Monday, February 28, 2011

Man-Skirts, the YMCA, and the Currency Black Market


The real reason -  along with spotty internet connections - that we were not able to post to our blog in Myanmar is because Blogspot is blocked by the government.  Blogging – and any other form of non-censored “journalism”  -  is one of those freedoms that the Myanmar people do not currently have.  Internet – though with painfully slow connections – is readily available in the country.  Since internet usage is actually monitored, we hope that some government lacky with a cigar was thoroughly bored while reading our emails we sent while we were here! 

The Myanmar government is a military junta that put itself in power in 1990 after the last free elections overwhelmingly would have put Aung San Suu Kyi – the leader of what is called the National League of Democracy and later Nobel Peace Prize winner.  Myanmar was in the international news last November 2010 when it released Suu Kyi from a long-term house arrest, and held the first elections since 1990 – but it is widely thought that the elections were rigged and not held to international standards.  So the military junta is still in power, though they now claim to be elected. 

There is an ethical dilemma on whether or not anyone should travel here because of international trade sanctions and that this government profits off of some of the proceeds from tourism.  In fact, because of blatant human rights violations in building infrastructure for tourism in the 1990’s, the government opposition leaders actually asked tourists not to come.  They recently reversed their stance and are encouraging small-scale responsible tourism (i.e. spend our money where it matters most).  Ironically, this lack of tourism in the past few decades has created a country with people who are craving contact with the outside world.  We felt we could travel in Myanmar responsibly and we have never felt more welcome in our travels.   

Because of this crazy government that has been in power we experienced some quirky challenges in our travels here – including zero ATM’s and the black market of changing currencies.   

That’s right – zero ATM’s.  Meaning that we had to carry cash for one-month’s living expenses.  To complicate the matter,guesthouses must be licensed to take foreigners and they are only allowed to accept and deal with US dollars for room fees.   Also any government fees such as entrance fees to a park that are only imposed on foreigners are paid in US dollars. However, for everything else – food, entertainment, bus fares, a bottle of water – the local currency (kyat) is used.  This means that we have to manage and pay with two different currencies in our travels in Myanmar.

But wait, there’s more:  the US dollars we use need to be perfect.  No marks, no tears, minted post 1996 – with big heads, and the serial numbers cannot start with ‘CB.’  Also, $100 bills get a much better exchange rate than $50’s, $20’s, etc.  The smaller the bill, the worse the exchange.  Since we had been in Thailand for two months, we of course did not have enough US cash to fund a month in Myanmar.  So we went through the painstaking process of pulling Thai Baht out of the ATM’s there.  This was complicated by the fact that I lost my ATM card back in December so we only had Elise’s ATM card with a daily limit.  That meant pulling out cash over four different  days.  Then - feeling like we’re up to something involving money laundering - we finally went to a bank in Bangkok and exchanged Thai Baht for a neat, thick stack of clean, crisp, unmarked US dollars. 

Next there the matter of the exchange rate in Myanmar.   The official government exchange rate is K6.55 (kyat) to $1.  This is funny when you convert what it would cost to buy one draft beer in Yangon if we accepted this rate:  one beer at K600 would cost us $91.60!!  So the only option for travelers who are not filthy rich, and who do not want to put extra money into the general’s pockets, is to take our business to the street – where the real exchange rate is traded on the black market.  This is technically illegal, but everyone does it and keeping it from happening  is clearly not enforced.  We knew from www.irrawaddy.org that the current “real” exchange rate in Yangon should be around K832 per $1.  This means my draft beer now would cost me $0.72 – I like this math much better!


Since this currency trading process is illegal, there are no money-exchange counters around the city advertising competitive rates so you must go shop for the best rate from the people on the street.  One might imagine this is a good way to get scammed – and you would be right!  I was looking forward to the illegal activities of which we were going have to partake in upon arriving to Myanmar.



