourism, supporting private companies while warning against government-run group tours contrived to show only the best of Burma.
In an interview with Der Speigel in November she said "it is essential that people see what is actually happening in this country."
Things are gradually changing, too, in the world's attitude to travel in Myanmar. Visitation was already on the upturn by 37 per cent in 2010 over 2009 -- if you believe the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism statistics.
The Myanmar Times reported in October that several new hotel projects in would be completed in 2011. Earlier this year, Myanmar launched a co-operative marketing partnership with neighbouring Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in a publicity campaign entitled "Four Countries: One Destination" to encourage cross-border tours.
Cox and Kings, one of the world's oldest travel companies established in 1758, reintroduced the Golden Land of Burma to travel itineraries after Aung San Suu Kyi's release, with 98 people booking on the first tour.
The country has a long way to go in the tourism polls -- in 2009 only 227,400 visitors braved the warnings and sanctions. This is partly due to the lack of comfortable infrastructure. Internal airlines are very basic -- it's always a worry when the flight attendant disembarks after making sure everyone is strapped in for takeoff. But they whisk the time-pressed tourist to Inle Lake, where life slows to the pace of longboats gliding over the oasis of water lilies and ingenious floating gardens -- albeit surrounded by mist caused by the slash-and-burn farming.
Roughly 300,000 people are employed in the tourism industry.
Certainly on my trip to Yangon (formerly Rangoon) and Inle Lake, I saw many locals benefiting directly from tourism. My tour guide told me stories about his lavish wedding and relatively secure lifestyle, all facilitated by his job. The evening entertainer at Inle Lake's Golden Island Cottages was able to cash in on westerners' voyeurism by inviting groups to his humble home for green tea and tofu. These were surprisingly tasty, deep-fried snacks served in the communal living space which housed a primitive range created from earthenware pots over an open fire, a few hardbacked chairs, beds on the floor made from motley covers on the floor, all enclosed from the searing heat by windowless wooden walls. This was an uncommon sneak peek inside one of the traditional stilted homes shared by three or four generations plus livestock who all use the lake for bath, laundry, fishing and sewer. Not a lot of water sports here for tourists wary of water-borne diseases.
Religious tourism is big business for Burma's Buddhist monks who otherwise rely on locals' largesse for their livelihood. Juxtaposed to both the hovels of rural villages and tenements of inner city streets, their temples stand out like diamond-clad debutantes in Dickensian slums. Over the centuries, karma-seeking supplicants have financed religious adornments, the most impressive being Shwedagon in Yangon with its 100-metre gold, diamond and ruby encrusted spire.
Rural temples, although somewhat less endowed, attract both locals and tourists with their religious icons and fancy fixtures. One, Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery at Inle Lake, has got itself onto YouTube. The monks teach their cats to jump through hoops in a novel circus act to attract visitors and donations. I had a go and was the only one in our group to entice the cat to jump. I copied the monk's authoritative way of setting the cat down in front of the hoop, rubbed it under the chin against the pile of its fur as instructed and, after two attempts, it humoured me by soaring through the foot-wide metal ring.
As a self-appointed citizen diplomat, I hope I've honoured my commitment to spread the word about Myanmar through travel articles and book chapters. Only problem is now, as a journalist, I probably wouldn't get a visa to go again.
If You Go
-Check voyage.gc.ca and click on Burma (Myanmar) for the latest safety guidelines.
-Canadians need passports and visas to visit for tourism or business. However the visa on arrival program is currently suspended so potential visitors need to contact the nearest Embassy of the Union of Myanmar before travelling.
-Avoid border areas with Thailand, China and Laos where there are official travel warnings about uprisings and landmines.
-Register your visit with an embassy. As Canada does not have consular offices in Myanmar, Canadians must contact the Australian Embassy.
-The Canadian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand is responsible for Myanmar: www.thailand.gc.ca
-Health risks include malaria, dengue fever and hepatitis A and B. Check the Public Health Agency of Canada for updates.
-Be aware that baggage may be searched upon arrival and it is illegal to enter/exit Burma with religious materials.
-Take cash in U.S. dollars or euros as there are no ATMs or credit card facilities. Foreign currency over $2,000 US must be declared upon arrival, failure to do so could result in imprisonment.
-Check the law -cultural and archeological artifacts and gems cannot be taken out of the country; homosexual activity is illegal; politically sensitive photography is prohibited.
The Burmese still farm with oxen and plows, spin lotus filaments into religious vestments, weave fabric on hand-looms, drive carts and bikes more often than cars, and row longboats with their bare feet.
"Giraffe" women continue to stretch their necks with golden hoops and everyone uses chalky bark paste from Thanakha trees in place of sunscreen, beauty products and acne creams.
Men wear traditional longhi skirts even with a jacket and tie -- and not as a fashion faux pas like David Beckham.
I visited Yangon (the former capital Rangoon) as well as Inle Lake with my family as part of a round-the-world cruise with the floating university, Semester At Sea about four years ago. At the time, Aung San Suu Kyi, known by democratic Burmese as "The Lady" had urged tourists to keep away while she and other political opponents of the repressive regime were still incarcerated.
