Is it a good or bad thing to be modernized?

(Her: Joanna)

Seeing supermarket for the first time, I shout in excitement as it has been really painful and close to impossible in our experience to haggle with the locals for a fair price local pays (we have the impression that we’ve always got charge the tourist price).  A sad feeling creeps up shortly after.  Is supermarket really good for the locals? 

Scenes of convenient stores and local produce market closing down pops into my head.  That’s inevitable fate as supermarkets come in.  We saw many electronic brands in Mandalay, Huawei, ZTE, Samsung, Changhong, Apple.  Soon after all other brands in other categories will flourish.  In a couple of years, longyis will replaced by jeans, skirts, dress of different brands. The lives of people in Myanmar will change or what we so call ‘modernized’. 

Myanmar is one of the few places in this world still lives in the traditional way.  It is a valuable thing like an extinct species.  I’m afraid, not for long, this will become extinct like many other countries.  Is it a good or bad thing to be modernized? 

Mixed feeling towards Myanmar...

(Him: Charlie)

Myanmar had been a much anticipated country on JoCharvel's travel list and we have not been disappointed. The 10-day trip to the "golden land" has been fascinating, but as Jo and I had discussed, our recommendation of Myanmar being a tourist destination would only be given to those who value culture over savory and shopping experience.

Having been run by the notoriously corrupted military government and isolated for decades, Myanmar is at a very primitive state. However, this is not the reason for the "mixed feeling".

What we love the most in Myanmar are the people. They are some of the most sincere and honest people we have seen. It is a humble experience to visit a country where majority of the population are devoted Buddhists, and that monks are highly revered. At dawn every day, monks in red robes are seen on their alms-round (food collection) in bare feet across cities and villages. Some people would contribute money, but more would share food. I saw a street vendor scooped a portion of her lunch into the young monk's alms bowl. I could spot her joyful smile when sharing her food. From a later research, alms-giving is not charity apparently; instead, it is closer to "a symbolic connection to the spiritual realm".

What turned us off in Myanmar was how the tourists were specifically targeted for unfair profiting! And the government is leading by example on this issue! Not only do foreigners have to pay various "tourists only" entrance fees, the public transit systems are so poorly planned that taxis, whose prices are disproportionately high, are often the only option. So one thing we dreaded in Myanmar was having to deal with taxi drivers on a daily basis.

Overall, we feel that Myanmar at its current state is not for everyone. It's not cheap for what the country can offer in terms of sights and scenery, but for those who are determined to see Myanmar before it is overly westernized, authenticity in the people and culture are definitely a compelling draw!

Why do I think Burmese are super friendly people?

No matter where you travel to, how beautiful the country is and what delicious cuisine this place has to offer, it does not beat the people.  After having been to so many places, what makes a place special to me is definitely the people.  Burmese are definitely one of the most loveable people I ever came across.  Why?

Here's why:

• At Mandalay train station, we stood around and were reading our Lonely Planet looking into where to go next and how to get there, perhaps looking lost.  A Burmese man came over asking whether we need help.

• Everywhere you go, you nod your head and smile at the people, they will return with a huge smile.

• At the ferry dock going from Yangon to Dalah, after a fail attempt to sell us to be our tour guide at Dalah, the Burmese girl personally took us to the ticket office when we don’t’ know where to go get our ticket without asking for anything.

• At Dalah, it started to rain as we walk through the villages.  A group of ladies clear up a bench and invited us into their ‘house’ to wait the rain off.  We said thank-you and they returned with a nod and a gentle smile.

                                     

•       Again, at Dalah, we got rained on while getting snacks at a stall.  The family invited us into their house to wait off the rain.

• It was Burmese New Year, we can’t find anything to eat at reasonable price after walking over an hour.  We finally found a tea house.  Sat down and had a wonderful cup of tea.  I was being nosy walking around, checking out how the tea was made in their ‘kitchen area’, I saw a guy (perhaps, he is a staff) having lunch so I asked the staff whether they are serving food.  We had a hard time communicating so I gave up and just sat down to enjoy the wonder tea.  Shortly after, the staff came to our table with a cheese sandwich and a fried egg!  I guess ‘we have not had lunch and are very hungry’ came across in my combination of hand rubbing my tummy and words.  

