The guide books are wrong about Myanmar

The guide books are wrong about Myanmar

Text and photos by Peter Burgess

YANGON (JP): We have all read the mocking comparisons in the
guide books. The flight from Bangkok to Yangon takes one hour and
fifty years. The time difference between Bangkok and Yangon is
half an hour and half a century.

Those gibes may have been true in the past, but will soon be
fit only for the dustbin along with the out-of-date guide books
they are printed in. Yangon's modernization is picking up speed.
If you intend to see it as it was, you had better start planning
your trip soon.

Several airlines now serve Yangon. Bangladesh Airways (visa
plus airfare Bangkok-Yangon return US$180), Royal Thai Airways
(same arrangement for $220), and Singapore Airlines (same for
$240). Yangonese were recently saying that visa regulations may
soon be further relaxed or even dropped altogether (visa on
arrival), at least for ASEAN nationals, after a suggestion by
Singapore.

After reading in the guide books about all the red tape
involved in entering the country and then filling out three
different forms during the flight, one cannot be blamed for
having butterflies upon arrival. Those butterflies soon vanish
though.

Passing through Immigration takes no more time than in Bangkok
(and the Entry Card seems to have been copied directly from the
Thai one). The animal act immortalized in Pico Iyer's Video Night
in Katmandu and Other Stories from the Not-So-Far East is now a
tale of the past.

Cameras do not have to be declared. Any electronic goods being
brought in are supposed to be declared, but my Walkman was not
even looked at on arrival or departure. Bags are not inspected on
arrival or departure without "reasonable suspicion" one is
carrying something forbidden or undeclared. It is surprising that
electronic goods need to be declared at all as a wide range is
available all over Yangon at prices comparable to Malaysian
prices and cheaper than Thai or Indonesian prices.

Few computers are in evidence, though, whether due to a lack
of need for them of a lack of training in using them. When
reconfirming my return ticket, the airline office clerk wrote all
the information down on a piece of paper instead of typing it
directly into a computer.

On arrival in Yangon one must purchase $300 of Foreign
Exchange Certificates (FECs) which retain their US dollar
purchasing power, are usable at any good-sized establishment, and
also are readily exchanged on the flourishing black market. Any
unspent FECs above the $300 minimum are readily exchanged back
into US dollars upon departure.

Unless one has booked into a good hotel prior to arrival and
are therefore being met by the hotel car, swarms of taxi drivers
buzz around the exit to the terminal. There is great competition
to get tourists into the cab in order to negotiate FEC/foreign
currency exchange deals, purchase anything that could be resold
at a profit and possibly get kickbacks from hotel/guest house
management. There are also some touts around the hotels and guest
houses, and some of them can be very insistent, even badgering.

The guide books tell you to bring bottles of Johnny Walker Red
Label and cartons of 555 cigarettes. In the old days they were to
bribe the Immigration officials but that is unnecessary now. The
officials now just filch $2 on the FEC exchange as a
"commission".

Information

The staff at the government run tourist agency, Myanmar Travel
and Tours want to be helpful, but they have only a few brochures
and information about the services they are trying to sell. They
have little information about future transportation and disavow
knowledge of alternative transportation.

For example, they will sell a plane ticket from Yangon Bagan
(Pagan)for $92 or a non-air conditioned train ticket for $27, but
have little information about bus service connecting the Thazi
train station with Bagan, several hours away. They also deny all
knowledge of a private company called Rainbow Express at 96-98
Pansuran St. in Yangon running air-conditioned buses twice a day
with video and refreshments from Yangon to Mandalay via Thazi for
950 Myanmarese kyats (about $9 at the black market exchange
rate).

It is obvious the government is having a hard time competing
in the free market economic transformation it began.

Friendly

The average people are so warm and friendly and genuinely
happy to see tourists. So many people stop one to chat a bit, to
touch the outside world. One small boy came up and tugged at my
pant leg. When I looked down and said, "Hello, how are you?", he
screamed in delight and started jumping up and down. He was so
pleased and excited I thought he might pee his pants.

Finding your way around town can sometimes be a bit confusing.
The street names and numbers have been changed over the years,
often more than once, and a map may show one name or number, but
that might not be the one that appears on the street sign or shop
front.

