Yangaon: 17.10.2008
Even from the air, the countryside of Burma (sounds so much better than Myanmar) looked a lot like Bengal, although the latitude is more like Madras. Green, with lots of single-story houses. Although boasting of a swanky new airport inaugurated early this year, the roads remain simple, the vehicles very old and the tuk-tuks overcrowded..
Even from the air, the countryside of Burma (sounds so much better than Myanmar) looked a lot like Bengal, although the latitude is more like Madras. Green, with lots of single-story houses. Although boasting of a swanky new airport inaugurated early this year, the roads remain simple, the vehicles very old and the tuk-tuks overcrowded..
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.What reminds one again of Calcutta are the old British government buildings, made of red brick, placed in huge compounds. Unfortunately, after the official capital was shifted to Napido (70 km away) some time ago, all the buildings are in heavy disuse, overrun by shrubbery and put up for lease. Apparently the Chinese are bidding for all of them.
Burma has a military government for the last 26 years. “The old general doesn’t die also”, exclaimed our customer. Although the junta government has ensured ‘safe streets’, the development of Burmese people in terms of education, or of industry in Burma is at a very poor stage. Its comprehensive range of imports is supported by export of fish, teak and precious stones. Its relationships are strong with Russia, India, China, Kuwait – ie whichever country not in the lap of the US. In fact, after the cyclone, the government had refused aid from UN and managed to revive based on funds from the business community.
Like Bangkok, Yangon was hot and sultry. People here said that the climate of Yangon area has changed after the big cyclone last year that wiped out around 70% of the trees in the region. After that both heat and dust have gone up in the city.
Overall the people are friendly, and quite good-looking. Cost of living is not very high, but availability of essential commodities sometimes becomes a problem. Like I mentioned earlier, cooking oil may suddenly vanish. Petrol and diesel are of poor quality and regularly spoil carburettors and oil-pumps. But a very peaceful place otherwise. The hotel we have put up in, Kandawgyi Palace is actually like a palace and situated by a lake; so the view from the window is really very nice. But there are only two other 5-stars here, one of which is a branch of this one.
Burma has a military government for the last 26 years. “The old general doesn’t die also”, exclaimed our customer. Although the junta government has ensured ‘safe streets’, the development of Burmese people in terms of education, or of industry in Burma is at a very poor stage. Its comprehensive range of imports is supported by export of fish, teak and precious stones. Its relationships are strong with Russia, India, China, Kuwait – ie whichever country not in the lap of the US. In fact, after the cyclone, the government had refused aid from UN and managed to revive based on funds from the business community.
Like Bangkok, Yangon was hot and sultry. People here said that the climate of Yangon area has changed after the big cyclone last year that wiped out around 70% of the trees in the region. After that both heat and dust have gone up in the city.
Overall the people are friendly, and quite good-looking. Cost of living is not very high, but availability of essential commodities sometimes becomes a problem. Like I mentioned earlier, cooking oil may suddenly vanish. Petrol and diesel are of poor quality and regularly spoil carburettors and oil-pumps. But a very peaceful place otherwise. The hotel we have put up in, Kandawgyi Palace is actually like a palace and situated by a lake; so the view from the window is really very nice. But there are only two other 5-stars here, one of which is a branch of this one.
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.Panna’s mother’s family had migrated to India from Burma during the Japanese aggression. They used to live in Pegu, a city 40 km (around 1 hour drive) away from Rangoon. Will try to pay a visit on Sunday and take some photos of the current Pegu.
After one customer visit in the morning, we came back to the hotel and had a Thai/Burmese lunch. Everything very tasty but also very spicy. I had, in a misplaced spirit of bravado, ordered a dish prepared in ‘hot chilly sauce’. Hoo-hoo. “Spicy, no?” asked the waitress sympathetically, not at all deceived by our jolly grinning faces, and replaced our sodden napkins with fresh ones.
After one customer visit in the morning, we came back to the hotel and had a Thai/Burmese lunch. Everything very tasty but also very spicy. I had, in a misplaced spirit of bravado, ordered a dish prepared in ‘hot chilly sauce’. Hoo-hoo. “Spicy, no?” asked the waitress sympathetically, not at all deceived by our jolly grinning faces, and replaced our sodden napkins with fresh ones.
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We were picked up by a second customer after lunch for business discussions. He was of Chinese origin. More than half the population of Myanmar constitute people of Chinese and Indian origin. Prior to 1980, Indian population dominated. However, after the current junta government took over and most of the infrastructure was nationalised, a large chunk of the Indians left, who were in service in various departments here. Even in the current business community, Indians are just behind Chinese, with Burmese a poor third minority. There are around a 100 Bengali families still living here (told by a Gujrati friend, whose community had only 15 families left). The new Indian ambassador is also a Bengali (Alok Sen).
