Myanmar Aug 2017 various
impressions
Blessed by decades of military dictatorship and being shut off from globalization, the evils of modern times (cars, fast food, fizzy drinks, excessive use of plastic, mobile phones, tourism) have not set foot in Myanmar.
Advice to my readers is to go there as quickly as possible before it gets spoiled and only North Korea (according to reports; I haven't been) remains as a place where you can experience the good old times.
Various impressions in
alphabetical order:
Addictions
Cigarette smoking is widespread,
and even in restaurants smoking is allowed. Betel nut chewing is wide spread.
One of the few negative things I can say about my stay in Myanmar. Picture left
one of the many stalls that sell betel and tobacco, right locals processing
betel nuts.
Bed
bugs
When waking up after first night
in Yangon, I had these spots on various places of my body. Slightly different
from anything I had before (I have been bitten by ants and mosquitoes, stung by
bees, had pubic lice; fortunately I’m not sensitive to insect bites/stings:
there is some light itching that I can live with). Check on internet: probably
bed bugs, and find out that they don’t transmit diseases. So I will stick with
the room for the rest of my stay. I inspected the bed and didn’t find any trace
of bed bugs, and swatted one mosquito in my room that had blood (my blood?), but
the location of these spots and development over the days (it takes days until
they are gone) is different from mosquito bites.
Car and driver
My farang friend FF knew someone
in Mae Sot, who knew someone in Myanmar, who drove us from Myawaddy to Yangon in
the course of 4 days 3 nights. Rate was 2,000 THB (80,000 MMK) per day (that is
24 hours, fuel for about 200 km per day and the driver’s accommodation and food
included). Split by two that makes 1,000 THB per day for me (Mon morning to
Thursday evening 4,000 THB = 160,000 MMK for me, clearly beats public transport,
hitchhiking, walking). Our driver was circumspect, English ok (no Thai),
non-smoker, and I was completely happy with his service and would hire him again
any time. He is based in Moulmein. Contact me if
interested.
Clothes drying in rainy
season
The trip was during rainy season,
and even though we were quite lucky with the weather (only minor
changes necessary due to rain – Myanmar friend says it can rain an entire week
during rainy season), there was high humidity in air which meant clothes wet
from sweat or rain did not dry over night. That meant I had to find other ways
to dry my wet clothes: on the bonnet of the car with heat from engine or on a
poorly insulated hot water reservoir in my hotel.
And two cases of having dirty,
damp clothes laundered to get them back clean and dry (in Hpa-An in guesthouse
T-shirt 300 MMK, shorts 400 MMK; in Yangon at Metro Laundry 2000 MMK per
kg).
Convenience
stores
There are no 7-Eleven or Family
Mart at all, and local convenience stores (ABC, g&g
grab & go, TIPTOP) are thinly spread.
Data roaming
I used the AIS sim2fly from Cambodia (details see there). Inquire in service center if I can use it in Myanmar, and top up (300 THB, cheaper than buying a new SIM for 399 for 8 days unlimited 3G), and I could even tell them to set the starting time of the plan. Everything worked fine.
Drinking water
Most street restaurants do not
serve free drinking water like in Thailand, but free hot tea instead. Along the
roads, there are free drinking water stations which I used without ill effect.
(And yes, I think everyone drinks from the same cup, I know I
did.)
When climbing up to the Golden Rock, I crossed a stream and asked a monk if the water is potable. He confirmed and went to fetch water with the empty plastic bottle I gave him. I drank all that water – 0.5 l there and another 0.5 l further up – without ill effect.
(That has to be seen in context with a hiking trip to the Alps with my parents around 1998, where I drank water from a river and got sick. Since then I haven not drunken water from rivers. But now, having drunken tap water everywhere in SEAsia, and a monk confirming it's potable and fetching it for me, what can go wrong?)
Electricity
network
Electricity is unreliable, in Hpa-An there was a power outage ever evening (on our 2 days), in Yangon none that I noticed in 4 days. Everywhere I went I saw generators, protection from over- and under voltage, separate cables (?) for emergency lighting, boxes with batteries to power emergency lights (?), and DC/AC converters. If all that money was invested in the network and power stations, there could be a stable electricity supply for everyone!
