When I last wrote, we were finishing up in Dubai, but I hadn’t mentioned where we were going. Well, we headed out into the desert to spend our last night at an eco-resort…… sort of a “Dude Ranch” for wealthy environmentalists. The Al Maha Desert Resort is situated in the middle of a huge animal conservation range in the Great Sahara Desert just outside Dubai. It’s one of Virtuoso’s resorts in the area, so Carol “had to pay a visit there” for her story. 😉 So, before I tell you about Yangon, here’s a little bit on the resort.
Al Maha is made up of little octagonal cottages made to resemble tents, with canvas staked on top of the building outside and also overhead on the ceiling inside. Each one has its own private deck, swimming pool and private view straight out into the desert. All around are desert animals like the Oryx (a large animal with striped horns 3 or 4 feet high), gazelles (the size of small deer) and a host of small nocturnal animals we didn’t see. In the afternoon we rode around the desert in a Land Cruiser with a naturalist, spying on the Oryx and trying to keep from getting stuck in the deep sand. In the evening we went on a Camel ride to watch the sunset in the desert while sipping champagne. Other activities we didn’t have time for included falcon handling, horseback riding and wild rides out on the dunes. We learned that there are two kinds of sand in this desert, silica and iron oxide. The most abundant, beige colored silica sand, is finer and lighter and blows all around with the wind. The heavier, coarser, red iron oxide sand, lays on top and isn’t lifted by the air. This causes all kinds of beautiful wavy red and brown colored patterns all over the sand. While we were there the desert was actually in bloom, left over from an unusual storm last March that dumped 4 years worth of rain on the area in 24 hours. Little green bushes grew everywhere from that rain and are expected to last only a couple more months, after which only the sand and the dunes will be left. This resort was a wonderful place to visit, but, at $1300 per night, would have been out of our reach without Carol’s writing connection. I left a few pix of it the photo gallery.
Now, back to Yangon. After spending a week at the highest level of the First World, it came as quite a shock to land in Myanmar, one of the poorest countries in the Third World. Yikes! What have we done? Actually, we were expecting quite a step down in luxury and were not really surprised. In Myanmar they still haven’t figured out how to build a shower. In our room the shower head was mounted above the bathroom door pointing at the sink. Fortunately, it was actually mounted INSIDE the bathroom. It means that you have to plan carefully when sharing a bathroom with another person. We had encountered this type of arrangement in other countries over the years, but now-a-days most places have it figured out.
As poor as Myanmar is, I was surprised to find so many late model cars clogging up the streets of Yangon. As I found out later, in 1997 motorbikes, the most common form of transportation in SE Asia, were banned in central Yangon because the military leader said they didn’t follow the driving rules and became a hazard. This could be a good thing, except that cars take up a lot more space than motorbikes and the streets just can’t hold enough of them to transport everyone where they want to go. There are taxis everywhere and they are very cheap, so lots of people use them. However, taxis get stuck in traffic like everyone else. Myanmar, a former British colony, started out wth the British system of driving on the left, and using right-hand drive cars. This seemed to work out okay for them, as it has in Japan, China, Australia etc. However, in 1972, the Military Leader consulted an astrologer who told him that they should change to driving on the right side. So, they now drive on the right with “right-hand drive” cars. Most people are used to this “hybrid” system by now, but others thought it is dangerous. So, a few years ago they decided to not allow any more right-hand drive cars to be imported. All new cars now must be left-hand drive. What they have now is a mix of mostly right-hand drive cars, driving on the right with a few left-hand drive cars mixed in, a confusing mess, to say the least. So, if you are thoroughly confused, join the crowd. Maybe that’s why they blow their horns ALL THE TIME while driving. Something has to keep them alert to the madness.
As you may know, we like to walk around in cities when we visit. We hired a guide the first day to walk us around for about 4 hours and give us a sense of the city. The most important thing he showed us was how to cross the street. First, you step out into the street a little and look for an opening in the first lane. Then, hold your hand up in the air daring the approaching car to run you down. Most cars will blow their horn and speed around you. Eventually, one will stop and let you pass. This puts you in between the first and second lanes where you stand on the line and proceed to do the same thing for the other three lanes, while cars go whizzing by, and blowing their horns, or course. The drivers of Yangon have the most disrespect for pedestrians that I have seen in any city, EVER. But we did get the “hang” of it after a while and were able to walk all over as we normally do. Oh, but WALKING, that’s another story. The sewers of Yangon are flowing under the sidewalks. They are basically trenches dug out a couple of feet deep below the sidewalks and covered with concrete planks that you walk on. The planks are an inch or two apart with holes in them to let out the sewer gas. But, handling the sewer “fragrance” is the easy part. While walking you must also be careful not to fall into the sewer through an opening in the sidewalk or trip on a misplaced concrete plank or snag your head on a piece of rusty metal protruding out from a building or utility pole…… all the while dodging street vendors and food stalls wanting to sell you something. Its all part of the fun of visiting a third world country. And we’re having a great time so far. Actually, they are currently rebuilding all the sidewalks and sealing the sewers underneath.
