Crystal visions Myanmar - PrThaiairways.com

TR AV ELOGUE
For centuries Myanmar has exemplified all
that’s exotic about the East – amazing Marco
Polo in the 13th century, the Portuguese 300
years later and the British after yet another
three centuries. Virtually shut off from the
outside world by political and economic instability
since achieving independence from the British Empire
in 1948, and under military rule until the 2010 elections
ushered in a civilian government, the country is now
undergoing a surge in tourism.
This page,
from top
Yangon street seller
Fresh flowers and
trinkets for sale
Opposite page
Glorious sunrise
in Bagan
Tour companies around the world report that Myanmar
bookings have more than doubled since December 2011.
Considering that international arrivals in 2011 tallied
around 300,000, this means it’s not unthinkable that the
number of overseas visitors could reach one million by the
end of this year.
Increased visitation has no doubt also been inspired
by the release of democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi
from 15 years of house arrest. United States Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Yangon in December 2011
to set the groundwork for an upgrading of diplomatic
relations with Washington, DC, sends another
encouraging message to many potential tourists. Finally,
with the recent parliamentary by-elections that saw the
National League for Democracy – led by Aung San Suu
Kyi – win 43 of 45 contested seats, more people have turned
their eyes toward this country.
I first travelled to Myanmar in 1986, when the official
English name for the country was still Burma. Flying in
from Bangkok on a tourist visa that allowed a maximum
two-week stay, I carried a bottle of Johnny Walker and a
carton of 555 cigarettes I had purchased at Don Muang
Airport’s duty-free shop. Nearly every other passenger
on the plane possessed the same, as it was common
knowledge that these items could be sold in Yangon (or
Rangoon as it was known at the time) for a wad of blackmarket
kyat sufficient to cover two weeks’ worth of travel
expenses. I doubt there was any other country in the world,
even back then, where one could travel a full two weeks on
a meagre investment of US$50.
My first day in Yangon, I was rendered speechless when
I laid eyes on Shwedagon Paya – a Mon-built stupa dating
to the mid-18th century founding of the city and the single
most important religious monument in Myanmar – floating
above the city’s green skyline like an inverted golden
ice-cream cone. Tree-lined boulevards radiating in all
directions from Shwedagon led me to other gilded stupas
and hallowed monasteries, as well as landscaped lakes,
public gardens, the broad Yangon River, and the immense,
bustling Bogyoke Aung San Market.
Yangon’s time-warped cityscape – huge, leafy mango,
banyan and teak trees shading streets lined with
magnificent colonial buildings dating back to the 19th and
early 20th centuries (the city reportedly has the largest
number of colonial buildings of any Southeast Asian city)
– charmed me. One hopes that as international investment
floods into the city, it will do so without washing away these
architectural gems.
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