Electricity is unreliable, in Hpa-An there was a power outage ever evening (on our 2 days), in Yangon none that I noticed in 4 days. Everywhere I went I saw generators, protection from over- and under voltage, separate cables (?) for emergency lighting, boxes with batteries to power emergency lights (?), and DC/AC converters. If all that money was invested in the network and power stations, there could be a stable electricity supply for everyone!
In the countryside, I saw many
solar panels and rechargeable batteries (lead-acid, which leaves the question
how charging and discharging is controlled, there must be a circuit that
prevents overcharging and deep discharging).
Poor electricity network means less light pollution at night. You can have a walk through Yangon at night without being blinded by LED advertising boards.
English language proficiency
Poor electricity network means less light pollution at night. You can have a walk through Yangon at night without being blinded by LED advertising boards.
English language proficiency
English is not widely spoken, and
many speakers of English have a pronunciation that can only be described as
awful/horrible. Nonetheless, in restaurants or when asking for bus I always
found someone who could help me in English.
A friend says the last person who
had contact with native speakers where their grandparents under British rule,
and from then on teaching English was Chinese whispers.
Food
I ate local food throughout my
week in Myanmar. Most meals were good, some were delicious, at prices similar to
Thailand (and in strong contrast to Cambodia where food cost
twice as much and was awful). The second day in Myanmar I noticed my body
odor changed to sweetish with a hint of vinegar, and after two days back in
Thailand back to normal.
Hitchhiking
I didn’t have a situation where
hitchhiking was necessary. A Myanmar friend told me it’s done with hand flat,
towards the oncoming traffic, and move arm up and down.
Internet cafes are
sparse
On Friday, I was looking for an
internet café to book flight to Bangkok for Monday. I thought this is trivial,
but it was not! I asked reception and they sent me a fast food place that has
free WiFi (but I want a computer with a keyboard, where I can have several
browser windows open). From there they sent me to Scott market, from there to
Super One Hyper Market, from there to Junction City, there I gave up and went to
tourist information near Sule Pagoda, and they recommended post office just
around the corner (North-East). There I finally got internet (500 MMK/h, I was
charged 250 MMK for about 30 minutes), after 4 hours of erring around town (I
like to walk around town anyway, but it’s better to walk without destination
than looking for some place). Later I found some internet cafes by chance in
13thand 14th street (400
MMK/h).
Money
exchange
MMK = Myanmar Kyat. At time of
travelling Aug 2017, rounded: 1 EUR = 1600 MMK, 1 USD = 1350 MMK, 1 THB = 40
MMK. I went to Ratchadamri where various Superrich and others have offices, and
found same rate buy 0.0252 sell 0.0248 THB/MMK everywhere; the inverse is buy
39.68 sell 40.32 MMK/THB. One shop did not have MMK in stock, but at green
Superrich I got MMK.
FF went to Superrich Silom and
fortunately phoned them in advance: they don’t stock MMK and need one day
advance notice, and only his passport would be accepted as proof of
identity.
From 10,000 THB that I exchanged
to 396,000 MMK, I have 49,250 MMK left. Add visa 1600 THB and flight Yangon to
Bangkok (Nok Air 2100 THB), and one week Myanmar cost me 12,370 THB (Bangkok to
Mae Sot by my friend's car was free).
Overcharging
Several places are free for
locals, while Foreigners have to pay (Golden Rock 6000 MMK, Sule Pagoda 3000 MMK
or 3 USD, Shwedagon Pagoda 8000 MMK).
Price comparison to
Thailand
Yangon bus
aircon 200 MMK = 5 THB (in Thailand from 10 THB and up to 20
for long rides).
Food prices
comparable.
Haircut 2000
MMK = 50 THB (in a local area, and the board said “Tourist 2000”, the rest was
in Burmese, so I assume locals pay much less, say 1000 MMK = 25 THB, where I
would pay 50 THB in Thailand).