What makes or breaks a great traveling experience?

(Him: Charlie)

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been thinking what would be a suitable tag line for Myanmar if its government wants to promote its tourism (think “Malaysia, truly Asia” or “Incredible India” kind of slogans)? Not that the military government would want to do this in the near future, as their hands are quite full with loads of other problems, but even if they do, I really can’t think of a good one. Why? Because Myanmar is physically not ready to take in large scale tourism yet. Beside the potholed roads, aging railway systems, and sporadic power supply, tourists would also need to deal with the special treatment imposed by the military government. For instance, for locals to take ferry from Yangon to the small village, Dallah, across the Yangon River, it costs only 200 kyats (20 US cents). But for foreigners, not only do they charge 10 times higher, the government also monopolizes the business by prohibiting local boats to take foreigners!

On the bright side though, for those who could endure the roughness and overpriced facilities, the reward is enormous – genuine authenticity from the welcoming and sweet Burmese. Our trip has been fantastic so far, and it has everything to do with Myanmar’s friendly people. From restaurant waiters to ferry dock staff, from shop owners to strangers on Yangon streets, all of them have this genuine curiosity about travelers, yet they are always courteous and polite. Often times when your eye sights meet with the locals, a nod and a smile would always guarantee a smile in return. And those kids in the villages, they are just angels with innocent faces and adorable giggles! They would run over to you, stop a couple of feet before you and say “hello, how are you? Where are you from?”

So what makes and breaks a great traveling experience? It is always people, people and people!! Here are some of them.

Restaurant owner gives out food to people from all walks of life on the first day of Myanmar New Year

Curious kids at an apartment building in suburb Yangon

Bustling restaurant always filled with hungry locals in Bagan (the staff are super friendly and attentive)

Young monks at Thatbyinnyu Temple, Bagan

Young monks receiving food donation from local merchant (see how happy the donor is!!)

Villagers processing sun-dried fish

Villager in Dallah Village

Sweet and shy children in Dallah village

Finally Myanmar is here!

(Him: Charlie)

Happy Myanmar New Year from Yangon!! 

OK finally, JoCharvel's no. 1 country in Southeast Asia is happening! 

We have forgotten why exactly the country is on top of our list. We didn't even know what's there to see before we started doing trip planning. I guess what made it so compelling is the fact that we don't know anything about it, yet it has all of a sudden become accessible to the outside world. I think that's what really drew JoCharvel's interest! And for me, this is the best place to hit on serendipity! On a side note, I think Monocle made have planted the seed in my mind when they wrote about Myanmar emerging from isolation.

So, we just arrived at the hostel (the only one in Myanmar), settled in and took a refreshing shower. Let me pour out the pre-perception to this country before it gets eroded away!

Let's see... So I really don't know much about Burma except that it just emerged from decades of military ruling and there's the world-coveted Aung San Suu Kyi, who is probably going to lead this fast-growing democratic country in the years to come. Other than that I heard there are scattered religious conflicts and even genocides in isolated areas, and that's about it.

From a backpackers perspective, I would be very interested to see the people and the culture before they are heavily influenced by the outside world. I heard people are friendly and genuinely welcoming here, but unfortunately, after a few years of opening up, I heard people in the touristy places have become more commercialized. I am not holding a false expectation about seeing totally unspoiled local life, especially we are visiting the most popular 4 destinations - Yangon, Bagan, Inle Lake and Mandalay, but I am confident that I would still be indulged in a high degree of authenticity. After all, we have come through hurdles to see this country, with a visa and an entire trip-worth of crisps USD notes for meticulous exchange requirements (this country has only recently been introduced to ATM so bank cards are being used as back up). So exactly where we will end up between total authenticity and total tourist trap would be what we will find out in the next 9 days! Time to sleep and then have a blast tomorrow!!!

By the way, walking with my hiking shoes, airy MEC traveling pants, hooded jacket and my deuter backpack really reminded me of JoCharvel's long trip back then. It just felt so good!

2-Year Anniversary: Yuvcali Village (Kurdish)

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