"Warmly Welcome" is a motto here, not only for people working in the tourist interest, but locals say it a lot too. "Where are you from?" "California!" "Warmly welcome you!!" It's really cute.
Not just for simplicity's sake, I've decided to stick with calling it Myanmar, since I learned that this was the country's original name and that Burma was the name given by the British when they colonized it (as well as Rangoon for Yangon).
First, two expressions you must learn in order to be successful and respectful with the locals. I got so used to the Thai translations, "Sawadee-kaaaa" and "Kapun-kaaaa" but here in Myanmar it is as follows:
Hello = Mingalaba. (accent on the 'ming')
Thank you = Chesu Timbale. (Sometimes sounds like 'Chizu Timbaje')
I landed in Myanmar on an Air Asia flight from Bangkok. The flight took a little more than an hour and the time difference is 30 minutes behind. The first thing I noticed when I got off the plane was that 90% of the woman and children have this weird whitish paste smeared on their faces. If not just a small strip on both cheeks, it's a bigger strip, or an additional line down the nose, or it's their whole face covered in the stuff. I'll endeavour to figure out what it is and why they wear it. Some men have the paste on their faces too, but only about 25%, I'd say. Most of the men don't wear pants. They wear these cool wraps that kind of look like skirts, called longyi (pronounced "long-ee"). My guest house offered airport pick up but we had to wait for the next flight to land to get more guests. So I took a seat and watched a hilarious ad for the Fatherland department store, where a couple wearing color-coordinated outfits danced among various products and sang a song as the background scene and outfits change every few seconds... then in Yangon I saw the same couple on practically every billboard in town. Who are these people?, I wondered.
I got a chance to film part of the commercial before my departure from Myanmar. Here is the video (you can only hear airport sounds but at least you can catch my drift):
On my first day in Yangon my mind was officially blown. Was I in India? Or was it still Southeast Asia? It felt like everything I love about both places, rolled into one! I was smiling so much, my cheeks hurts. The smiles were like those of the Cambodians... but the faces were more like Thai, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi... it was such a melange. The looks were intense but friendly... I was just doing my smiling thing, as I always do, and the response was amazing. To say I was well-received would be an understatement. People in Yangon just loved happy, smiling, tall, blond tourist. Someone wanted to get a photo of me and his friend took the photo with his cell phone. OK, I'm back in India. But then the old ladies shouted "Very beautiful!" as I passed by and it seemed a bit more like Cambodia. "Thank you!" I replied, as in, thank you for not being a creepy old man saying that! It was wild and exotic and kind of smelled like India (in that burning garbage way), but the people were warmer, more accepting, less intrusive and yet equally astounded to see me there walking in the middle of their city. It was a bit in your face like Southeast Asia in general, a lot of people offering to sell me things, but when I politely declined, they still just wanted to know where I was from and if they could help me in any way. How wonderful!!
One travel agent approached me, clearly of Indian descent:
Him: "You need bus ticket? Plane ticket? Change money? Come to my office here any time! We help you! I give you 800 kyat for one dollar. Where you from?"
Me: "Uh...USA."
Him: "California? Fan Panflisco?"
Me: "San Francisco, exactly!" It's just like the people in India would say it when I would try to explain where I was from, but this guy had already heard of the city, incorrect pronunciation included.
Him: "Yes, 300 there."
Me: "Huh?... actually..."
Him: "300 million people in your country."
Me: "Oh yes, that's right."
Him: "Yes, I know this, I have a lot of friends there." Big smile. :D
It was a mix between previous conversations I'd had in India, where few people have even heard of San Francisco, and in Thailand, where everyone's uncle or cousin has a restaurant there.
My first full day in Yangon, I spent all morning on the Circle Train. It wasn't as exciting as previous bloggers have detailed... where were the ladies coming on the train with goods balanced on their heads, dancing and laughing? Only towards the end of the journey were there a few of these women I had heard about; I guess I was too early to catch the action.
I had gotten to the station and found the office where I was to buy my ticket. $1 for tourists, USD only. They told me to take a seat, I think the three station clerks just wanted to chat me up and have a laugh. I asked where I could get some coffee and they pointed to a bag hanging on the wall, full of what looked like coffee. "How much?" "No much! Present!!" I drank the coffee and they continued pouring me Chinese-style tea in the same tiny cup until the train came. The Burmese are all about the tea, all the time. They carry steel thermoses in small purpose-made bags, just like the Argies with their mate! This made me think of BA, and it made me very happy.