But no matter. Because of the friendliness of the people,
there is a foolproof method of finding your way around. Just
stand on a busy sidewalk with a map in your hand looking puzzled
and in five or ten seconds someone will ask "What can I do for
you?" This is not the start of a come-along to a silk store or
gems outlet as it would be in some other places. The people are
simply being friendly, being themselves, and they mean "Can I
help you find your way?"

There is a law that forbids Myanmarese associating with
foreigners, but it is seldom enforced. Nonetheless, a tour-guide
license from the government is a way for Myanmarese to legally
associate with aliens. A Yangon Institute of Technology student
told me "There aren't too many jobs around in my field. With the
(tour guide) license I can get a job, improve my languages
(English and Japanese), and who knows what might turn up."

Greetings are exchanged differently from both Thailand and
Indonesia. The younger person or the person of lesser status bows
their head and eyes slightly while keeping the arms relaxed by
their side. There is no waiving as in Thailand. People know about
shaking hands with westerners, but do not bring their hands to
their chests after shaking as the Javanese do.

Most of the Indians and Chinese who have stayed on seem quite
integrated into Myanmarese national culture though. One Chinese
teacher of English proudly told me that "We (Chinese) speak
Myanmarese even at home".

Pleasant

Sunday in Yangon is particularly pleasant. Unlike Bangkok or
Jakarta where Sunday is just another shopping day, people in
Yangon get dressed up and walk about, meet their friends, chat,
go for coffee, feed the pigeons near Sule Pagoda and so on. Many
pavement booksellers line the streets selling photocopies of
books, used originals and some new ones. Reading, along with
chatting and drinking coffee or tea, seems to be the major
Myanmarese pastime.

People are unbelievably considerate. If you are taking a
picture, they will not walk in front of you. Most Myanmarese love
to have their picture taken, and some even ask you to take it
without trying to wheedle a fee afterwards, either.

Yangon, the city, is just as photogenic as the people. It is a
city of trees, green spaces, temples and old colonial buildings.
When looking out from Shwedagon Pagoda over Yangon, all one can
see is the green of trees with the occasional golden or white
chedi spire sticking out. A few buildings are being torn down to
make way for new developments, but hopefully developers will be
persuaded to retain the city's flavor and renovate rather than
wreck the old buildings.

Accommodation

There are many guest houses and small hotels opening up that
are not listed in the guide books. The ones licensed to accept
foreigners have considerably higher rates, due in no small part
to the 60 percent in taxes on revenues the license holders must
pay.

The top of the line is the fully refurbished Strand Hotel, a
relic of the Raj, at $200 a night. The Central Hotel and the
Sofitel Hotel are both under construction. There are several
hotels in the $40-$100 range, one particularly pleasant being the
Baiyoke Kandawgyi Hotel on the Royal Lakes, where rates start at
$60 a night and has some enchanting cottages on a small peninsula
jutting into the lake.

There are air-conditioned guest houses in the $12-$18 range.
An especially friendly and congenial one being the Pyin Oo Lwin
Guest-House, conveniently located on Mahabandoola Garden Street
just down from the sule Pagoda and City Hall. Cheaper are the
YMCA/YWCA and the unlicensed guest houses. Several of these are
located along Shwebontha Streets near the Aung San Market.

Staying in unlicensed guest houses and changing money on the
black market is not terribly risky, but should be done with a bit
of care. One tourist who recently accepted an offer to change
money on the street found himself in the grip of an undercover
policeman. Pleading entrapment afterwards is probably less wise
than exercising a degree of caution beforehand.
requests accompanied by smiles usually remedy any situation.

There are many pleasurable little surprises not listed in the
guide books that can be found by just asking the locals and hotel
staff for information. For example, there is great ice cream,
with chopped dates, nuts and raisins mixed in for 20 kyats (18
cents) a glass at the Chit Saya Bakery and Coffee Shop between
22nd and 23rd on Mahabandoola Street.

