As I landed in Yangon, I vacillated between taking a taxi to the home of my Couchsurfing host or just giving the bus system another shot, since things went so smoothly before.
This time, I had no guardian angel, so, instead, just yelled out the name of a popular tourist attraction as each bus pulled up slowly to the bus stop, knowing the attaction was only a few blocks away from my host's home.
Jumping onto a passing bus, I sat down next to a man who spoke fairly good English. He assured me I was heading in the right direction. An hour later I found my way to the front door of my Couchsurfer's apartment building.
Myanmar lacks some Western conveniences, such as door buzzers, but the people certainly don't lack ingenuity. Each apartment has a rope tied to a bell, stretching down to the street.
If a visitor wants to get into the building, he pulls the rope, which rings the bell, notifying the occupant, who then attaches a front-door key to a small caribiner and slides it down. Some residents attach plastic bags to the end of the rope to haul up goods from passing street vendors.
Myanmar is the kind of place that guests need to follow the rules, which led me to a quandary. I've always believed that the best way to understand a culture is by staying with the people who live there, which is why I'm a proponent of Couchsurfing, an internet site that matches travelers with local hosts. The problem is tourists in Myanmar are allowed to stay only in officially-licensed hotels or guest houses, so, technically, by staying with a Couchsurfer, I would be breaking the law and breaking the terms of my visa.
To make matters worse, I read the following on the U.S. Department of State's international travel site: “Burmese who interact with foreigners may be compelled to report on those interactions to Burmese authorities. Security personnel traditionally place foreign visitors under surveillance; your actions, such as meeting with Burmese citizens, particularly in public spaces like hotel lobbies, rooms, and restaurants, could still be monitored.”
I didn't plan on staying with a Burmese citizen. My Couchsurfer was a Westerner who assured me it would be fine, so I made a calculated decision to do it.
My host, Jonathan, is an educational consultant/missionary, who's lived in Myanmar for four years. When he first arrived, he said it was common for secret police to follow him around, although now he says visitors are unmonitored, to the best of his knowledge.
As for the government's official policy that tourists can only stay in official hotels, Jonathan said the government is now much more relaxed. In addition, he said there's so much beucracy among agencies that it's hard for officials to keep track of anything, let alone an American staying where he may or may not belong.
The bottom line seems to be that home stays still are illegal or might not be, depending on which agency and which person is asked.
The American had nothing but good things to say about Myanmar and plans to stay long term. Since another friend was visiting, and I was also quite tired, we all just stayed in, watched a movie, and Jonathan answered all of my questions about his adopted country. I had an added bonus of sampling some of his authentic Myanmar cooking.
The next morning, I packed up for my return flight to Singapore, unpacked, and repacked for my flight to America for Christmas. I lead a rough life.
Although I'm grateful to have visited Myanmar and would urge others to do so, Myanmar isn't Disneyland.
President Thein Sein, a former general, is credited with numerous reforms, including easing media censorship, freeing hundreds of political prisoners, and forging agreements to end conflicts with several ethnic, minority, rebel groups.
However, critics say it's mere window dressing to garner favor with the West and that the reforms have slowed, if not regressed, in some instances.
The group, Human Rights Watch, says Myanmar is still one of the world's most repressive governments. Ethnic tension is the norm, which fuels the planet's longest running civil war, meaning some sections of the country are off limits to visitors. The fighting between the government and ethnic rebels is especially fierce in the northern Kachin region.
The military is accused of a host of human rights abuses: confiscating millions of acres of land and forcibly relocating hundreds of thousands of people to make way for huge development projects; forced labor involving both adults and children; employing child soldiers; arbitrary arrests; torture; rape; human trafficking and outright ethnic cleansing.
For years, the main political opposition party, the National League for Democracy, urged tourists to stay away from Myanmar because it said the money went to the military. The party has since dropped that request, but the argument remains relevant.
The counterargument is that Myanmar is one of the poorest countries in the world, having suffered decades of economic stagnation, mismanagement, and corruption, and that any tourism helps build infrastructure, create jobs, and bring in much needed dollars and investment.
Others favor a middle ground of “responsible tourism”, encouraging travelers to stay in small, privately-owned hotels, and avoid government-owned businesses, such as resorts, trains, and airlines. For the record, I did take a flight within Myanmar, but I chose a private airline; however, I can't guarantee the money didn't end up in governmental coffers.
Regardless of one's politics, my personal impression is that the people of Myanmar are anxious for foreigners to experience the magnificent temples and the rich culture of the 100 ethnic groups that make up the country and anxious to leave behind the almost 50 years of international isolation.
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