We were picked up by a second customer after lunch for business discussions. He was of Chinese origin. More than half the population of Myanmar constitute people of Chinese and Indian origin. Prior to 1980, Indian population dominated. However, after the current junta government took over and most of the infrastructure was nationalised, a large chunk of the Indians left, who were in service in various departments here. Even in the current business community, Indians are just behind Chinese, with Burmese a poor third minority. There are around a 100 Bengali families still living here (told by a Gujrati friend, whose community had only 15 families left). The new Indian ambassador is also a Bengali (Alok Sen).
Yangaon: 18.10.2008
During the day, Yangon’s seams came out a little more. Dilapidated buildings, bumpy roads, ill-lit streets. Not that Myanmar’s revenues are dwindling. Around 10 billion USD per year from exports of gas, timber and jewels. However, it is mostly consumed by the military generals. There is also a strong ‘license raj’ in process. Licences to import are issued to only select few companies who then sell them for premiums to those wishing to import. The item whose control is heaven right now are new cars (import of used cars have been banned) and these licenses are held by a few people in government who hand them out as favours or even as a substitute for cash. Import prices of cars in Burma are 3 times higher than normal. Even GSM connections cost USD 2500 and are permit-based!......
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We visited the largest used-part market in the world. Around 10,000 sqm, with a variety ranging from small tail-lights to full-engines for trucks. Our Chinese customer is also a vehicle-manufacturer. From import of used components he is manufacturing a perfectly serviceable ‘Dagon Jeep’ of 2000 cc capacity! As it is, most of the vehicles on the road are 10-20 years old, due to the import problems, and are veritable rattletraps in the bargain. These small colourful jeeps (costing 10,000 dollars) make a very important fashion statement around here.
We visited the largest used-part market in the world. Around 10,000 sqm, with a variety ranging from small tail-lights to full-engines for trucks. Our Chinese customer is also a vehicle-manufacturer. From import of used components he is manufacturing a perfectly serviceable ‘Dagon Jeep’ of 2000 cc capacity! As it is, most of the vehicles on the road are 10-20 years old, due to the import problems, and are veritable rattletraps in the bargain. These small colourful jeeps (costing 10,000 dollars) make a very important fashion statement around here.
We were taken by a Tamilian-origin customer to an Indian restaurant and were treated to an excellent dinner. Although Easwar and I stuck to veg out of choice, it was a welcome relief. Our Tamil host spoke Tamil and Burmese. He was okay with Easwar. He had with him a Gujrati friend/partner, who was speaking Hindi and Burmese, and took care of me. Between themselves, our hosts spoke only Burmese! We also visited a very old Perumal temple, renovated recently, and offered puja for our families. The Burmese government are fairly sympathetic towards the religious practices of Hindus and there are 3-4 temples, including one for Durga Mata, where Dussera was celebrated mightily recently. Comparatively, Muslim religions do not receive as much sympathy, as per our hosts.
Pegu: 19.10.2008
Today was a Sunday, one that we had deliberately put aside for sight-seeing (not that we do not do it on working days, if it comes our way).
Today was a scheduled visit to Pegu (or Pago or Bago), around 60 km from Yangon. Apart from the fact that Panna’s mother lived there when she was young, before the family fled to India at the time of Japanese aggression, Pegu is well-known for its pagodas. In fact, Pegu and Tatho, an ancient port town around 200 km away, were the first places where Buddhist settlers from India landed and propagated the Buddhist culture. The area was originally called Suvarnabhumi and was an extremely rich place, fertile, full of precious stones, and the kings who greeted Buddha on his visit are depicted as bedecked in jewels and sitting in elaborate courts and palaces. Some of the palaces still exist, of course. These areas also had large Indian settlements (non-Buddhist as well). Myanmar is said to have more than 50,000 pagodas, big and small, and lower Myanmar, where the erstwhile Suvarnabhumi is situated, has the lion’s share. Buddhist spread to upper Myanmar slowly, along the river banks. While the statues of Buddha in upper Burma (closer to the Indian border) are mostly standing, those in lower Burma are mostly ‘sleeping’ or actually lying down with eyes wide open. There is one near Tatho that is 300 ft long and 75 ft high and has five stories inside.