Food

For good Myanmarese food the guide books send you far from the
city center to the expensive Karaweik Restaurant on the Royal
Lakes directly across the lake from the Kandawgyi Hotel.
Myanmarese from all over Yangon recommend the Say Naga (Diamond
Dragon) restaurant on 37th Street just off Anawrahta Street. Just
a "Mom & Pop diner", but with excellent food and usually rather
crowded at mealtimes.

There is excellent Indian food at the Bharat Restaurant on
Mahabandoola Street. The curried goat's brains are a bit spicier
than in Malaysia. Goat's brains vegetables, rice, Pepsi and
coffee costs 115 kyats ($1.05).

Sidewalk coffee and tea stalls are everywhere. People sit for
hours on the type of miniature stools the Javanese give their
children and servants. They chat and smoke and drink their tea
and chat some more.

Shopping

There are no foreign language newspapers or magazines
available on a regular basis, but discarded magazines and older
editions of magazines that went unsold elsewhere are available in
many shops and kiosks around the city.

The Pagan Book House at 100 37 St is well stocked and has many
old and out of print books. These are not cheap, as the guide
books tell you, but the gentleman also sells photocopies of
perennial favorites at very reasonable prices. There is a large
bookstore specializing in English language books on Sule Pagoda
Road across the street from the Tourist Department store, but it
carries no books on Myanmar except a government magazine with
information for potential investors. Asia Books at Sukhumvit Soi
17 in Bangkok has the best selection of recent books on Myanmar.

The tourist Department Store accepts only hard currency or
FECs. The selection is larger than that of an average duty free
shop, but much smaller than that of a Sogo Department Store. A
jar of peanut butter there costs $3.20, while the same jar in
Bangkok costs $3.45 and $2.15 in Malaysia.

Only one store at the Bagyoke Aung San (Scott) Market sells
souvenir T-shirts, but a wide selection of postcards, clothing,
and handicrafts are all available at that market. Go to the
government operated Cooperative Department Store, two blocks over
from St. Mary's Cathedral on Baiyoke Aung San Street, to see the
variety of handicrafts there is and the absolute maximum price
one should ever pay, and then go to the Aung San Market and
bargain.

Cassettes and posters by Thai pop singer Bird (Tongchai
McIntyre) are prominently displayed in every music store, but
Western videos and cassettes are in short supply. There are
tourism videos of Myanmar available at AV Media, located on the
top floor of a building on Mahabandoola Garden Street across from
Mahabnadoola Park for 900 kyats ($8.50), considerably cheaper
than the $15 price for the same videos at the Tourist Department
Store.

Malaysian made chocolates are available and well liked, but
expensive. A package of Vochelle chocolate covered almonds is 400
kyats ($3.70) while the same package in Kota Bharu, Malaysia, is
only RM3 ($1.15).

Economy

The economy in Yangon is obviously starting to flourish. While
there are only a few large buildings going up, mostly hotels,
much small scale construction and renovation is going on.

In some parts of town it seems almost every shop is putting in
new cupboards, painting, installing air conditioners, installing
new fixtures and so on. Looking out over a busy street one hotel
manager remarked to me that "six years ago you might have seen
only one or two cars on the whole street." now there are late
model quality cars parked all the way along both curbs.

The name changes of Burma to Myanmar and Rangoon to Yangon
make sense when they are explained instead of just sneered at.
Myanmar means "union" or "united", something all the ethnic
groups in Myanmar can identify with. The name Burma singled out
only one group, the Burmans. Rangoon was a British invention that
has no meaning for the Myanmarese. Yangon has a similar sound and
means "without enemy", something in keeping with the Myanmarese
cultural ideals of compromise and consensus.

Some fruits of ASEAN's policy of constructive engagement with
Myanmar are evident. Indonesian batik has become quite popular
because, I was told, people saw it on television, saw visiting
Indonesians wearing it and it fits in with their own culture. One
Indonesian in Yangon buying logs for a Kalimantan-Singapore
company remarked, "The (batik) market has been growing rapidly
since I started coming here, especially in the last couple of
years."

It is clear that to see it as it was, you had better go soon.
"Visit Myanmar Year 1996" could well be the perfect time while
there is a balance between the old, but modernized enough to
provide the creature comforts. Whenever you go, leave the guide
book at home.