buffalo_bill Posted January 30, 2002 Report Share Posted January 30, 2002 was formerly called Burma, produces a good beer and is therefore worth a trip. what you need is a visa and lots of 5-dollar notes. the visa you get within a day in bkk if you present the first 2 of your notes as an initial "gift". On the visa-application where they want to know your profession, better not to write ‘investigative journalist ‘ or ‘freedom-fighter’ .the 5-dollar bill by the way fully replaces the national legislation in favour of the owner of the banknote, which is rule No.1. If you don't forget that, Burma is a real pleasure. Travelling as an individual person (no package-tour) means you have to exchange 200 USD/person on arrival against Federal Exchange Certificates . If you don't want to change 200 USD you can avoid that by 2 activities a) declare you do not need to change present 5-dollar bill Taxi-ride downtown is , yes, 5 Dollar. Outside airport you get it for 3. On any airport you will permanently be bothered by "porters" if you carry anything in your hand that weighs more than 0,5 kg and is visible. Either you basically decide to join the system by tipping them after successful transport or you don't. If you join, make sure you have enough small notes of another Burmese currency which is the Kyat and give the porter-guys maybe 200 of them. It is now the time to spend some thoughts on the Burma monetary system, there are basically 3 currencies: The US-dollar which is EXTREMELY popular The Foreign Exchange Certificate The national currency , the Kyat Anything tourist related ( tickets/taxi/ hotel etc) is quoted in USD and you can use USD or the FEC for payment. 1FEC=1USD. For daily life change some Kyats and if you use FEC-s you get about 650 of them and if you use USD you get about 750. This is on the black market and the black market is everywhere. I wish I would have known all this before. Burma is a paradise for all those who love double-pricing : National Museum Rangoon entrance foreigners : 5 USD , Burmese : 50 Kyat = 0,07 Cents. Ticket Air Mandalay to Heho 196 USD , Burmese 36 USD. Against what you might have read : to where you decide to travel in Burma is completely up to you and there are no restrictions except for the Northern Shan-states. Whenever a travel agent wishes to work as a tourgide for you, reject the offer. This is not necessarily a rip-off, more a relict from the early days of Burma-tourism. Expensive nonsense. I do further recommend not to pay for anything in advance. If you change plans you don’t get the money back. Impressions : Already on the way from the airport into Rangoon you think you are in a tropical garden , trees allover. Except for the city-centre there is plenty of colonial-style buildings left although in bad shape. Came across an old rotten house and in the garden under a cover found 6 old Austins and Jaguars , untouched for probablay 30 years or more. I love this kind of thing. The old Chinese lady who sold me a set of 6 stoneage-knifes for 40 USD after a three hours chat about Burma-policy. Never known her before, she was just sitting on her veranda close to the hotel and smoking cigars .Rangoon seems to be full of those opportunities. A great town if you get around and keep your eyes open. Plenty of people speak English which includes taxi-drivers. Lake Inle : 1 hour flight from Rangoon with Air Mandalay which seems to be a fine company. Copilot was a Brit, 27 years old. One wonders what they let the children play with nowadays. Followed by a 1-hour taxi-ride through what I can only call a strange world far from anything I have seen before. Country roads are designed for 1 car but the Burmese use it for up to 2 trucks passing each other. Horses , pigs, buffaloes, cows all over the place. Had hotel booked in the lake, accessible by boat only. Lake Inle Princess at 75 US/night. Before you step on the vessel, 3 USD Lake Inle Access Fee are to be paid. Followed by another 5 USD for the boat. Boats are kind of Chao Phraya longtail but powered by single-cylinder agricultural diesel with surface drive. In the brochure they said the Hotel is a haven of tranquility. This statement is true for those who at home live at the main runway in Heathrow. Point is that the boats with the single cylinder diesel come and go all day to pick up tourists and the noise just simply makes you sick. Plus the fact that it was bloody cold at hight and the restaurant crap. Made me declare my immediate departure the following morning , back to Rangoon my new dreamtown. In transit on the lake we thought a dead buffalo was in the water ahead of us and we asked the captain to approach the animal which was a mistake because it was not dead and became angry . I don’t know why they are swimming in the middle of the lake far from shore but who understands buffaloes anyway. The final maybe 3 miles you go through kind of a narrow canal and on both sides Burma country life takes place. Really nice to watch if not there were the eternal asshole-tourists taking photos of Burmese ladies washing themselves in the river. Idiots without respect. On the airport (Heho) presented my tickets and was told I cannot change flight dates due to tariff restrictions. Another 2 notes of 5 