Myanmar--first impressions

Flying into Yangon is a blaze of emerald green.  Rice paddies, tree-lined streets, fields of vegetables and grain.  Once on the street, the blaze of color turns to the rainbow of longyis (sarongs) worn by both women and men.  These long skirts are tubes of fabric about twice the size of the owner, pulled tight in the front and tied in a knot at the waist.  Women wear shirts or T-shirts and very colorful longyi while men wear more sober colors.  This is a country of modest dress and deeply held Buddhist beliefs where tank tops and short shorts, though worn by some tourists, are not generally accepted.

Shwedagon Pagoda

We visited the enormous Shwedagon Pagoda in the heart of Yangon, where Aung San Su Kyi first spoke of democracy and human rights to thousands of Burmese, before being confined to house arrest for 15 years by the military junta that then ruled this lovely country.  Today, Su Kyi is free and an elected member of Parliament and referred to by Burmese as "Our Lady".  People speak more freely than they could just a year ago.

The very top of the Pagoda has 3000 gold bells and 76,000 diamonds, with one huge diamond sparkling at the very top.  Last night, there were thousands of people strolling around the terraces of the Pagoda, families showing their children this national treasure, and one baby crawling among the thousands of feet oblivious to all but his own joy.  Myanmar is about 90% Buddhist and every Buddhist in the country must try to make a pilgrimage to the Shwedagon at least once in his or her lifetime.

When visiting a temple, you leave your shoes and socks outside and walk barefoot.  This can lead to burned feet if your're not careful, as it's really hot.  Our driver had ice cold wipes in the cooler so we could clean our feet before putting our shoes back on.

Our guide is from Bagan, where we are today.  He is quite open about his assessment of the country and its government.  The schools, he told us, are terrible.  Most people who even go to school leave after reaching minimal literacy.  The universities are very bad and rather unusual in that there is a different university for each academic area.  Our guide completed the required 11 years of school before enrolling at the university for English literature, where he had 70 fellow students and 5 professors.  Most people who want a really good education go abroad, to Singapore, Hong Kong, or Europe.  Very few people are educated, which poses a huge problem as Myanmar opens up politically and economically.  There are not enough educated people to fill the demands of a growing economy.

Bagan is a small area of about 20,000 people, mostly farmers, and 2000 pagodas.  It's really quite spectacular when you look out across the landscape and see thousands of pagodas, many with spires of gold and some completely covered (like the Shwedagon Pagoda) in gold leaf.  Several of the pagodas have beautiful frescoes inside surrounding the Buddhas.  In 1990, all the people living and farming in the temple area, Old Bagan, were forcibly moved from their homes, with virtually no notice, to New Bagan where they displaced the farmers who had lived there for generations.  Ostensibly, this was to protect the archaeological heritage of Old Bagan, but now the area is mostly overgrown with trees and shrubs because families aren't around to care for the temples.