A glimpse of Myanmar

I made it to Myanmar. I was granted my visa after my little scheme in Bangkok and I had to go. Just to see. Sadly I had only allowed myself a few nights and it would not be enough time to leave Yangon (the capital). I had a quick overnight layover in Bangkok, between flying from Saigon to Yangon. The world does not cease to get smaller. I was on my way out of my hostel to grab a quick bite and I run into a guy, Ken McKenna, walking up the stairs. We get to talking and after the typical "where are you from?" conversation our worlds collide when we discover that we are both Santa Barbarians. Whoa! I had just ran into the first Americans during my travels and now a neighbor. It felt nice, comforting. We discussed potentially sharing accommodation in Yangon, but I ended up finding a spot last minute as many places we're booked up.

Arriving in Myanmar (or as many still call it: Burma) the guest house sent a cab for me. It was the first time I arrive at an airport and a stranger had a sign with "Mister Javier Moreno" written on it- waiting for me. We head onto the long and windy road leading towards the center of town and I'm silently gazing out the window attempting to identify unique traits of this city...this country. A few things I noticed: loads of parks and open space, many people waking on these long windy roads, everyone is wearing skirts (aka longyis), as we get closer to the center town, There are more and more electronic shops- a lot of them. All things noted but no answers for why.

As soon as I check in to my place I unpack some things and head out for a walk. My wounds from the scooter accident were still speaking to me and I had to be cautious of my bandages falling off. Going for my walk around town started off by trying to exchange money. You can use US dollars or kyat, the Myanmar currency. I brought some dollars I had exchanged in Bangkok and I was ready to get some kyat. Slight problem: because of how anal the banks are (per the government) they only accept brand new very crisp dollars... No wrinkle, no tear, no discoloration, no nothin on the dollar. Bangkok had given me 10-$10 bills that were taped, wrinkled, older models, etc. and the exchange office I went to, after thoroughly examining all the bills- might as well have used a magnifying glass- declined my request for kyat. Fortunately for me I had a couple VERY crisp Benjamin's back at the hotel so I resolved my problem, but I found this process fascinating. I told them "these are real... it works in the U.S..." but they still wanted freshly ironed and starched notes.

The city of Yangon was very quiet, compared to other capital cities that I have visited around the world. Many people walking, many electronic stores and many things closing at 8 p.m.... strange when that was when my evening walk had begun on the first night. I went around trying to look for these coveted tea houses that were open late night and have a cup of burmese tea and meet some people, if I could even communicate with them. After walking around for about an hour, I found myself at a small corner evening eatery that served tea, nothing like the high energy spot that I found earlier at the market. I ordered my tea and the young boy runs across to a neighboring stand to fetch the tea.... hmmm. I get my cup of B-tea and the pot of tea to wash it down. This tea is SO tasty, as it had been. The burmese tea is a thicker milk based tea (not ideal for us lactose, but when in rome...) and then you wash it down and sip for as long as you want, a pot of regular tea. I sat at the day market for about 2 hours just sitting and watching. This night however, I had some visitors- even though I was the only guest at this fine road side dining spot. The table I chose was a small 2 foot plastic table with small plastic chairs... kinda like preschool... this was actually the case for most road side eateries. This particular table on this night was right next to a small dumpster and at one glance I spot some movement. I carry on with my tea and can hold back but look over again to find a few large rats about 6 feet from me. these were no ordinary rats, these were the KING of them at about 10" long body without tail and I would say 5" diameter of a body. i was a little thrown off and didnt want to spazz, so I just continued sipping on my tea, in hopes that this was normal--- and it was so I carried on. drank the rest of my tea and about 30 minutes later, I was heading back up the road. I was curious as to sanitation by this point, but also realized that this didn't necessarily seem to pose a problem for people.

My little wounds continued to be worrisome, so I decided that I would head back to Bangkok early and get to the hospital, after all some of the best hospitals in the world are in Bangkok. I was sad to leave Myanmar after only 2 days, but I also felt limited and restricted to Yangon, which at the end of it I was neither here nor there on it... I wanted to venture out of the city and see nature. I couldn't... next time. I WILL be back.