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myanmar at the crossroads
Published in the January-March 2011 issue.
With the recent release of pro-democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi, there’s an air of change in Myanmar. David Latta visits Yangon to see if now might be the time to travel to this long-shunned country.
It isn’t the most auspicious of arrivals. From my first morning in Yangon, the one-time capital of Myanmar, rain pours down in a deluge of Biblical proportions and barely lets up throughout my stay. The country’s wet season lasts from mid-May to the end of October and I am visiting in the very middle of it. I am determined not to let the rain and steamy heat hinder my exploration of the city’s wide colonial streets.
For much of the nineteenth century, Myanmar was part of the British Empire and Yangon (when it was known as Rangoon) was carpeted with grand public buildings, expansive parks and long boulevards that would not have looked out of place in London. One hundred years ago, it would have shined with a colonial majesty. Today, sadly, many of these buildings have mouldered away in the heat and humidity.
A prolonged period of neglect has seen the elegant façades crumbling, paint long since peeled away, vines and vegetation ghosting the elegant Victorian details. With an absence of upkeep and an almost non-existent infrastructure that sees numerous electrical blackouts each day, Yangon now resembles a sleepy tropical town.
Despite the privations that beset the country, Yangon has an undeniable appeal. Its people are warm and friendly and optimistic. So when my guide suggests, in the midst of a particularly fierce downpour, that it might be a good time to visit Yangon’s most celebrated site, the magnificent Shwedagon Pagoda, I’m more than a little reluctant.
I am wrong to be.
As sunset approaches, the storm eases and blue sky began to tease through the dark clouds. Visits to pagodas are part and parcel of any visit to Asia but even the most seasoned traveller will find Shwedagon dazzling. Sitting atop Singuttara Hill, the highest point in the city, the pagoda is a complex of golden stupas and brightly coloured temples of all shapes and sizes.
Visitors must leave their shoes at the entrance. Navigating the wet marble and tiles of the exterior walkways is extremely hazardous. I spend much of my time focusing intently on placing one foot safely in front of the other, trying desperately not to slip. I pause near a stupa to take in the scene – the patchy sky fading to a bruised purple with huge spotlights of sun bathing the complex in a surreal light. A “beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun” is how Rudyard Kipling once described it.
The main stupa of Shwedagon, sheathed in gold plating, towers 98 metres above the ground. Inset at the summit are some 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies, topaz and sapphires and more than 1,065 golden bells. Above that booty is a single, 76-carat diamond. There are also 8,688 gold plates fixed to the lower stupa, and another 13,153 to an upper part. Rainwater is carefully harvested, yielding up to two ounces of gold annually. The day I visit, the rain, easing to what passes for a shower in this part of the world, ripples down the stupa, glistening in the floodlights that pick out swarms of swallows buzzing around the compound.
The exact age of Shwedagon is unknown, though experts estimate that it was built between 1,000 and 2,500 years ago. It has been rebuilt many times over the centuries, growing taller as successive rulers strove to make it even grander. It reached its current height sometime in the 15th century. The gold used to furnish its surface has been donated by the faithful – kings and queens and ordinary citizens alike.
A visit to Myanmar will include a fair number of pagodas. None are as striking as Shwedagon, yet many are worth visiting. Yele Paya, in the nearby port city of Thanlyin, is a Buddhist shrine situated on a tiny island in the middle of the fast-flowing Bago River. Boats carry visitors out to the island, which is said to hold relics of Buddha.
Although Bago (formerly Pegu), the ancient capital of the Mon people, is only 80 kilometres from Yangon, the trip along the pot-holed road takes more than two hours. Bago was founded around 570 A.D. and, around 994 A.D., the Shwethalyaung Buddha was built. The second-largest reclining Buddha in the world, Shwethalyaung is 55 metres long and 16 metres high.
Visiting Bago’s Kya Khat Wai Monastery provides another glimpse of Buddhist life. At 10.30 a.m., long lines of monks – there are more than 300,000 across the country, their maroon and dark ochre robes indicative of the Theravada branch of Buddhism – and novices make their way through the grounds and into the dining hall for their final meal of the day, which must be consumed before midday. They are watched by dozens of tourists, jostling for space, cameras at the ready. The monks eat on regardless, showing a humility born of their beliefs as well as from good humour. Though they are meant to eat meals in silence, more than a few laugh and talk with their companions.
