Hi everyone. Sorry for the huge delay in posting on the blog but access was blocked in Myanmar. I can only assume it was to prevent people posting negative or anti junta feelings which is a shame.
Before we even arrived in Yangon we saw some sights. On the plane from KL to Yangon we were 2 of only 6 'westerners' on the flight! As we taxied to take off the bloke in front answered his mobile and calmly engaged in a conversation. I looked around to see if anyone would say anything only to find that I could see one bloke texting and another playing a car racing game on his i-phone! When we landed a family was up and out of its chairs withing 5 seconds of the plane touching down and everyone just charged to the front of the plane. Chaos ensued!
When we arrived in Yangon we were surprised at how the infrastructure was very old and decrepit. The taxis are ancient and our broke down. Driving through the burbs everything seemed old and run down.
We spent the first day orientating oursselves and visited the Schwe Dagon Paya Pagoda the 'centrepiece' of both the city and the buddhist faith in Myanmar. I wont bore you with the details but the gold leafed covered stupa reaches 98m into the Yangon sky and is breathtaking not only in its beauty but also the calm and serenity it exudes. In a city of some 6 million that is chocked by car fumes and is chaotic and busy it really is a sanctuary. We went back at night and saw it under spotlights and it was even better. Just to see local people put aside the daily struggles to take some time to pray and pay respect is quite humbling to a no believer!
Carolyn and I covered 21 kms on that 1st day walking around the city taking in the sites. Yangon is fairly uninspiring and we made plans to head north to Mandalay flying Bagan Air - no I had never heard of them either!
Mandalay was fine and we climbed Mandalay Hill - all 1452 steps (I counted them). Great views and we spent a good 1 hour sitting with some monks who were keen to practice their english on us.
Accom in Myanmar is basic and our guest house was what you might call rustic with the drains in the shower being open and the power a bit on the intermittent side!
We decided to hit the road and caught a bus to the temples of Bagan. Safe to say that the bus ride will rank right up there with our previous "bus rides from hell". The route is on a 'main secondary road' that for much of it was uncovered and washed away. Then we got bogged in a river bed - and we all stood and watched as the driver argued with a local crew on the cost of his assistance in getting us out! Very funny! Of course being a Kimberley boy I could tell that by trying to turn your wheels and not reversing and then going forward all they were doing was digging themselves in deeper.
The trip was so rough my back went and accompanied with a dose of the Rangoon Runs I spent the best part of a day in bed! Carolyn also went down with the trots and we were a fine site. On holiday and both crook in the guts!
Next day we hired a pony and buggy ($12 for the day with driver) and went to check out the Bagan Plains. Over 2000 stupas dating back to the 12th Century dot the plains around Bagan and it truly is site to behold. Word cannot describe the 360 degree view that's afforded fro the top of various stupas. If my photo's can be attached you'll see but if not just google Bagan and you'll get some idea.
The next day Carolyn was still unwell and the somewhat squalid conditions were having an effect and we made the decision to leave Myanmar even though we had only been here for 8 days. It's a sad country mired in poverty and oppresion by a military regime that allows little in the way of freedom of speech. Of course I knew this before we came so I shouldn't have been surprised.
People are unfailingly friendly and happy and want people to travel there - god knows they need the money.
Myanmar seems to have changed little in the years since the British left last century. Everything is old and decrepit. Basic infrastructure is lacking and there are no foreign NGO's or evidence of UNICEF programs. It's like the military junta don't want the eyes of the world on it. Indeed one of the local newspapers under it's logo says "say no to meddling foreign interests".
Se we left feeling more sad than anything else about a beautiful country rich with natural resources and abundant with oil and wonderful friendly people caught in a time warp!
We landed in Bangkok a couple of days ago - what a difference! Modern, chaotic, commerce driven, full of tourists! We decided to head off to in island to sit on a beach for a few days and later today are catching a bus and ferry to Kho Tau Island (next ot Kho Samui) to sit on a beach! Our accom is right on the beach! Can't wait - we're both well again and looking forward to some sun before heading off to India!
Sorry about the spelling - the spell check doesn't work and I'm too tired to manually check it.
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