Well, we”re in Yangon, Myanmar, sitting in perhaps the nicest, not to mention the cheapest, internet cafe in SE Asia. We arrived in Myanmar on the 12th October after a very smooth flight from Bangkok. I don”t have much time at the moment because we”re catching a bus to Bagan in a few hours. Nevertheless, I”ll write as much as possible.

Yangon airport was functional but ”under contruction”, although it didn”t seem like anyone was in any rush to finish the job. Immigration, although slow, was no hassle at all and we got our bags back pretty quickly. Yup, despite what you”d imagine, getting into Myanmar was pretty damn easy.

After leaving the airport we were instantly approached by a number of taxi drivers offering to take us the 20km into town. They were kind of pushy so we told them that unless they calmed down a bit we would go elsewhere - it’’s not like there’’s a lack of taxis around the airport. Unsurprisingly, they suddenly all became very friendly.

Our taxi driver seemed very nice and gave us all kinds of tips regarding travel, food, and exchanging money in Myanmar. However, having come from Bangkok where pretty much every nice person you meet is a con-artist, we maintained a healthy degree of skepticism. As it turned out, it was a good thing we did.

Before I go any further I should explain something about money in Myanmar - it’’s crazy. If you go into a bank and ask to exchange US$ for Khat (Myanmar’’s currency), you will be informed that the exchange rate is 7 Khat to the Dollar. If, however, you go to the black market, you can get about 1300 Khat to the Dollar - a slight difference. Simply put, if you were to use official rates, a bottle of Coke would cost you about $60.

Now, our taxi driver informed us of a safe place where we could exchange money. With nothing to lose, we went to check it out. A few minutes later we arrived at a small shop and our driver informed us that this was the place. We went in and said we wanted to exchange $50. The lady seemed angry that we weren”t exchanging $100 and starting shouting. Our taxi driver said that we should exchange at least $100. However, although the exchange rate she was offering was ok, I told him I was only prepared to change $50. Once she finally accepted our money and gave us a HUGE pile of Khat, I started counting. By the point this woman was shouting and looking even more angry and our taxi driver was telling us it’’s very dangerous for her to accept Dollars. However, there was no way we were leaving until I had counted every last note. Once back in the taxi our driver still insisted that we change more money, but I again told him I would wait. It was a good thing I did because we later found out that we could get a much better deal elsewhere. We soon found a nice hotel and dumped our taxi driver.

Yangon is an amazing city to walk around. The buildings look european, but because they have been allowed to fall into disrepair, the whole place looks like a post-apocalyptic city. Plants grow from the sides of buildings, the once white paint has gone brown and the railings have all rusted.

The signs of authority are present throughout the city including barbed-wire barriers, restricted areas and armed policemen. The authorities generally leave foreigners alone but, with corruption rampant, its wise to avoid them whenever possible.

We are planning on travelling to Mandalay, Bagan and Inle Lake and have been trying to organise tickets. Unlike most places in South East Asia, arranging travel takes considerable effort and it’s not always clear exactly who you need to speak to. However, we’re determined not to use Government owned transport so we’ll just have to put up with the inconvenience.

Today we visited the gold-plated Shwedagon Pagoda, the single most religious site in Myanmar. Sitting upon Singuttara hill glittering in the sun, the place is simply amazing. Words really cannot do it justice and you simply have to see it for yourself.

P.s.
Just to let family and friends know, we can”t access our e-mail. Hotmail, Gmail and pretty much everything is blocked so we can”t read or send anything. Luckily I can, for the time being, still access this site. If you want to chat, feel free to use the comment function below.

Categories: South East Asia
Tags: Myanmar, Yangon