Hotels in
Yangon about twice as expensive as similar standard in Bangkok, Hpa-An about the
same, Kinpun Sakhan (Kyaitko, base camp for golden rock) about three times as
expensive.
Yangon
taxi (no aircon) from near Sule pagoda to airport 17 km
8:22-9:16 8000 MMK = 200 THB similar to Bangkok (there are no meters, price
estimated independently by Myanmar friend in Bangkok and by hotel
staff).
Underwear: I bought two
trunks on sidewalk at 1000 MMK = 25 THB each, cheaper than in Bangkok where
similar would be 59 THB or two for 100 THB.
Public transport in
Yangon
The circle line train is rather
infrequent (there is a gap of 3 hours between 13:40 and 16:40 for the eastbound
train from Central Station), but I was lucky and had to wait only half an
hour.
Buses are plentiful, but I didn’t
prepare with a bus map or app, so I had to ask locals at the bus stops which
line goes in my direction. Most lines have the line number only in Burmese
numbers!
Road conditions and
traffic
Traffic in Yangon is very light compared to Bangkok, I would guess the traffic density is ten times less! That means you can get around by car without much traffic jam, and as a pedestrian cross roads quickly. Motorbikes are prohibited (?) in Yangon, and I noticed only 2 in 3 days. I saw a few bicycles as well.
Roads are not as good as in Thailand.
Cars drive on the right side of the road (originally left side as a British Colony, changed in 1970). But most cars are imported from second hand from Japan and have the steering wheel on the right side.
When crossing the border from Mae Sot to Myawaddy, I saw the traffic sign for change of lane that I have been looking for elsewhere in vain:
(From Nong Khai to Vientiane, Aranyaprathet to Poipet, Baan Hat Lek to Cham Yeam change somewhere on the road without sign, Huay Xai to Chiang Khong there is a loop in the road to change the side.)
Traffic in Yangon is very light compared to Bangkok, I would guess the traffic density is ten times less! That means you can get around by car without much traffic jam, and as a pedestrian cross roads quickly. Motorbikes are prohibited (?) in Yangon, and I noticed only 2 in 3 days. I saw a few bicycles as well.
Roads are not as good as in Thailand.
Cars drive on the right side of the road (originally left side as a British Colony, changed in 1970). But most cars are imported from second hand from Japan and have the steering wheel on the right side.
When crossing the border from Mae Sot to Myawaddy, I saw the traffic sign for change of lane that I have been looking for elsewhere in vain:
(From Nong Khai to Vientiane, Aranyaprathet to Poipet, Baan Hat Lek to Cham Yeam change somewhere on the road without sign, Huay Xai to Chiang Khong there is a loop in the road to change the side.)
Scams
In central Yangon, I was
approached twice by locals who speak good English. After general chat, he told
me he collects coins, and asked if I have coins from Germany. No. He would take
banknotes as well. No, bye. (I knew this scam from internet.) The second who
approached me with the same introduction, I cut him short to save
time.
In Sule pagoda I was approached
by a local who speaks good English, and even some German. He showed me pictures
on his mobile phone of pagodas, then Barack Obama at Shwedagon, then a White
woman surrounded by children. Here I saw where this is going (donations for an
orphanage) and cut him short: “What are you looking for?” – “Spenden” (German
for: donations). “No sorry, bye.”
In Shwedagon pagoda, a local with
a bunch of flowers approached me and led me to one of the small shrines to pour
water over the statues. But when he was putting flowers on the shrine, and asked
me to hold the flowers, I saw where this is going (make me pay for the flowers),
put my hands in my pockets and said “I won’t touch these flowers, I will go now,
bye.”
Somewhere else a woman with a
baby approached me “I don’t want money, I want rice for my baby”. I knew that
scam already from Indonesia (the rice, or milk in Indonesia, is returned to the
cashier and the money the tourist spent buying it is
split).
But all of them polite, not
aggressive, and instantly let go of me once they realized I know their
scams.
Copyright 2017
ChristianPFC
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