We visited 5 pagodas in Pegu, the most famous ones, with varying architecture, some with domes and some without, some with sleeping buddhas and some sitting. In Pegu actually there are 3 big sleeping Buddhas – Diamond, Gold and Ruby. All the structures use the gold colour generously and they have mostly been renovated of course, where the original structure is left untouched, it shows up as a simple brick structure with vegetation growing out of it.
v Shwe Maw Daw
v Sein Tha Laung (sleeping – diamond)
v Double bird pagoda
v Mya Tha Laung (sleeping – gold)
v Min Tha Gone
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In all the places, families were arriving in their tuktuk buses (that is, Hilux with benches fixed to the back loading bed and stuffed to the gills with smiling Burmese). This being a Sunday, pagodas were sort of places of picnic and families were happily laying out tiffin carriers. Really, seeing pagodas were hot work and the tiles were gradually growing hotter. We called it a day and returned to Yangon.
Panna’s mother’s family were staying in a place that sounded like New Le Bin and meant ‘four banyan trees’. Our friend could not locate it exactly but said that the last two pagodas that we visited were in that general area and localities there were named after trees. The old house was not expected to be there now anyway.
We returned to Yangon and had lunch at the buffet set out in the Traders Hotel where Sunday was a special buffet day. Indeed the spread was fantastic, from oriental to continental to a bit of Indian as well. We sampled everything (except sushi) and felt like bursting. The cost was only USD 16 per head, cheap by our expectations.
After lunch, our host suggested a massage. This was a tricky one. We had no idea what a Burmese massage entailed and said diffidently that we did not feel like it on a full stomach. Our host said he was suggesting only a foot-massage which would be very relaxing. Okay, we said, that seemed down to earth anyway.
We parked at a ‘Reflexology Centre’ and after a bit if wait, were ushered into a dim room with four foam-cushioned reclining chairs which four of us clients occupied. The Burmese girls who gave us the massage were young and very thin. Where the thinness becomes relevant is that elbows are a major tool in a Burmese massage! The initial foot-washing and sole-massaging and toes-pulling were all very well but when they started pressure tactics on the sole with a pointed thing and then attacked calf muscles and lower thighs with their elbows and the bonier parts of their forearms, we did not find it very relaxing. Between the pokes that sometimes became severe tickles, I hoped they were working deeply inside the body that will bear fruit later on. Even at subconscious levels will do. Our host kept cracking jokes with the girls who giggled practically continuously and I am sure some of the jabs at my lower anatomy were more spasmodic that therapeutic.
After it was over and the girls had retired outside, our host smiled and said there was more to come. After half-an-hour of poking and prying, more to come? Yes, he said, hands-shoulders-neck, and the thin girls returned, cracking their knuckles. Having discovered all the sensitive points on my hands and arms, she finally stood on a stool and bore down on my neck muscles with her elbows! At the end of it all, I had aches in various parts of my body and was actually feeling quite relaxed, basically since I had been pretty tense all this time. An hour had passed quickly. I have to take the Thai foot massage now, if for nothing else than to revive my faith in massages, and to be reassured that there is also a school of massaging that rubs, instead of prodding.
A bit of rest, and another friend arrived at 7.30 pm to take us out to dinner. We were non-plussed as to how to tell him that we were not at all hungry. Luckily he took us to a roadside kebab joint doing roaring business Bare-miya style. The boti-kebabs and parathas were heavenly, soft and low in oil. Afterwards he asked: “Kidhar jana hai bhaiya – baal-waal katana hai to bolo.” We wordlessly dived into his car and sat tight till he followed suit and dropped us back to the hotel.
In all the places, families were arriving in their tuktuk buses (that is, Hilux with benches fixed to the back loading bed and stuffed to the gills with smiling Burmese). This being a Sunday, pagodas were sort of places of picnic and families were happily laying out tiffin carriers. Really, seeing pagodas were hot work and the tiles were gradually growing hotter. We called it a day and returned to Yangon.
Panna’s mother’s family were staying in a place that sounded like New Le Bin and meant ‘four banyan trees’. Our friend could not locate it exactly but said that the last two pagodas that we visited were in that general area and localities there were named after trees. The old house was not expected to be there now anyway.
We returned to Yangon and had lunch at the buffet set out in the Traders Hotel where Sunday was a special buffet day. Indeed the spread was fantastic, from oriental to continental to a bit of Indian as well. We sampled everything (except sushi) and felt like bursting. The cost was only USD 16 per head, cheap by our expectations.
After lunch, our host suggested a massage. This was a tricky one. We had no idea what a Burmese massage entailed and said diffidently that we did not feel like it on a full stomach. Our host said he was suggesting only a foot-massage which would be very relaxing. Okay, we said, that seemed down to earth anyway.
