Yangon, (Rangoon) Myanmar (Burma) day two. The docks area is several square miles, all enclosed by walls and very heavy double gates. There are teak logs laying there by the thousand. Some are so large they must be over two hundred years old. Teak and rubies is about their only exports of any size. What will happen when they cut down all their forests, I hate to think about. We see bicycles, everywhere, piled with all kinds of scrap wood they all use for cooking. That must be at least partly why they have so much smog.
Poverty is everywhere and what they call the good sections are not very good. Those bad mouthing the US should be forced to live here for few months. You have to see it to believe it really exists.
We started out badly at about 1:00 PM. Our van for our private tour was one of those 1970s Toyota mini vans. If anyone remembers, these things had several glass panels on the roof, a very short wheel base and very tight seating. They were warranted for 70,000 miles and then you had to either throw them away or pull the engine to replace spark plugs. We found out there was over a 250% duty on new vehicles, so all that was imported was used vehicles. It looked a lot like Cuba with all the old cars and even older trucks and buses except they were not old American cars. They were from all over Asia. Our guide pointed out several buses still being used, that were from 1938. There were all kinds of old weird trucks we have never seen before.
After going about a mile the air conditioner was still not making cool air. No problem. It was just a little over 100 degrees outside and getting hotter. When I refused to go on, you should have heard the con job. First it was, we will be in the shade soon. Next it was, we will get another van with good air when we get to town. Cute. An hours drive in an oven. You must know I was very calm about this suggestion, not. Next it was the old we will go in two cars con. We will stop often and the guide that speaks semi English will keep switching cars. Is there a sign on my back that says stupid or something? I don’t think so. All this time we are stopped on the road and the guide is on a cell phone of some kind. Finally they see a van from their company returning to the ship. We have to chase it down and switch which we did back at the ship. This was after waiting about 15 minutes to clear a bus at their security gate. Another cab without a special clearance for the port had to drop its passengers and they had to board this shuttle bus to get to the ship.
This was a large van of some unidentified brand. It had a raised roof, comfortable seats and good air conditioning that could almost keep up with the 100 plus temperatures.
The roads were unbelievably bad. They would fill holes with stone and pour wet tar or heavy oil over all. The suspension on this old van left a lot to be desired. Big bumps hurt your bottom and the constant shaking hurt your insides. Shortly after leaving the dock area we had to stop for fuel. The government run stations would sell two gallons at a time. Not nearly enough to make it to town. So everyone used black market fuel. If you see a gas can hanging you know there is fuel. If there is a tire, it means they do tire repairs. Same with a bottle of coolant, etc. Supposedly it was just 16 miles to the downtown area but it seemed like the trip would never end. It was really only an hour but seamed like forever.
The houses and buildings came in just two categories. Very poor shape and much worse. Nothing was maintained. Even well built downtown buildings were in disrepair or completely falling apart. The only good looking buildings were the various embassies and some of those, that were old, you could see, were also in disrepair. There were many apartments, houses, stores, offices, and even high rises in various stages of construction that had been abandoned many years ago. There was one exception to this depravity. Everywhere, there were pagodas of vast expense.
These people do not have what to eat but they have to support these extremely expensive temples and monasteries and the monks that never work and must be fed. This besides their cruel government that provides no services. School and all books must be paid for by the individuals. Even electric is a sometimes thing. If all is working well it is on eight hours and off for 16 hours. That means that sometimes there is electric during the day only and sometimes only during the night, or not. The equipment is so old there are no repair parts available. There are so many sanctions against this inhuman regime, no one will trade with them. If something breaks it must be manufactured. But no problem with these disgusting conditions. The Junta has a quick fix for it all.
The country is tiny but has about 85 million people. Trying to fix up Yangon, (Rangoon) which is the capital, has failed. It is far too large and there is not enough money to both line their pockets and maintain and improve the infrastructure. So what to do? Like I said, no problem. Just move the capital to some tiny little town. Then it will be far less expensive to fix up that tiny area. Then they will take pictures and show to everyone how wonderful things are. No joke. They are doing just that in about a month.
After driving around and looking at the different areas and buildings we did what must be done, if I like it or not. Shopping. We went to a store that was in a gated area so the riff raff could not beg or bother the tourist and his money.
Speaking of money, theirs is called the Kyat. The government exchange rate is 6 or 7 to the US dollar. The street rate or store rate is 1,000 to the dollar right now. Dollars are accepted everywhere and there are black marketers on the streets trying to buy them for even more. The Euro and other currencies are not wanted for some reason.
