#747 Exploring Yangon by Train

We love train trips! So we decided to explore Yangon, Myanmar by rail.

We met our train at the Yangon Central Railway Station, the largest station in Myanmar.

Using the ticket booth map, our excellent guide described the Yangon Circular Railway. It's the local commuter line, a 28-mile loop with 39 stations.

At 200 Kyats each, our tickets cost about 13 cents.

We rode in one of the newer train cars from China.

The rules: No smoking, littering, or public displays of affection.

We rode the west side of the loop from the central station and jumped off at a stop near a local fruit market where bananas were unloaded and young Buddhist monks stepped gingerly across the tracks.

Yours in riding the rails,
Kelly

#746 Renovating Myanmar

We first visited Yangon, Myanmar in 2006. We returned twelve years later.

In 2006, the gleaming Shwedagon Pagoda brightened a dark sky.

In 2018, the Schwedagon Pagoda, under renovation and covered in form-fitting bamboo scaffolding, still brightened a dark sky.

In 2006, the massive reclining Buddha had pink feet.

In 2018, the massive reclining Buddha, under renovation and covered in form-fitting bamboo scaffolding, had black feet.

In 2006, the clock tower was in serious need of renovation.

In 2018, the clock tower renovation was complete.

Yours in appreciating Myanmar's renovations,
Kelly

#474 Unspeakable Names

For me there's something magic about visiting a place I can't pronounce. And from Chennai, we took a trip to Kanchipuram and Mamallapuram. So that's double magic right there.

Turns out Kanchipuram is so much of a "Temple City" that it is sometimes called the "City of 1000 Temples".  Most were built between the 9th and 14th centuries back when people said things like "City of 1000 Temples".  Now in the 21st Century, we'd say "City of 1K Temples" or "City of 1K Temples presented by Doritos" if we were even inclined to get off Facebook long enough make the effort.

On our trip, we did not count all these temples, but that 1K number could be correct since we have experience in not counting temples. In 2006, we were lucky to visit the temple city of Bagan in Burma.  We were younger then with more energy, so we have no excuse, but we didn't count the temples there either. I would say more than 1000 temples are there and UNESCO agrees.

Suddenly I have an urge to compare and contrast these two temple cities. But I've learned this sort of feeling always happens after a few months of the academic immersion that is Semester At Sea and if I lie down for a while, the feeling fades.

So I'll just quietly post some of our Kanchipuram pictures.



Yes, this religious icon needs further explanation.

Yours in saving the Mamallapuram photos for the next post,
Kelly

#246 Burma Support

Mingalar bar! That’s how Kyi Kyi (our Burmese tour guide in the middle of the front row) taught us to say hello in Burma. Literally, it means “auspiciousness to you.”

A year ago, we were in Burma. Since then, the people of Burma have risen up in protest against the brutal military junta running their country.

If you want to help their cause, wear red this Saturday - a global day of action - to show your support with the saffron revolution. And visit the US Campaign for Burma.

Auspiciousness to you, Kyi Kyi, and to you, Burma!

Yours in red,
Kelly and Mary

#229 Thinking of Indy

Indianapolis is referenced in Saving Fish from Drowning. I was surprised to find the reference to Indy in this novel set in Burma, but there it is right in the middle of page 330.

The people from New York and Rio de Janeiro gave wearied and disgusted looks, as they pushed past the newshounds. But a few travelers were easily stopped, because they were from cities like Indianapolis, Indiana, or Manchester, England, where it was considered rude not to acknowledge someone who asked you a question.

We sold our Indy home (on picturesque Vermont Street) and we’re now waxing nostalgic all over the place.

We wonder...

• how’s the cultural trail coming along?
• has the interim downtown library closed to move to its new digs?
• what’s going on in the old neighborhood?
• how was the Lockerbie 4th of July parade?
• is Bazbeaux still selling pizza on Mass Ave?
• are the Colts going to repeat as champions?
• is the smartest guy we know still bagging groceries?

And we wonder...

• what’s going on with you?

Yours in waxing nostalgic,
Mary

#98 US Campaign for Burma

I keep thinking about Burma. Of the 10 countries we visited, Burma is the one that I think about the most.

Experiences in Burma affected many of us. Despite US sanctions that discourage the economy, the locals were quite friendly and welcomed many students into their homes for some “people-to-people diplomacy.” Burma is run by a military dictatorship.

Working to bring about an end to this junta is the US Campaign for Burma, a U.S.-based membership organization dedicated to empowering grassroots activists around the world. The campaign’s web site at www.uscampaignforburma.org details their efforts and provides ideas for how we can all get involved. Today, the campaign's web site carried the news that the US introduced a revised draft resolution in the UN Security Council urging Myanmar's (Burma's) rulers to initiate democratic reforms, release all political prisoners, and stop using rape as a weapon of war.