and the tariff restrictions were adjusted. You get used to it. Back in Rangoon spent 3 more exciting days successfully hunting for antiques and decided to come back as soon as possible which is March. Conclusion : A truely beautiful country with endlessly friendly citizens . Next time I shall avoid the tourist routes, fly up country , rent a car with driver for a couple of days and just go somewhere. They are considering to issue visas on arrival shortly and waive the 200 USD – exchange , this will increase tourism with the usual consequences. Better go now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 30, 2002 Report Share Posted January 30, 2002 It is also a country with a military regime on a par with the Taliban. A country whose democratically elected leader is under house arrest and whose people are regularly tortured and killed by the Junta. A country who cannot provide for it's citizens but has just purchased MiG fighter jets from Russia and is considering buying a nuclear reactor from China. All paid for with drug money and money from tourists who never see the thousands of women and children being forced to pave the roads they drive on and build the luxury hotels they stay in. Burma has one of the worst human rights records in the world and has been condemned by the United Nations on many occasions. Before planning your trip have a look at the following site and see where your money will go: http://pilger.carlton.com/burma/tourism Just another side to the coin. Cheers Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffalo_bill Posted January 30, 2002 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2002 Roger, it is not that I did overlook this. It somehow even reminds us of China. Would you care to let the salesmen of Boeing or Airbus know about the human rights records in beijing and countryside please ? I am ready to come back on the politicsal issue, but now I go home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 30, 2002 Report Share Posted January 30, 2002 quote: Originally posted by buffalo_bill: Roger, I am ready to come back on the politicsal issue, but now I go home. Just wanted to put both sides of the story accross to some who might not know the whole picture. Cheers Have a good trip home Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 Roger There is the points you made fair enough However more importantly what is the Sanuk Possibilities???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashman Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 Here's a Burma related link http://www.rope.org.uk/newsasiasburma.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 Bill, Thanks for the great report ! Roger, Yes, never forget the other side of the coin, but that must be said of all SEA countries, no ? Including our dear LOS ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 quote: Originally posted by BelgianBoy: Roger, Yes, never forget the other side of the coin, but that must be said of all SEA countries, no ? Including our dear LOS ! Hmmm...all SEA countries??? So you would bunch Burma with the likes of Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong??? Not sure I agree with that. It would be like comparing Taliban controlled Afghanistan with Kuwait. They are just not in the same league. Burma could be grouped with other countries with atrocious human rights records, such as North Korea, Afghanistan (as it was), Somalia and maybe Zimbabwe ( Well, there is a link to Thailand, Good old Taksin welcomed Robert Mugabe with open arms not so long ago. Not many countries around the world would do that!!) Cheers Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 Roger, Not my point.... I meant to say that all SEA countries have something to be criticised for regarding democracy, human rights, free economies, etc.... So even Singapore should not be rated as a 'free democratic' country, but we would certainly prefer linging there over Burma. Thats all ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2002 Report Share Posted January 31, 2002 I appreciate The Buffalos post , due to western media little is heard of travel possibilities in places like Burma . Of course I know about the human rights record , we in Ozztraalia hear about it all the time , after all we are in asia as well . But it is up to the individual to decide how they approach such subjects . I think there is value in travelling to these countries , the money you tip to the taxi driver or guesthouse is worth much more to them then protests in Aus/US/EU , that does not really help them , this regime has survived all that for a long time . I would like to visit , appreciate the culture , try & help in the little way I can , avoid state sponsered tourism , as B Bill points out how to , & experience yet another facet of life . We can't change it all in our life , but if we can help a little & enjoy at the same time ,well that can't be bad . a kind word to a local , about our support , & a couple of dollars , not paying the state hotels or the 200USD as B Bill points out , isn't that a good thing? Maybe I am wrong, but I will learn through experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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