However, our ship was docking there so we had little alternative than to break the tourism taboo. After much debate, we decided to position ourselves as citizen diplomats, reporting back home about the realities of everyday life in Myanmar.
Now the tourism boycott of Burma is over, I am hoping that more foreign currency will trickle down to some of the poorest people in the world with the worst health-care system (ranked bottom of the World Health Organization chart) and few opportunities for entrepreneurial or academic advancement.
Despite its societal shortcomings, the country is replete with history, remarkable religious icons, unspoiled people and scenery, and South Africastyle wildlife. Currently tourism grosses around $200 million US annually, a pittance compared to Myanmar's biggest money-spinner, natural gas which nets the regime more than $2 billion US per year.
Since her release, Aung San Suu Kyi has relaxed her opposition to tourism, supporting private companies while warning against government-run group tours contrived to show only the best of Burma.
In an interview with Der Speigel in November she said "it is essential that people see what is actually happening in this country."
Things are gradually changing, too, in the world's attitude to travel in Myanmar. Visitation was already on the upturn by 37 per cent in 2010 over 2009 -- if you believe the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism statistics.
The Myanmar Times reported in October that several new hotel projects in would be completed in 2011. Earlier this year, Myanmar launched a co-operative marketing partnership with neighbouring Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in a publicity campaign entitled "Four Countries: One Destination" to encourage cross-border tours.
Cox and Kings, one of the world's oldest travel companies established in 1758, reintroduced the Golden Land of Burma to travel itineraries after Aung San Suu Kyi's release, with 98 people booking on the first tour.
The country has a long way to go in the tourism polls -- in 2009 only 227,400 visitors braved the warnings and sanctions. This is partly due to the lack of comfortable infrastructure. Internal airlines are very basic -- it's always a worry when the flight attendant disembarks after making sure everyone is strapped in for takeoff. But they whisk the time-pressed tourist to Inle Lake, where life slows to the pace of longboats gliding over the oasis of water lilies and ingenious floating gardens -- albeit surrounded by mist caused by the slash-and-burn farming.
Roughly 300,000 people are employed in the tourism industry.
Certainly on my trip to Yangon (formerly Rangoon) and Inle Lake, I saw many locals benefiting directly from tourism. My tour guide told me stories about his lavish wedding and relatively secure lifestyle, all facilitated by his job. The evening entertainer at Inle Lake's Golden Island Cottages was able to cash in on westerners' voyeurism by inviting groups to his humble home for green tea and tofu. These were surprisingly tasty, deep-fried snacks served in the communal living space which housed a primitive range created from earthenware pots over an open fire, a few hardbacked chairs, beds on the floor made from motley covers on the floor, all enclosed from the searing heat by windowless wooden walls. This was an uncommon sneak peek inside one of the traditional stilted homes shared by three or four generations plus livestock who all use the lake for bath, laundry, fishing and sewer. Not a lot of water sports here for tourists wary of water-borne diseases.
Religious tourism is big business for Burma's Buddhist monks who otherwise rely on locals' largesse for their livelihood. Juxtaposed to both the hovels of rural villages and tenements of inner city streets, their temples stand out like diamond-clad debutantes in Dickensian slums. Over the centuries, karma-seeking supplicants have financed religious adornments, the most impressive being Shwedagon in Yangon with its 100-metre gold, diamond and ruby encrusted spire.
Rural temples, although somewhat less endowed, attract both locals and tourists with their religious icons and fancy fixtures. One, Nga Phe Kyaung Monastery at Inle Lake, has got itself onto YouTube. The monks teach their cats to jump through hoops in a novel circus act to attract visitors and donations. I had a go and was the only one in our group to entice the cat to jump. I copied the monk's authoritative way of setting the cat down in front of the hoop, rubbed it under the chin against the pile of its fur as instructed and, after two attempts, it humoured me by soaring through the foot-wide metal ring.
As a self-appointed citizen diplomat, I hope I've honoured my commitment to spread the word about Myanmar through travel articles and book chapters. Only problem is now, as a journalist, I probably wouldn't get a visa to go again.
If You Go
-Check voyage.gc.ca and click on Burma (Myanmar) for the latest safety guidelines.
-Canadians need passports and visas to visit for tourism or business. However the visa on arrival program is currently suspended so potential visitors need to contact the nearest Embassy of the Union of Myanmar before travelling.
-Avoid border areas with Thailand, China and Laos where there are official travel warnings about uprisings and landmines.
-Register your visit with an embassy. As Canada does not have consular offices in Myanmar, Canadians must contact the Australian Embassy.
-The Canadian Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand is responsible for Myanmar: www.thailand.gc.ca
-Health risks include malaria, dengue fever and hepatitis A and B. Check the Public Health Agency of Canada for updates.
-Be aware that baggage may be searched upon arrival and it is illegal to enter/exit Burma with religious materials.
-Take cash in U.S. dollars or euros as there are no ATMs or credit card facilities. Foreign currency over $2,000 US must be declared upon arrival, failure to do so could result in imprisonment.
-Check the law -cultural and archeological artifacts and gems cannot be taken out of the country; homosexual activity is illegal; politically sensitive photography is prohibited.