The drive back to Yangon passes through verdant countryside, the occasional gold stupa rising above a vivid emerald jungle. The road is crowded with traffic: vintage Hino buses from Japan crammed full of passengers, and battered cars. At rest stops, old men, red-lipped from chewing betel nut, wait patiently for rides. A pagoda on the road leading to Mandalay, some 700 kilometres north of Yangon, is considered a “protector” of cars. New car owners stop to pay 5,000 kyat (about AU$800) for a blessing; travellers buy garlands of ginger blossoms to ensure a safe journey.
We stop by the Taukkyan War Cemetery. It was established in 1951 to unite war graves from across the country and contains the remains of 6,374 Commonwealth servicemen and women from World War II, 867 of them unidentified, and 52 Commonwealth servicemen from World War I. The Rangoon Memorial commemorates the names of almost 27,000 servicepeople who died during the Burma campaign.
As compelling as Myanmar is to visit, there is a moral question that must be addressed. The military junta, which took control of the country in 1962, rules with an unswerving resolve. The people do not share in the bounty of the country’s vast natural resources, including oil and natural gas. The numerous international economic and political sanctions against the junta have created some strange situations. At the time of my visit, my hotel could not offer credit-card facilities as its Singapore-based banking facilities had stopped dealing with Myanmar. Hoteliers report sudden and inexplicable shortages of imported goods (during my stay, it was Pringles chips and dry ginger ale, for example).
Foreign mobile phones do not work here; internet connections wax and wane, and when they do operate, they are infuriatingly slow. Electricity blackouts are common, as the supply is rationed. There are no ATMs and only U.S. dollars can be exchanged for local currency from foreigners. The official exchange rate is US$1 = 6.5 Myanmar kyats; the unofficial rate, which is available everywhere, is US$1 = 980 kyats. Exchange one hundred dollars and you generally receive a block of 1,000 kyat notes about 15 centimetres thick.
Their Buddhist faith has taught the Burmese a patience and resolve that has been sorely tested in recent years. In 2007, pro-democracy protests saw a harsh reaction from the junta, with thousands of monks jailed and numerous casualties. A year later, a cyclone caused the biggest natural disaster in the country’s history, killing almost 140,000 people; international aid and emergency programs were stalled by the military. Once again, it was the monks that were at the forefront of helping the victims.
While the conversations I have with local Burmese are often stilted – most people, understandably, are reluctant to discuss political specifics – that air of optimism shines through once again. People are positive change will come, and actions of late – the November 2010 election, as questionable as it was, and the November 13 release of democratic ambassador Aung San Suu Kyi – go some way in showing that it is. And everyone I speak with is pleased that international visitors are spending time and money visiting their country.
While a share of profit from big-ticket items such as travel and accommodation may flow eventually back to the junta, everyday spending benefits the community. Moreover, an increasing number of private companies including hotels and tourism-related organisations are being granted permission to operate in the country, guaranteeing locals training, employment and income.
If that’s not enough of a reason to visit, think of that 72-carat diamond. •
Photography by David Latta.
TRAVEL FACTS
getting there
Vietnam Airlines flies five times a week from Sydney and Melbourne to Ho Chi Minh City with onward connections to Yangon three times a week. The same airline operates four flights a week between Yangon and Hanoi. 1300-888-028; vietnamairlines.com
when to go
There are three seasons in Myanmar. Summer, where temperatures can reach as high as 40˚C, is between March and April; the rainy season is from mid-May to the end of October; and winter is from November through February. The latter is the most pleasant time of year for travellers.
where to stay
The Strand is an elegant, 32-suite hotel originally opened in 1901. Over the years it has had a guest list as diverse as Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Mick Jagger. 95-1/243-377;
ghmhotels.com
Equally charming is the Governor’s Residence, set in a 1920s mansion amid lush gardens. The pool here is sublime. 1800-000-395 or 95-1/229-860; governorsresidence.com
further information
Take U.S. dollars but make sure the bills are new, as they won’t be accepted if they’re dirty, stained or worn. At the time of writing, credit cards could not be used, even in most hotels. Before leaving for Myanmar, contact the hotels you plan to stay at and check whether this situation has changed.
Foreign mobile phones won’t work, though some hotels have Internet access and business centres. Internet connections are usually very slow and many websites are censored.
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