We took an AirAsia flight to Yangon on February 2.  Though Myanmar shares a border with Thailand, we were required to fly into Yangon in order to travel over several areas of the country.    You can cross at several Thai/Myanmar border towns for a short trip, but you are then restricted to travel overland from there.  Our plane was about an hour late and after getting through immigration, we found out that the guesthouse which we thought we had made a reservation with, did not have it, and was full.  No problem), we just shared a taxi with Marina, a French traveler, who was planning on staying at the YMCA.  In case you’re wondering, the taxi drivers take US dollars so you don’t have to change money at the airport for the terrible exchange rate – very convenient.  We arrived at the YMCA well after dark.  Yangon is not well lit, and though we have since found out it is very safe, we were not going to shop around guesthouses that night.  The YMCA had basic, but relatively clean rooms and breakfast included.  The only problem was we had to use the shared bathrooms (filthy) and Elise woke up in the morning with bug bites all over her legs from a bed clearly filled with bed bugs.  We packed up and found another guesthouse immediately after breakfast.  At least we were “helping the needy” for one night as the sign at the YMCA advertized.    

After changing guesthouses, our next task was getting the local currency so we could buy lunch.  Our guesthouse would change for K800/$1 and we had already walked by people on the street quoting us K900/$1.  The guidebooks clearly warn to avoid changing in certain areas and those that quote a higher rate than the known average – so the K900/$1 was likely “too good to be true.”  Nevertheless, if there was a way we could get it, we were going to!  The strategy would be to shop around a little then find an honest money-changer by changing a small amount first then going back the next day to change a lot more.  A hotel – recommended by Lonely Planet – was changing at K820/$1, and then we found Jimmy (rather he found us) at the Bogyoke Aung San Market who would change at K840/$1.  A little nervous about this first exchange, we followed Jimmy to a jewelry shop somewhere in the innards of the market.  Jimmy was very nice and let us count and be in possession of the money before even showing him US dollars.  So we actually very easily found our honest money-changer.    

The next day, however, I could not help myself and decided to test the K900/$1 rate we kept getting quoted on the street.  We actually tried this near the Sule Paya where the guidebook clearly says to not change money due to scams.  I wanted to know what the scams were and had devised what I thought was a simple but fool-proof plan of attack:  count all the money and don’t pay until paid.  This would require both Elise and I each playing a clear role.  Elise’s job was simply to hold and pay close attention to the kyat once counted.  I would count the kyat and only then hand over the single unmarked, crisp, post-1996, no ‘CB’ serial code $100 bill when we had the right amount of kyat in our possession. 

We found our money changer and were immediately ushered to the side of the road (Editor’s Note:  In actuality, we were walking down the street and I was taking in the surroundings, when suddenly I see Brian walking off with a money changer, and I realize I was going to be coming along for the ride).  The first red-flag was that immediately three more money-changers showed up and there was a group around us now.  They were working as a team – four on two.  I asked to count the kyat and made sure that the money-changers understood that I would not show or give them any dollars until we counted.  We had noticed that the changers on the street had the kyat banded together in an unorthodox way – small groups banded together into a big gangster wad – and next it would be clear why.  We were not immediately allowed to count in our possession.  Instead were shown that each small group supposedly had ten K1000 bills in it.  I guess we were supposed to take his word that nine small stacks is actually ninety K1000 bills.   I insisted that we un-band and count but was met with some resistance.  After threatening to walk, we were given part of the stack of money to start counting (I think it is a safe assumption that meant that the original stack did not have the right amount in it from the beginning).  I counted forty-five K1000 kyat notes, handed them to Elise, and waited for the other half of what we were owed.  At this time, there was a lot of commotion and attempted distractions.  Multiple money-changers wanted to “hold” the counted stack for Elise – why burden Elise with that!  I told them clearly that if we were going to pay, Elise was going to hold the money.  We then actually managed to get 90,000 kyat in Elise’s possession.  I had been skeptical that I would even get this far with all the red-flags flying around, but decided that we might actually pull this one off and get the K900/$1.  Nervously, I made sure Elise was ok and held on tight to that wad of cash while I pulled out my $100 bill.  There continued to be a lot of commotion like trying to distract Elise by asking her questions – but she stayed focused on the pile of kyat.  I gave my $100 bill and figured we were home free.  We thanked them and started to walk off, but the money-changers would not let us go.  I’m not sure what was happening but it seemed that my $100 bill was not going to be acceptable.  I think they were trying to get me to fish another one out “for comparison.”  We had also heard of a scam where they don’t like the first $100, ask for another, then both aren’t good and they return both – but one has been replaced with slight-of-hand to a $1.  I was not going to get another bill out at risk of it mysteriously changing to a smaller value bill or someone bolting with it.  After they went on about this for a few minutes, I realized that this business transaction was not going to come to a mutually agreeable close.  I quickly grabbed my $100 bill back before it could disappear, Elise gave the kyat back, and we walked off.  But it was still apparently not yet over.  In one last attempt, the money changers appeared to change their mind:  our $100 bill was suddenly ok.  We were chased down and handed back the stack of kyat. As soon as we started counting it again (as if we trusted them to not remove some bills from the stack!), they said “no deal”, grabbed the kyat back, and walked away.  We were now convinced that our K840/$1 exchange rate was going to be just fine.  So we went back to Honest Jimmy to change the rest of our money at once with no hassles – happy that our illegal currency transactions were over for the time-being.  I am not going to lie:  I enjoyed the whole experience, including trying to negotiate with and out-smart the money scammers.  Elise played her role to perfection, but wondered out loud to me afterwards why we needed to subject ourselves to such un-needed stress .  She then added, “You are your father’s child.”  I am not sure if that was meant to be a compliment.

