Growing up right across the fence, I was always curious about Burma. Usually when a vacation starts off with a glitch, it ends up being a good journey; at least that has been the norm, so far. Our Myanmar travels started off with a glitch...applied for a visa with writer as occupation; with just one published book under my belt, didnt feel like I have yet become an author or a novelist. Modesty does cost you these days, in this case my visa was denied in Canberra and referred to their Yangon office, thinking Im a journalist, who require serious probing into, than an author of fiction. As ours was a joint application, Susies got stuck too; not that she wanted to go ahead without me (I think). Anyhow, our passports were in the letterbox with stamped visas in them, the day before Aussie post closed for 2014, and we were on board our booked flight, four days before this year arrived. After another glitch of picking up a sim that worked only within 300 kms of Rangoon at eight times the price, all indications were towards an awesome trip. After that little swindling at the airport and having to walk out of the first hotel in Yangon, as it didnt deliver what it promised online, it has been people at their innocent and helpful best. You look confused in the middle of a junction, not sure where the map meets reality and someone seeing your confusion comes up to you to show you the way. Walking through a harvested paddy field, you hear someone shouting, you look in his direction in alarm thinking you might have stepped on some invisible saplings, only to realise that he was shouting to point out the right path. Asked one if he knew where a particular hotel was, and as he didnt know, lent you his phone to call the hotel and figure out. You walk into a small shop cum eating joint in a village for a meal, they are so happy to feed you that they offer you a delicious local dessert, complimentary. You tell your hotel guys that you will go look for some street food, instead of eating at their restaurant, they smilingly direct you to the best options nearby. And once you find the place and try to converse with the food stall owner in bits of English, Shan, Burmese and sign language, your hotel owner rides by to see that you reached the street food joint safely, as it was already dark when you stepped out of the hotel, and then goes an extra mile by offering his help to translate the verbal street food menu for you. With the country opening up to the world, wonder when other worldly values will take away their innocence and they will start seeing dollar signs on tourist, beyond the airport arrival lounge... :)
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:05:08 +0000
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