Thursday, 8 March 2018 – We have now posted a map of South and Southeast Asia in the 1 March
2018 write-up of Malé, Maldives. Myanmar is also shown on this map. Most Americans (including us!) had no idea
where some of these places are located.
Originally, our
ship was scheduled to port in Yangon, Myanmar at 1:00 PM and we had booked an
afternoon tour. However, entrance and navigation
of the Yangon River is subject to the tide schedule and maneuvering is only
feasible in slack water. For this
reason, the Insignia delayed its arrival in Yangon until 6:00 PM. For all practical purposes, this was another
at-sea day for us, and our tour was rescheduled for Saturday morning.
We slept late,
practically running to breakfast.
However, unlike yesterday, strawberries, large black raspberries, plus
red raspberries were still available.
(Are we spoiled? The answer is a
resounding YES!)
Jesse continued nursing
his neck/shoulders back to health after sleeping wrong (or lying in bed in a
bad position to read his book). Although
swimming and sitting in the hot tub seem to relieve his pain for a while, he wears
a neck cushion in the cabin. He’s also
been popping Ibuprofin. Proof of his
pain: it has even interfered with his sleep which, for him, is a rarity. However, it hasn’t hurt his appetite!
We swam from 5:30
to 6:00 PM, which was perfect and almost no one else was using the pool. Many people were either getting ready to go
ashore, or watching from the upper deck as the ship was docking. From our cabin, we could see at least six
buses waiting on the pier. After that,
we ate dinner in the sparsely populated café.
And much later, we danced for a half hour before the show. We were the only regular dancers present, but
were joined by another couple, who appeared to be new to ballroom dancing. They always waited for us to see which type
of dance they should do for each song.
Christina and
Spiro had booked an evening tour as well as an optional overnight tour, leaving
at 3:15 AM Friday – somewhat like our Machu Picchu trip when we cruised on the
western side of South America in 2014 and others have left the ship for other
optional trips. Although a comedian was
going to be performing later, his audience was going to be extremely small!
Friday, 9 March 2018 – First, a little information on Myanmar. Myanmar, sometimes still called by its former
name of Burma, is bordered by India and Bangladesh to its west, Thailand and
Laos to its east, and China to its north and northeast. To its south lies the Bay of Bengal and the
Andaman Sea. Buddhism is the dominant
religion in the country. After three
Anglo-Burmese wars in the 19th century, the British took over the administration
of Myanmar.
Although Myanmar was granted independence in 1948 as a democratic nation,
following a coup d‘état in 1962, it
became a military dictatorship. For most
of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic
strife and its myriad ethnic groups have been involved in one of the world’s
longest running ongoing civil wars.
During this time, the United Nations and other organizations have
reported consistent and systematic human right violations in the country. According to the Internet, the income gap in
Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy
is controlled by supporters of the former military government. Very little of the nation’s wealth goes
toward health (which is very poor).
 |
| Horse and Cart Ride |
Today our 3.5-hour tour “Experience Local Life in Thanlyin” began at 8:00
AM with Romey as our guide. After
reaching the edge of the sleepy town of Thanlyin in our tour bus, we enjoyed a horse
and cart ride for perhaps 15 minutes. The
cart had a front bench seat, and two rear bench seats on opposite sides of the
cart. At first, Jesse and I rode facing
each other on the two rear seats, while the driver sat on the right side of the
cart’s frame to balance the load; however, later he asked Jesse to move forward
to the front seat to help with the balance; then the driver was able to sit on
the other side of the front seat. (This
was obviously much more comfortable for him.)
When we climbed out of the cart, we each boarded a “trishaw.” In this case, one man on a bicycle supplied
the power while only one passenger sat in the side car immediately beside the
cyclist. The man who transported Sally
always stood on his bicycle pedals while pumping, never sitting, and passed the
driver in front of him, who was struggling with a heavier load (a portly
man). Eventually, Jesse’s driver helped push him up
the hill with his vehicle. (Although Jesse
is rather “portly” also, his driver was much younger and more muscular.)
 |
| Trishaw Ride |
This “trishaw” ride
lasted perhaps 20 minutes before stopping at a local shopping market, where our
tour group walked past the shopping stalls.