We spend two days in Yangon.  When not taking care of logistical items or exploring the Burmese food and tea shops, we toured the city.  The highlight was visiting the Shwedagon Paya and watching the sunset and the whole place be lit up at night.  This 2500 year old Paya is made of 53 metric tons of real gold (supposedly more than the Bank of England) and has 5000 diamonds (2000 karats worth) on the top – including a single 73 karat diamond as the highest point.  The pictures speak for themselves.  It was interesting getting stopped by local people or Chinese tourists often to have their picture taken with us.  Elise and I finally realized that it was not us they wanted their picture taken with.  Rather is was Marina, the French traveler we shared a taxi with, who happens to be 6’-3”and likely the tallest female they have ever seen.  Another highlight of Yangon was happy-hour at the Sky Bistro at the top of the Sakura Tower and seeing the sunset from there. 

And as for the man-skirts…the traditional fashion wear for Myanmar men is to wear a longyi.   A longyi is simple a tube of fabric that is tied with a simple knot around the waste.   It resembles something between a long skirt and a towel tied around the waist and is worn even with modern style dress shirts or simply a t-shirt tucked in.  Men are wearing them all over the country – business men, farmers, doesn’t matter who...  Super-simple and very comfortable.  I purchased one immediately.

With only four weeks allowed in Myanmar, we could not linger long in Yangon and moved on to Bagan…                     

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Farewell to Thailand



After our time in Phuket, we moved on to two other hot tourist destinations – Phi Phi (pronounced “pee-pee”) island, and Railay beach in Krabi. Both were overrun with tourists, but for obvious reasons  – both areas  had white sand beaches surrounded by picturesque limestone cliffs, which makes for some pretty amazing scenery while you’re sunbathing. However, our time on Railay gave us a preview of monsoon season. Every day it would be sunny in the morning, then the dark clouds would start rolling in, then you’d feel some sprinkles, which was the 3 minute warning for the downpour.  It never lasted long, but definitely cleared the beach in no time.
Kayaking around Railay Beach
Bridge Over the River Kwai


After Railay, we moved on to Bangkok to obtain our visas for Myanmar.  While waiting for our visas to come through, we made a side trip to another big tourist destination, Kanchanaburi. This is the home of the infamous “Bridge Over the River Kwai”, or Death Railway, named so because of the thousands of Allied POW’s and Malay and Burmese civilians that died during construction of the railway during WWII. We walked the bridge, which in and of itself is nothing special, but the trip to the museum that explained the history of the bridge was well worth it. In short, the Japanese wanted a land connection between Burma and Thailand to move supplies, so they built this railway using POW and civilian labor under an  intense timeline. Working conditions were horrendous, and over 15,000 POW’s and 100,000 civilians died due to disease and starvation during the period it was built (less than a year and half).  The bridge we walked over had been bombed by Allied troops during the war, but was restored and today  the railway is intact up to Nam Tok, Thailand, about 60 km north of Kanchanaburi.
While in Kanchanaburi we also made a trip to Erawan National Park, mainly to see the 7-tiered waterfall, which are probably much more impressive during the wet season (available volume is a little low this time a year). We took a dip to cool off in the pools at the base of the falls, and the fish swimming around at the base of the falls were constantly nibbling at our feet, which while not painful, is really kind of uncomfortable.  Ironically, most places that offer massages in Bangkok also offer a “fish spa”, which consists of paying $3 to put your feet in a big fish tank for 15 minutes so little tiny fish can suck on your feet. 
So this could be the last blog from us for awhile. We’ll be in Myanmar from Feb 2 – 28th, and from what we’ve read,  the internet connections are spotty and probably limited in bandwidth.  Feel free to keep in touch via email, and we’ll check when we can.  We will plan our next blog update to be beginning of March. 