One of the station clerks from the office was on the train later, and after trying to communicate with the few English words he knew, he handed me a photo of himself. Uhhh... "thank you!" I responded, wondering what was next. Then a few minutes later, a note including his name and a proclamation of his love for me!!! I'm not entirely sure how he was trying to come across by telling me he loved me, but I said an emphatic "Thank you!" again and he left shortly thereafter, leaving me with keepsakes which I will cherish forever!! :D
On the train, two old Buddhist nuns with lots of missing teeth stared at me often, smiled, laughed, and held up one finger with a questioning face. I guess this was to ask if I was traveling alone? I nodded. They giggled. Passing all the stations in the outskirts of the city, everyone just wanted a smile. They shouted "Hello!" "Hey you!" or, my favorite, "Where you going, where ya been?!" When I answered, they laughed and smiled. This sums up most of my interactions for the first day. Some people who could speak a bit more English wanted to know where I'm from, where I'm going, do I want to sit and join them for a tea/coffee/guitar session, I obliged but the guitar was terribly out of tune so I couldn't sing my song for them. A lot of people ask, "Only one?" which I guess is their way of saying, "You're alone? You silly, strange foreign girl."
I had a familiar feeling riding the Circle Train that morning. Going through the rural outskirts of Yangon, I saw many stilt houses and shacks without gas, electricity or running water. It was nothing unlike what I'd seen in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in years past, but how quickly it brought me back to that place where my problems shrivel into mere trivialities and my global perspective gets turned on its head.
This got me thinking... why don't I have the same mental reaction at the sight of the same types of dwellings and the same level of poverty in South America? Or in rural Europe? Rural USA? Life is just as hard for impoverished people in any country; you can't say it's worse here than there or harder or easier for any one person. Is it their Buddhist mentality and lifestyle that makes the effect that much stronger for me here? Why is it always so life-altering for me when I travel in Asia? And why does returning to the West and settling back in to regular life always lead to me losing sight of these new-found or newly-discovered realizations? What would happen if I were to live in Asia long term? Would it last? Would my spirituality blossom even more than it does in the brief 2-3 month stints that I keep spending here? Or would I get caught up in the usual day-to-day game of pleasure-seeking and pain-evading that I do in my normal life, in the developed world... Is it simply a by-product of my privileged 'travel mode'? Everything I do here is just for leisure and I have all the free time to think about and appreciate and reflect on how great I have it and how lucky I am to have been born under my circumstances. How will I come to terms with this phenomenon that keeps repeating itself with every Asia visit and keeps disappearing shortly thereafter...
I'll stop it with the spiritual and philosophical pursuits for now and leave you with a few observations of my first days in Myanmar:
-There's a different kind of traveler here (another thing it has in common with India). The people who come here have most likely already spent quite some time in other countries of Southeast Asia, loved them, and are up for an even greater challenge. It's not as easy-going and accommodating as places like Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, starting with the visa application process. But we all share the common motivation to go through with it anyway for the reward that is, just being here.
- The local currency is the kyat (pronounced "chet") but hotels and government-run tourist sites only accept USD. Not just any USD, but completely flat, tear-free, mark-free, perfect-condition USD, not older than Series 2006. Also there are no ATMs or places that accept credit cards. Plan ahead!!
- I had read about this in the guidebook but really started to notice how when the Burmese people pass anything, they touch their arm or elbow with the other, non-passing hand. You are suppose to receives items in the same manner. It's a sign of respect.
- The steering wheels are located on the right side of the vehicles (probably a vestige from the British colonial period) but they drive on the right side of the road too. You'd think this would be very dangerous but they seem to manage just fine.
- I'm not sure if this is because all of the internet cafes use special proxy services, but in Myanmar I have had no problem accessing Facebook, whereas the government in Vietnam has done everything in its power to block it and the tourists have to resort to various work-arounds to log in.
- 3-in-1 coffee packets are very popular here. Something I had only seen once before, in Hanoi (Vietnam), this is a nifty packet pre-mixed with sugar, instant coffee, and powdered milk. The taste isn't terrible and I just think it's the niftiest little creation.
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