Myanmar Eh?

We have arrived in Myanmar (Burma) where there is very little english, Internet, or democracy. In Yangon, we spent the first three days trying to figure out where we were actually allowed to go in this country. The government tourist office gave us a straight up answer which we have concluded: pretty much no where. Our guide book, as wonderful as Lonely Planet is, couldn't garuntee anything and many of the locations we had hoped to get to are now off limits, have closed state borders or require a costly government "permit", a costly "guide", and a costly flight on one of the shoddy goverment owned airlines all of which has to be paid for in cold hard US cash. Not happening. As there are no banks or official money changers in Myanmar you have to travel with all the cash you think you'll need and the only way to get the local khat ("chat") currency is on the black market. The largest note that the khat comes in is 1,000 which is about $1CDN so after exchanging $250USD you can imagine the wads of bills we had... in fact, we had to by a special (pink) 'murse' (Aaron's man-purse) just to house all the khat. By asking the locals we have figured out ways to avoid financially supporting the junta as little as possible, althought complete avoidance is of course impossible.

In Yangon we visited a the Sule Pagoda which the center of the city was constructed around by the British and I bought a sparrow to free is for good luck which was pretty neat. Cute little birdie. We also caught the lastest Bollywood flick 'Krrish" playing at one of the cinimas with english subtitles! There was dancing of course and it was Aaron's real introduction into bizaar Hindi films - even though we were in Burma as our quest for some sweet Bollywood action had ended in failure in India. Wandering through the city streets which are clean and easy to navigate we found the market which was totally overwhelming. Full of gems and gold and shirts and skirts and everything weird you could imagine and having no one hassle you besides to say 'hello', well, it brought a tear to my eye.

Myanmar is a strange place, mainly I suppose, because we're not exposed at all to the culture. There's very little english spoken or signage which makes things challanging at times but the Burmese people are so kind, so friendly, won't rip you off at all and will try to help in any way they can. Also because of this factor Aaron and I are trying to learn some Barmar, our vocabulary is up to about 15 words and growing - better then my Hindi already. Longys are in for both men and women (although tied differently) and the women use powdered sandlewood paste called thanakha as make-up/sun screen. Of course we're trying to get all into it so Aaron bought a longy and I tried out the face stuff which drew much attention from the locals...everyone thought I was sooooooooooo beautiful! QMFM Barmar soft favorites are also in and everywhere you go, and I mean everywhere, there is a TV with endless tunes belting out with the words high-lighted to sing along to. A lot of the time there's a microphone. Sometimes it's funny but when it's 3am on the overnight bus to Bagan and you've been listening to this garbage for hours on end it makes you want to kill yourself. No one can sing and because the junta regulates all Myanmar music production every song is classic soft rock. It's like being at the dentist 24 hours a day. Another thing we've found a little odd is that in Burma, to get a waiters attention you make kissy sounds at them. Aaron gets a little carried away sometimes and the noises become accompanied by kissy faces as well but it's pretty funny to see all these men "smooootching" at the waiter.

Myanmar is home to giant avacados which really just make my day. Unfourtunatly the don't use them in everyday cooking - the cuisine is mainly fried everything or fried meat in oily oily "curry" but on occasion we've found an avacado and tomato salad on the menu... or my preference is to just buy the biggest one I can find, crack it open and eat it straight up. mmmmmm!!! To add to this delight they're also big on the ice cream which makes up for the fact that there is absolutely zero chocolate here. As there are trading sanctions with pretty much the entire world, I failed to connect this with the fact that this would mean no chocolate. A terrible catastrophe when I could have easily stocked up on fruit and nut bars in India. Foiled! Myanmar is also home to the oldest cars in existance. When the Bristish ruled the cars of course were driven on the left but shortly after independence the Burmese government decided to switch the driving from the left to the right so all the cars and busses still have the steering wheel on the right which makes for some sketchy driving and even sketchier passing. And when you get off a local bus instead of being dropped at the side of the rode, you're dropped in the middle of the road where scurring out of the way of oncoming traffic is a favorite pastime.

In general things are much more expensive then we expeced. As the junta has taken to charging all foriengers three times the regular local price the locals have adopted these ways aswell, although totally illigally. So, as if switching back and fourth from USD to khat isn't a pain enough we have to pay absurd amounts of money for things that aren't of any value at all. Transport is the main kicker as the busses are horrific and of poor value to the locals in the first place. But when you have to pay $9USD for the most uncomfortable local bus for a 6 hour roller-coaster, legs up to knees, trying not to vomit like half the other people ride it makes you just a little bitter. Food is good value in most places and few hotels but for the quality of a lot of the other stuff to travel in Burma is to get ripped off with the rest of the Burmese.

Ok, I may have trailed off there for a while on exactly what we've been doing. After Yangon we headed straight for the beach of Ngwe Saung where we hung out for four days swimming, reading, sleeping and learning barmar. Our little bamboo hut was delightful - right on the beach with a porch, hammock, and live in mouse who tried to steal my coconut hair oil every night. On occasion we hitched into town on the back of a motorbike or sometimes on a tri-shaw for some dinner and beers and one evening our hotel had a beach bonfire where we did some dancing, smoked some fish, and met some other travellers experiencing the same frustrations of Burma. But all is well and we're headed North to Bagan where one of the largest temple complexes in the world awaits.