In the meantime, here are some random observations about Thailand, traveling, and our experiences with blogging:

1)       We love Thailand…period.  It is still inexpensive, easy to travel, the food is incredible, it has some of the best beaches in the world.  It is at times overrun with tourists, but in our opinion that still doesn’t overshadow all else.
2)      Both of us will likely never get tired of Thai food.  Thais are incredibly good cooks, and there are always a gazillion dishes to choose from. With the exception of only two pizzas, we have eaten Thai food for lunch and dinner every day for two months, and have not really even craved any other type of food.
3)      “A little spicy” means a lot of different things to different Thai cooks.  Eating spicy appears to be an acquired taste.  After  taking on “Thai-spicy” meals instead of “Foreigner-spicy” we are primed and ready to handle five-stars back in the States.  
4)      The Thai government overnight buses rock…. no weird transfers, lots of free food, and best of all, an unlimited supply of Thai karaoke videos (they actually bother to translate the words into Arabic script, which isn’t helpful unless you speak Thai…but the videos tell the story).
5)      Weirdest Tourist moment:  We were on an overnight tourist bus from Krabi to Bangkok.  The movie on the bus was The A-Team (entertaining enough for a bus ride).  However, when the movie ended it should have been bed-time.  However, the next movie came on which was American Pie.  Whoever was controlling the DVD down on the lower level of the double-decker bus forgot to push “play” so we were stuck on the DVD menu which cycled Jason Biggs saying “I think I super-glued…uh…myself…to…uh…myself” over and over and over again - until finally someone got up and had them turn it off.  
6)      In general, Europeans who travel have a lot of tattoos and chain-smoke.  We’ve also observed that Europeans are much more comfortable in their bodies than Americans, given the number of Speedos, thongs, and topless walking on the beach going on - especially among those without "talent".
7)       Sadly, we are both so tired of hearing “Where you going?” from taxi drivers who don’t want to run the meter that we go out of our way to find alternative modes of transportation whenever possible, even if it takes way longer to get where we need to go (what else do we have to do?)
8)       When you say “hello” or “Thank you” in Thai (or probably anything, but that’s mostly what we know), you add a “Kha” or a “Khap” at the end for female or male, respectively. We interpreted this as adding “Kha” if you were speaking to a female or “Khap” if you were speaking to a male. We just realized in the last few days that it’s the gender of the speaker that determines the “kha“ or the “khap”, not the gender of the person you’re speaking to…so we’ve both been referring to ourselves in the wrong gender for a couple months now.
9)      Blogspot (and Brian) tracks hits to this blog and so far we have had over 1,200 hits, so we know there is a crowd following us – we hope you are enjoying.  Tell your friends because more hits boosts our (Brian’s) egos.  There are other things the stats tell us.  For example:  we notice that two of you out there found our blog by typing “the annals of Elise” into Google.  Whoever you are,  we’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.  But you might need to pull your mind out of the gutter…
10)   Brian has learned that it is important to thoroughly launder his swimsuit often. There have been a couple times on the beach when we’ve both been overpowered by the funk emitted by swim trunks that are over-worn in a hot and humid climate.  However, it is not that bad to only have problems such as this.
11)   These blog posts are a lot more work than they seem…we’re talking word documents, redlined changes, and more than a few ‘intense discussions’ about what should or should not be included.  Including whether the comment about Brian’s swim trunks is TMI.  However, we have developed a process of assigning a “blog-entry champion” to draft each entry, then the other gets to be chief editor and redline the crap out of it.  This process is a lot like trying to reconcile a bill between House and Senate, but seems to be minimizing the effect on our travel KPI on “disagreements.” (reference: first blog entry for KPI’s).