Semester at Sea voyagers care a lot about Burma. Many students and staff took advantage of the rare opportunity to visit Burma during the fall voyage, were moved to improve conditions there, and are working now to do just that. A web site created by SAS alumni will be available in a few weeks. Stay tuned.

Yours in thinking about Burma,
Mary

#55 The visible Myanmar

We didn’t see first-hand evidence of repression in Myanmar. We'd read enough to know that traveling to tourist sites we would be unlikely to see anything other than people going about their everyday tasks. Uniformed police or military were no more visible in Myanmar than elsewhere, although undercover officers are said to be “everywhere” and the country ranks 10th in the number of active military. Visitors are not allowed to enter areas of the county with a history of civil unrest. One of the commercial guidebooks showed the roadway checkpoints which serve to define the limits of travel although no such designation is evident on the official government tourist map.

One author compared the situation of the average Myanmar resident to someone who has cancer. They know there is a serious problem but they must continue to go about the tasks of daily life.

Yours in even greater appreciation of our freedoms,
Kelly

#54 Auspiciousness to you

Mingalar bar!

That’s how we say hello in Myanmar. Literally, it means “auspiciousness to you.”  In each port, we learn how to say hello and thank you. Then we continue to use our new language skills until we replace it with another new language.

Myanmar is a poor country. That hits us hard as we step off this gated community we call a ship.

But Myanmar is rich in pagodas. Known as the Golden Land, Myanmar has countless religious monuments/pagodas/shrines/temples/stupas, due to a series of devout Myanmar kings and their citizens.

We spend our time in Yangon, Mandalay, and Maymyo with a surprise trip to Bagan. Yangon is our port city, flat, hot and humid on the banks of the Irrawaddy River. We fly to Mandalay, the former capital - flat, hot and humid on the banks of the Irrawaddy River upstream. From there, we drive 2 hours to Maymyo, the old British hill station, elevation 4000 feet, mountainous cool and comfortable with deep green forests, and surrounding fields of strawberries and chrysanthemums. We find it easy to like Maymyo.

Our surprise came when high water blocked our return to the Mandalay airport.

So we revert to the old reliable Irrawaddy River, now in flood stage, and a sleek passenger boat to whisk us 6 hours downriver to Bagan, where we catch the first flight out the next morning and arrive back at the MV Explorer just an hour before on-ship time. (For more on Myanmar experiences, don't forget to check out Erika's blog.)

Yours in not missing the boat,
Mary

#53 Myanmar, or is it Burma?

Tonight (Saturday) we dock in Yangon, Myanmar.

It used to be called Rangoon, Burma and still is by many. In preparation for our visit, we’ve been reading about Burma – Burmese Diary by George Orwell, Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin, and Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi.

Before this trip when asked about our ports of call, we would recite: Mexico, Hawaii, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Myanmar… and get a quizzical look. Yea, before this trip, the country formerly known as Burma was not on my radar either.

Early in our voyage, I met a gem of a couple, Tom and Dianne Klein, educators from Ohio, who recommended Finding George Orwell in Burma by Emma Larkin as an excellent example of creative non-fiction. Larkin, writing under a pen name to avoid retaliation from the current brutal military regime, travels to sites where Orwell lived in Burma and learns the locals view Orwell as a prophet, given the distinct similarities between the current repressive Myanmar government and that described in Orwell’s 1984.

During a brief uprising in support of democratic rule in 1988, the Myanmar government ordered thousands shot in the streets and thousands more thrown in prison for conduct detrimental to the state. Reacting to the resulting international outrage, the government agreed to democratic elections where the opposition movement garnered over 80% of the vote. The government ignored the election results and put Aung San Suu Kyi, the charismatic opposition leader, under arrest. In 1991, she won the Nobel Peace Prize. U2 wrote “Walk On” about her struggles and dedicated the song to her. That song is banned in Myanmar where she remains under arrest today. This September, the United Nations Security Council voted to formally add Burma to its agenda.

Today, citizens of Myanmar are living the 1984 big brother nightmare. For example, visitors must make up their mind early if they intend to stay the night because their presence has to be reported to the local Law and Order Restoration Council by 9 pm. Failure to “report the guest list” could result in a fine or a prison sentence for both the guest and the host. Nobody may go away for the night from his own home without informing the local LORC as well as the LORC of the place where he will be staying. The authorities have the right to check at any time during the night to see if there are any unreported guests or if any of the family members are missing.

We’ve learned that a few students will not be getting off the ship at this port so as not to financially support the military. And faculty have told us Desmond Tutu will be sailing on the fall 2007 voyage of Semester at Sea under the condition the ship does not dock in Myanmar. Our plans are to spend the next few days in the port city of Yangon and in Mandalay, the cultural heartland of Myanmar.

Yours in approaching Myanmar,
Kelly