Monday 26th December 2011
Bangkok - yangoon
Claudine and myself left early (much to the chagrin of Olaf) to catch the early morning flight from Bangkok to Myanmar. The flight is a short hop lasting only 1h 15min. On arriving at Yangon International Airport, we had the long wait through immigration and customs. Almost all the official government documents, checks, paper-work etc is still done by hand, making much work for the employees and causing long queues.
On clearing customs, we were met by our good friend Thida (who works for the Anglican Church of Myanmar) and her son, Andrew.
Claudine went with Thida to rent a mobile phone. Meanwhile, I had a full and frank exchange of views with the moneychangers on the subject of queues and proper signage.
The Burmese exchange in US dollars, but accept Singapore dollars or Euros in exchange for their national currency, the Kyat (pronounced chat – as in “to have a chat”). The gentlemen in front of me (who I think was Eastern European), was attempting to change his US dollars.
The Burmese will only exchange a dollar bill that is in mint condition, that is to say, no marks, tears or the slightest creases are accepted. This is a rule set by the Central Bank of Myanmar. The US dollars of the gentlemen in front of me were all turned down. After a 20 min wait (having, with several others, queued up at the wrong counter), I managed to exchange some of our US dollars. The airport offers the best rate – around 807 Kyats to the dollar. Although this is not the official international rate, the Burmese seem to create their own black market rate.
The lack of development in Yangon, alongside what’s being developed was immediately evident on leaving the airport. For a start, the cars are ancient Toyotas (our taxi was an antique with a front passenger door almost falling off), with what looked suspiciously like parts hanging on for dear life. It was only later in the day that I realized the dashboard of our taxi had no needles to tell you how fast you were going or how much fuel you had – the driver must have had a good feel for speed and fuel consumption! The driver was an acquaintance of Thida’s work colleague and explained that he rents the car for around $1,000 a month so he can run his taxi business – a massive amount, particularly considering the state of the car.
The road into central Yangon was punctuated by run-down houses, shops, and apartment blocks. In juxtaposition to this, there were many newly constructed houses (more like mansions really) and business centers. With their characterless appearances and freshly rendered exteriors, they showed signs of the future and perhaps the prosperity to come for some. The development being brought into the country is so far, not a contribution from countries in the Western world, but the Chinese.
In Myanmar, the Chinese are not coming, but have come, with money, and much of it. About 80% of the tourism here is made up from Chinese visitors, followed by (it seemed to me) the French and Germans. The Chinese are currently buying up Myanmar. This is a source of worry to many of the Burmese people who are keen to get the Western world more involved in the development of their country – hence why Hilary Clinton’s recent visit to Myanmar was welcomed and seen as an encouraging sign – or more likely that it will potentially put the brakes on the Chinese perhaps.
After a 25min drive from the airport, we arrived at our hotel, the Park Royal Hotel which is one of the better hotels in Yangon. After checking in and dropping our things off, Thida asked us where we wanted to go. I suggested going to see Yangon’s Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral before going to lunch.
On arriving at the Anglican cathedral, it seemed that the gates to the compound were padlocked, but the taxi driver leaped out and within seconds the gates swung open.
While Thida went off to find the Dean and ask permission to enter the cathedral, Claudine and myself walked around taking photos. I found a war memorial in one corner and Claudine found Santa in another.
Next, we were introduced to the Dean (he remembered Claudine as they’d met on a previous visit) who was having a rest after the busy Christmas period. Lying in his hammock with the newspaper and puppy in his lap, it seemed he was having a good time, although he does work hard.
The interior of the cathedral is plain, but has an intimate atmosphere, while as the same time giving the feel of a cathedral, with its rose window and wide aisles. I looked for the organ but the only instrument to be seen was a rather honky-tonk piano on which I tried some Debussy. Thida told us that an electronic keyboard with an organ sound is brought out and attached to an amplifier for big occasions. An occasionally music group play for the 60 to 70 people who make up the Sunday morning congregation. I could see clearly on the left-hand side of the choir where an organ chamber had been prepared, but I suspect, that war and other factors prevented the installation of an instrument.
The cathedral also has a flourishing choir judging from the choir robes in the north choir aisle.
After leaving and saying our good byes to the Dean, we went to a local Chinese restaurant near to the Diocese of Myanmar’s offices called the Oriental House Restaurant where we enjoyed Dim Sum. Over lunch, we spoke about all the positive changes which are happening in the country and Thida spoke of her hopes for her two children. The one positive thing that the military junta had done was to change the name of the country back to Myanmar, or to give it its full title, the Union of Myanmar. Burma is really the colloquial name for the Bamar tribe who are the majority ethnic group. The name Burma was brought in under British colonial rule. Myanmar is the literary name for the Bamar, so Thida explained that a wrong had been corrected.
After lunch, and a short walk, we arrived at the headquarters of the Anglican Church of Myanmar where Thida has her office. The compound composes several meeting rooms, conference halls etc. where the diocese hold their training events. The Archbishops' residence is also on the compound.
On the ground floor of Thida’s office building are monastic style cells which give the diocesan bishops the where to lay their heads when they descend on Yangoon.
There was a least one familiar face to be seen in Thida’s office!
The taxi driver met us at the compound and drove us back to the hotel for a rest before picking us up again at 4.30pm. This time, we were joined by Thida, Andrew and her daughter, Mary. Thida’s husband had been hoping to make it, but he was still travelling back from somewhere. We were on our way to see and experience one of Myanmar’s most sacred sights and surely one of the wonders of the world – the Shwedagon Padgoda. It’s impossible to describe in words the wonder and awe of this place. You simply have to visit it to appreciate it.
The pagoda is surrounded by many smaller temples and shrines. Monks sit around talking, praying (using a sort of rosary), and taking their calls on their mobiles. Meanwhile, families and tourists walk around, friends meet and the whole place has a wonderful calm despite the numbers of people. I imagine the naves of medieval cathedrals were like this at one time. Thida expressed that perhaps this is why some churches are empty as they do not provide an open environment where people can meet on an everyday basis. After all, even though we were welcomed, we had to ask someone’s permission to enter the cathedral.
As dusk was beginning to fall, the Monday Cleaner’s Association appeared. There is a different cleaning association for every day of the week and they certainly know how to cover a large area!
Once the lights came on, we sat watching and soaked up the atmosphere.
Afterwards, the taxi took us to Happy café & Noodles for dinner – it’s one of Thida’s favourite restaurants and the property of rented Anglicans who rent it out. Behind is the Anglican seminary. The taxi took up back to the hotel and we collapsed exhausted into bed.
We needed to be up early the following morning to catch a flight to Hedo in the north………………
No comments:
Post a Comment