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A month in Myanmar
The day I learned that a protest march organized by Monks in Myanmar had turned violent, I made arrangements to travel to Yangon (as quickly as possible) to visit my many friends in that remarkable country and to see for myself just what was happening. I arrived, without incident, on October 11th. I returned this week, having overstayed my visa by four days (and having paid the $15 overstay fee). Since the first day of my first visit to that Golden Land in 1999, I have been in love with the art,
the crafts, the culture, the landscape and the people of Myanmar. Not Burma. I used to call it Burma (to me, the name “conjured” a mysterious and exotic place) until my Myanmar friends explained that Burma was the name given to the country by the British during the colonial occupation era. It refers only to the Burmans and does not include the many other ethnic groups of that large and diverse population---Shan, Karen, Pa-O, Chin, Naga, Palaung… So now, having been gently corrected by many Burmese,
I say Myanmar---and when foreigners/westerners get that “what is she talking about” look in their eyes, I add “Burma”, for clarification only.
News of the violence and disturbances in Myanmar was alarming to people around the world. Tourists and tour operators promptly canceled their reservations to visit the country. Access to information through the print and broadcast media, the Internet and telephone was extremely limited,
if not impossible. I think I was the only Westerner on my flight to Yangon (not Rangoon) from Singapore. And as I traveled around the country with my driver/friend of many years, I was usually the only tourist in the hotels, restaurants and ancient temples and sites that we visited. I did encounter two intrepid Australian travelers at a hilltop guest resort in Kalaw. The absence of tourists and travelers in Myanmar is a true tragedy for the kind and gentle people of that beleaguered nation; a nation whose regular population relies on the sale of weavings, paintings,lacquerware and souvenirs (as well as on employment in the hotels and cafes) to supply their basic needs. From Yangon, to Taungoo, to Naung Schwe to Kakku and beyond, I was told over and again, by Myanmar artists, craftsman, teachers, restaurateurs and ex-pats that the calls for sanctions and
the tourism boycotts hurt the general population—not the Government. There is a common misunderstanding that tourism dollars will go straight to the military regime or that those dollars will pay for more brutality. The truth is that virtually no hotels or restaurants are government owned.The few that are cater almost exclusively to government personnel on tours. According to informed local experts, the people who run eateries, craft shops, drive taxis, et cetera are not families of the military. Nor are travel companies run by the government. (There is one that deals mainly with areas where access is difficult due to poor infrastructure or security issues.) Contrary to general belief, the country’s airlines are not owned by the government. A well-traveled Myanmar woman told me, “Our country is too rich with natural resources of timber, natural gas, gems and gold for the government to care about tourist dollars. Tourist dollars pay for food for the families of tour guides, taxi drivers, wait-staff, hotel staff, cultural show artists, food vendors, craftsmen, weavers…” I spent five weeks
wandering through markets, attending festivals, meeting with artists, health professionals, nuns and monks, street vendors and ex-pats. I toured the remote Kakku site with a beautiful and articulate Pa-O woman; a devout Buddhist whose life purpose, she told me, was “to end the cycle of suffering”. I made donations at orphanages. At one, the Venerable Monk in charge told me that my $200 gift was enough to feed forty boys for three months. I drove across mountainous roads, majestic and pristine, the
countryside green and fertile with fields and orchards of limes, garlic, chili, cauliflower, rice…I saw dozens and dozens of huge lumber trucks barreling down those rough roads. I did not see an inordinate number of military vehicles. Nor did I witness any police brutality. The only areas where I sensed a military presence were in front of Aung San Suu Kyi’s residence and on the fringes of Nay Pyi Daw (the new capital). Everywhere, I dined in good restaurants (Thai, Indian, Chinese, Myanmar and Italian cuisines) where my dinner partners and I were the only diners. I wandered through the glorious golden beauty of the Shwedagon Pagoda where the smell of incense, the glow of candles, the voices of the visitors and the smiles of
worshipers filled me with hope, with a vision of how great it would be to share these experiences with others. It’s all there to be shared. So, if you’ve ever thought about going, go. Be sure to take new, crisp, unmarked US currency (Myanmar has a cash-only economy). Oh, and make sure none of the serial numbers start with CB. The people have been told that those letters stand for “counterfeit bill”! I offer my personal and sincere observations of Myanmar as a way of encouraging good travelers to consider that the sanctions imposed on “The Golden Land” do nothing to inconvenience the government and much to harm the health
and livelihood of that country’s gentle people. The situation in Myanmar is a cause for concern, of course. But Myanmar is also a great adventure destination for friendly, curious and intrepid travelers.
See for yourself!
Linda Durham
Linda Durham Contemporary Art
Santa Fe, New Mexico
October, 2007
