The Golden Land

In our relationship, I'm the detail-oriented one, the worrier, the manager (surprise!).  Planning the logistics of our two weeks (April 16-29)  in Myanmar/Burma, a country that has only had its borders open to tourists for a few years and is rapidly changing, was challenging.  For example, consider the money situation.  Usually we have on us just enough US dollars for visa fees and emergencies and we get the local currency from ATMs.  But while reading about Myanmar/Burma there was so much contradicting information that I couldn't figure out if we needed to enter the country with enough money to get us through the two weeks or if we'd be able to access ATMs.  Some websites said there were no ATMs while others said the ATMs in the cities only accepted MasterCards.  Erring on the side of caution, I started to calculate how much we would need...except I couldn't get my head around what our daily budget would be.  The hotels cost 3-7 times as much as hotels in other parts of Southeast Asia so would the food as well?

Another challenge was navigating the political situation.  In 2011, CIRI (www.humanrightsdata.com) ranked Myanmar/Burma the 4th worst country in the world for respect for human rights (Iran, Eritrea, and Saudi Arabia were the bottom three).  Thus, whenever possible, we wanted to avoid directly or indirectly supporting the government.  We had heard that one of the best ways to do this is to stay in hotels that are not government owned or affiliated, but we couldn't figure out which hotels fall into that category.

Knowing that we were facing so many unknowns made me anxious, so much so that I was not at all looking forward to going to the country despite the fact that every traveller we met was telling us to go before it loses some of its uniqueness.

Our first 12 hours in Myanmar/Burma were exactly what I didn't want them to be.  We arrived around 10:30 at night.  Our room had only a ceiling fan and so when the power went out that night, the uncomfortable 40 degree temperature became unbearable.  I lay awake most of the night wishing I was back in the states cuddling up with my pup.  Once dawn broke, we eagerly left our sauna to meet with the staff and solidify our itinerary.

The first question we had was if it was possible to switch rooms.  Something bigger (the double bed literally took up the entire room), something on a lower floor (we were on the top & heat rises), something not facing the sun?  The answer, "We are fully booked, sir," crushed any hope I had that the day was going to get better.  Considering that our guesthouse was completely booked, we asked when the internet would be running so that we could make upcoming hotel reservations.  Again, the answer wasn't what I wanted to hear.  The staff member who knew how to fix the router was away on holiday.  I started to panic that we weren't going to find rooms at other places.

As we proceeded to discuss our plans with the staff, the clouds of doom and gloom got bigger.  Although we prefer to travel over land, given that we had just under two weeks in the country and it would take entire days (8-14hours) to get from city to city, it made more sense to fly.  Unfortunately, jet-setting across Myanmar/Burma put us waaaay over budget and put me in a bad mood.  The travel situation was exacerbated when I learned it was impossible for us to pay the nearly $700 bill with a credit card.  Upon trying to pay in cash,  we were told that half of our US money wasn't in good condition and they could not accept it (the 2009 & 2013 bills had a crease in the middle from being in an envelope).

Nothing seemed to be in our favor that morning and I nearly broke down in tears (ok, I did break down in tears).  When we finally went to the famous Shwedagon Pagoda to do some sight seeing, I was not a happy camper.

This is my "not-a-happy-camper" face.

Usually when I'm having a rough day, I'll just hang out in our room and read or watch movies.  But there was no way our 45+ degree room was going to provide any sort of respite.  So, we hopped in a taxi and drove around until we found some relief from the heat - a movie theater.

It was while watching "Noah" that I laughed for the first time that day.  The previews ended, but the chatter didn't.  In fact, it actually got louder as the movie, which was neither dubbed nor subtitled in Burmese, started playing.  All around us everyone was talking and popping sunflower seeds.  Suddenly, there was a chorus of burps.

At that point, all my pent-up frustration from the morning dissolved in a fit of silent giggles.  The laughter cleared my mind, helping me to see our situation with a fresh perspective.  Everyone was at the movies for the same reason - to catch a break from the midday heat.  But that was where the similarities ended.  I was worried about not supporting the government whereas the Burmese have to worry about living under the government.  I was worried about ATMs and the condition of our money whereas the Burmese have to worry about having money in the first place.  My traveler's woes were put in check.

The heat didn't let up during our two weeks in Myanmar/Burma (at one point I went into shock) and we did indeed spend more than we budgeted, but I learned not to let those experiences define my time there.  These ones, however, do: we participated in a Shinbyu ceremony - a rite of passage for young boys as they become novices in the Burmese Buddhist order; we spent two days touring ancient pagodas & stupas; we walked on the longest wooden bridge in the world; we witnessed several hundred monks silently line up to eat their last meal of the day; we saw hope in the eyes of staff members of the National League for Democracy, the main opposition party to the government.

The Shinbyu ceremony.  Brian joined in with the musicians escorting the new novices (seen riding the elephant).

  Brian & his team of boys from the village celebrating a goal on Nagapali Beach.

We LOVED visiting Bagan and exploring 12 of its 2000 some pagodas, stupas, and temples.

Brian goofing around with novices at a temple outside of Mandalay.

This was the quietest lunch line I've ever seen.

Standing on the world's longest wooden bridge.

Visiting the NLD office in Bagan.  We happily purchased t-shirts, bumper stickers, and even a very fashionable and hip sun visor to help support their cause.

Myanmar/Burma is also called the Golden Land.  My time there may not have started off golden, but it definitely ended that way.



Note: If you haven't figured it out yet, I (Stephanie) maintain the blog and Brian keeps in touch through Facebook.  Usually, I try to share OUR adventures but we experienced Myanmar/Burma differently so this is just my story.

Another note: You may be wondering why I refer to the country as Myanmar/Burma.  In 1989, the military junta (the government that has committed atrocious human rights abuses) changed the country's name from Burma to Myanmar.  We met many individuals who still identify as being from Burma and so to honor their experiences as well as to keep the hope alive for major reform within the government, we refer to the country by its official name and the name of the people.