The store we were at had an assortment of items. They had longyes, the skirts the men and women wear. All citizens must dress that way by law. On the street they are available for $2 or maybe less for the lowest of quality. All they are is a sheet you wrap around yourself and tie. This store had better ones made of silk and they had very nice designs on them. These are many times more expensive. This is the kind Bobbi had to get. She also bought pretty puppets and blouses. Muriel too and she also bought lacquer coaster sets.
The one item they have in Burma, that is the best in the world, is their rubies. What is called the Pigeon Blood Ruby is the most valuable in the world. Well kids, I have good news and bad news. First the good news. Mom has an absolutely gorgeous ruby ring. I have such good taste. She has promised to never be mad at me again. No matter how bad I screw up. Now for the bad news. If there was any inheritance left, we just spent it. But you can fight over the jewelry when we die.
There was one minor problem. Paying for this junk. First there was a 250% duty on jewelry unless you are a tourist. You must have a passport to prove you are a tourist. The tour director on the ship never told anyone this. The ship keeps your passport so they can clear the ship without having to make everyone get in lines, when entering a new port. It just so happens I have a photo copy, but back on the ship. I’m sure these local guides always get a commission if you buy, so he was very willing to wait for us to get it back at the ship and then he will bring it back to the store. Second problem. Paying with a credit card. We would not dare carry enough cash to buy the ring and their official exchange rate was not useable. They can’t usually take credit cards in their currency. Their funds would just be held by most any government due to the sanctions. Solution. There is still one country doing some business with them. Thailand. They called to get the latest exchange rate for Thai Bots to US Dollars. It was the same as when we had just been there so we paid for part of our purchases in Bots on a credit card.
Art owes me big time. Muriel was trying on this very large diamond ring when I explained to her that diamonds were no bargain here. Only rubies mined here are a big bargain. She said oh and put back the diamonds.
After driving thru some other areas like China Town, we went to see the main attraction in all of Burma. The Shwedagon Paya (pagoda). It is 2,500 years old. The dome is made of 70 tons of real gold. The gilded hti has rubies, sapphires, and topaz. The weather vane is decorated with 1,100 diamonds. It’s orb, 4,350 diamonds and is crowned with a diamond of 76 carats and they won’t let me have even one small one for a souvenir. There is 1,000 acres and it takes a least a day to see it all. There are four entrances on the four sides of this pagoda. Two have many stairs and one an escalader and one an elevator to take you up 320 feet to the main structures. As we went into the building we knew we had to take off our shoes. There were little wooden cubby holes to place them in. There was a charge of $5.00 US to enter. At this point we were told that we had to take off our socks too. Art objected as he saw people walking in and out of the rest rooms bare foot. I didn’t know about this no socks stuff and had medication on. If I knew about this I would not have used the medications but now it would be slippery and sticky if I removed my socks, so I didn’t go up with the girls either. After about a half hour the girls came back down and said it was unimaginable. It just cannot be described. Even the pictures will not do it justice. They then washed their feet off with some wet naps our guide gave us. Feet were filthy. We then entered our van for the luxury, not, trip back.
Cell phones are not allowed in this country. The guide had some kind of cell phone that cost $1,300. It was his company’s. I got no signal on my cell phone here. He also explained that he must check in every night at his own home. If he had any visitors they must be called in with their permit numbers. Sometimes he has to come in late at night. Often his neighbors do not recognize him and report him as a visitor. He thin gets visits by the police in the middle of the night. As we drive around there are often police blockades. When they see there are tourists in the van they wave him on. Otherwise they stop them and find something wrong so they can take money for their pockets. He also told us that he and his driver are from Mandlay and are of high class because they have lighter skin. It has been several times in different countries and cities that we have been told you were classified by your skin color or lightness.
Back at the gate to the dock area there was another long delay while they checked a bus full of passengers from the ship. The guide said these police were mostly illiterate and unintelligent. This was their way of being big shots. They can push the rich tourists around. You wouldn’t want to live here but it’s a terrible place to visit. Actually, it was quite an experience if you are not grossed out too easily or if your guts don’t get shaken out on their roads. I would never attempt to eat or drink anything here except maybe at the best hotels.
Those hotels were built or refurbished with the slave labor. We also saw women digging and working on road repairs.
Grossed Out Shaken Up Gut Sherm Out.
(Posted on behalf of Sherman Rootberg)