We parked at a ‘Reflexology Centre’ and after a bit if wait, were ushered into a dim room with four foam-cushioned reclining chairs which four of us clients occupied. The Burmese girls who gave us the massage were young and very thin. Where the thinness becomes relevant is that elbows are a major tool in a Burmese massage! The initial foot-washing and sole-massaging and toes-pulling were all very well but when they started pressure tactics on the sole with a pointed thing and then attacked calf muscles and lower thighs with their elbows and the bonier parts of their forearms, we did not find it very relaxing. Between the pokes that sometimes became severe tickles, I hoped they were working deeply inside the body that will bear fruit later on. Even at subconscious levels will do. Our host kept cracking jokes with the girls who giggled practically continuously and I am sure some of the jabs at my lower anatomy were more spasmodic that therapeutic.
After it was over and the girls had retired outside, our host smiled and said there was more to come. After half-an-hour of poking and prying, more to come? Yes, he said, hands-shoulders-neck, and the thin girls returned, cracking their knuckles. Having discovered all the sensitive points on my hands and arms, she finally stood on a stool and bore down on my neck muscles with her elbows! At the end of it all, I had aches in various parts of my body and was actually feeling quite relaxed, basically since I had been pretty tense all this time. An hour had passed quickly. I have to take the Thai foot massage now, if for nothing else than to revive my faith in massages, and to be reassured that there is also a school of massaging that rubs, instead of prodding.
A bit of rest, and another friend arrived at 7.30 pm to take us out to dinner. We were non-plussed as to how to tell him that we were not at all hungry. Luckily he took us to a roadside kebab joint doing roaring business Bare-miya style. The boti-kebabs and parathas were heavenly, soft and low in oil. Afterwards he asked: “Kidhar jana hai bhaiya – baal-waal katana hai to bolo.” We wordlessly dived into his car and sat tight till he followed suit and dropped us back to the hotel.
Yangaon: 20.10.2008
We are leaving for Kolkata today by a mid-day flight, reaching late afternoon. So we had decided that the big pagoda, Shwedagon, which is close to our hotel, can be visited for an hour this morning.
The premises are really huge – 114 acres, with the central shrines occupying 14 acres. The insides are teeming with structures, mostly golden coloured, but some, including the high central dome, plated with gold. There are more than 1000 buddha images in the temple, of varying shapes and sizes. We took a guide and spent around 45 mins going around.....
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A new thing I learnt was that the Buddists here recognise 4 Buddhas, with Gautama as the last and most revered. I do not remember the names of the first two, but the third was Kashyap (our mahamuni?). All four sit in the central area in four shrines, facing east, south, west and north in that order.
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The shrines also have small Buddha images for celebrating the worshipper’s day of birth (Sunday, Monday, etc). Each day has an associated planet and an animal. Mine turned out Venus and Guinea-pig. So I poured 9 cups of water on Buddha’s head, 3 cups on the Burmese King standing behind Buddha, 3 cups on the pillar behind signifying the planet concerned, and 3 cups on the guinea-pig.A new thing I learnt was that the Buddists here recognise 4 Buddhas, with Gautama as the last and most revered. I do not remember the names of the first two, but the third was Kashyap (our mahamuni?). All four sit in the central area in four shrines, facing east, south, west and north in that order.
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Hindu influence on the architects is also evident. There was one pagoda which was in the style of the Meenakshi temple. The decorations and ornamentations are quite intricate. Work on gold is there. Wooden pagodas have detailed filigree work. There are those financed by Thai people where mirror-work is predominant. There are also lot of picturisation of events on the walls and the workmanship on that is of relief type, with the human figures protruding at an angle with the result that from the waist up the figures are standing free.
However, this pagoda, although the most famous and is like a Mecca for Buddhists the world over, is not the tallest one. The first pagoda we visited in Pegu yesterday, Shwe Maw Daw, is taller by 14 metres. It is however, extremely popular. We were advised by the guide to come after dark as well as the temple lightings are superb. Won’t have a chance of doing that, though.
We are now waiting for the IC flight, which is late by 30 mins and will be full of Buddhists travelling to Gaya on a pilgrimage. For this reason the flight is going to Gaya first and then to Kolkata. Such a waste of time for us. Maybe they will make up a bit in the air.
However, this pagoda, although the most famous and is like a Mecca for Buddhists the world over, is not the tallest one. The first pagoda we visited in Pegu yesterday, Shwe Maw Daw, is taller by 14 metres. It is however, extremely popular. We were advised by the guide to come after dark as well as the temple lightings are superb. Won’t have a chance of doing that, though.
We are now waiting for the IC flight, which is late by 30 mins and will be full of Buddhists travelling to Gaya on a pilgrimage. For this reason the flight is going to Gaya first and then to Kolkata. Such a waste of time for us. Maybe they will make up a bit in the air.
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