Yangon has about 6 million people at present and they expect to grow to 13 million by 2040. So, they are in a building boom right now with lots of construction everywhere, mostly hotels with some residences and businesses. Myanmar has a lot of mineral wealth (gold, precious stones, rare earth elements, natural gas etc.) but, because of their recent political history, they haven’t been able to take advantage of it yet. It’s just a matter of time, now. The population has a 94% literacy rate and about half the people can read and write English, but they can’t speak it very well because their English teachers can not speak it well. Anyone can get a free education by joining a monastery and large numbers of the young people spend part of their childhood as monks and nuns just to get an education. There is no “social safety net” here in Myanmar. Everyone has to make it on their own. However, jobs are plentiful because most everyone has some kind of independent business or service, from selling food on the street to offering to weigh a passerby on the street for a small fee. It’s a very safe city, with very little crime. There is no fear of pickpockets or threats to your wellbeing. There are no bands of gipsy children roaming around trying to steal from you. People walk around with wads of cash sticking out of their pockets with no danger and, if there is a security guard stationed at a gold or gem store, it’s usually an elderly retired soldier sitting in front reading the newspaper.
Speaking of “wads of cash”, they no longer have coins in their currency. The largest paper money bill is a 10,000 Kyat note (worth about $7.50). So, even though things are pretty inexpensive here for tourists, you have to carry around large stacks of bills to pay for things. We once got the equivalent of $220 from a cash machine to buy airline tickets. The machine gave us a stack of 60, 5,000 Kyat notes. The stack was about an inch thick. No way I could put it in my wallet. People here don’t trust the banks so they usually buy something, like property, gold or precious stones, with their cash to save money for old age. Most transactions are done in cash and very few people take out loans. They are starting to accept credit cards at some places but we didn’t use ours the entire time we were in Yangon.
One morning we rode the Circle Train around Yangon. Over a three hour trip it makes a journey around the outskirts of the city, with 39 stops, bringing people to and from small towns and farming communities…… all for only 15 cents. Later in the day we crossed the Yangon River in a ferry that also costs 15 cents. However, when we got there they shuffled us to a different ticket counter where they charged tourists $3 and included a free bottle of water. We didn’t really mind contributing a little more to their economy as a tourists. And, $3 is still a bargain for the ride. On the ferry they had a special section for “foreigners” who paid the higher rate, but we decided to sit with the locals so no one would know we were tourists (just kidding, we stand out like a “sore thumb” here). Monks are allowed to sit in the foreigners section too. Across the river is where the poorer people live. We hired a couple of pedicabs there to ride us around through the villages which was lots of fun. After the ferry ride back to Yangon we were very hot and sweaty, so we decided to pay a visit to the 5 star Strand Hotel, just across from the ferry dock, to cool off. We often take refuge in 5 star hotels to relax a bit when we travel, especially in the third world. They have good air conditioning and very nice restrooms.
Instead of pants, most of the men in Myanmar wear a wrap around garment called a Longyi. It is tied with a large knot in the front. However, many younger men are now switching to regular pants instead. The women wear a similar garment which looks like a sarong. After wrapping it around it is tied in the back like an apron, and there is no big knot in the front. It is made from much fancier patterned material. Most women wear on their cheeks a light yellow cream made by grinding the wood and bark of the Thanaka tree with water. It helps protect their skin from the sun and they sometimes apply it in a pattern. EVERYONE here (except me and Carol) wears flip-flops for shoes. They’re easy to throw off when going into a Temple or a house. One last thing of note in Yangon is an interesting noise they make while walking around. It’s a kind of kissing noise made by pursing their lips and sucking in. If you are in the way and they want to get your attention they make that kissing noise. If only the cars would make that kissing noise instead of blowing their horns, this would be a much happier place to be.
I am writing this while on a 9 hour bus ride from Yangon to Mandalay. Since things are relatively inexpensive here, we chose a first class bus company for the trip. It’s called JJ Express. It has nice plush wide seats (only three to a row) and seat back video entertainment. When we got to the bus station we discovered that it is operated by a Christian religious organization. The “JJ” stands for “Joyous Journey” and they have some Christian sayings printed on the bus, both inside and out. They even made us wear seat belts on the bus. Now that’s a first. Most of the people here are very religious, typically Buddhist, Hindu or Christian. There are even a few Muslims sprinkled about. They appear to take their religions seriously and live their lives accordingly.
Next stop, Mandalay. The bus arrives in 2 hours. More about that later.
Be sure to check out the photos and Carol’s blog below:
Carol’s blog at: http://www.travel.carolpucci.com
Later…… your favorite travelers, Tom and Carol
Yangon Photos
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