Some of the prices were very good.
(Romey had told us that Myanmar manufactures nothing; everything they sell
is made in China.) We also used toilets
(for which there was a charge, but our excursion covered it). Not unexpectedly, these were “floor” toilets. Sally had hoped to take a photo for people
who have never been to the countries that have them, but she forgot to take a
camera with her. (If you have never had
to use one, just be grateful!)
 |
| Buddhist Bon Pyan Monastery |
Next, our bus
transported us to the Buddhist Bon Pyan Monastery, where we removed shoes and
socks before entering. According to
information supplied to ship passengers, this monastery is “entirely
constructed of teak wood and stands exactly as it did from the day it was built
more than 100 years ago.” As we walked
on the worn floor boards where some small holes were evident, Jesse commented to
Sally that the building needed a little maintenance. From the outside, it could be seen that the
monastery was built with seven “layers.”
Some of our group climbed up a narrow, curving stairway to the next
level; however, the sloping ceiling about halfway up the staircase made it
dangerous for taller people to climb up.
One woman bumped her head on the ceiling so hard that it brought tears
to her eyes.
From the
monastery, our group walked down a residential street, peering through front
gates at the local people, who usually smiled.
This was an effort to interact with the community. Several in our group were busily
photographing the people, without asking them, which we thought seemed
rude. However, in general, the residents
seemed very friendly.
Romey, who is in his early 40’s, told us that his country is currently
having problems, and also has had them previously. In fact, he left the country twice in bad times
and went to Singapore, where he was able to find work. He would like to go there again now, but wants
to go alone so that he could save his earnings; otherwise, supporting a family
in Singapore would use up all of the money he earned. However, his wife will not agree to his going
there alone. They have two young children,
aged 6 and 3. On his phone, he showed
his 6-year-old daughter speaking very good English (better English than his, he
remarked). When asked, Romey told us
today that life expectancy in Myanmar is 65 for a woman and 60 for a man. He mentioned that he may only have 17 years
left!
According to Romey,
the current trouble in his country is taking place at the borders where drugs
are coming in. If the drugs could be
taken away from the dealers, most of the major problems would end; however,
human rights activists are preventing this from happening. At least, this was his opinion.
Romey also
pointed out large, fenced-in lots, with no buildings on them. People don’t save money in the bank because
of high inflation, but land is a good investment, he told us. In fact, he has purchased two acres of land
at $4,000 per acre, and he pays someone to plant rice on it. However, he said that a law stipulates that
land belongs to the person who works it – which could mean that he could end up
forfeiting ownership of his property to the ones he is paying to tend the rice!
Although the
temperature and humidity were high today, when we were outdoors in the shade,
it was not too uncomfortable. The bus
was very cool, but we weren’t on it very long.
All in all, we had a very enjoyable day.
As soon as we
arrived back at the cabin, we changed to dry clothes and went to lunch. Then, Sally slept all afternoon, to make up
for not sleeping much the previous night.
Just as it was starting to get dark at 6:30 PM, we swam for a half hour
before dinner. Although we planned to
dance at 8:45 PM, we discovered when we arrived at the Horizons Lounge that the
band was not there; in fact, Bingo was being played there. Apparently there was a change in schedule
that we missed!
Saturday, 10 March 2018 – Today we had our second excursion in Myanmar and our last scheduled
tour on our 71-day cruise. At 8:50 AM,
our bus left the pier for our 5-hour tour called “Taste of Yangon.” Yangon
served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government
relocated the capital to a city built for that purpose in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is
Myanmar’s largest city and its most important commercial center.
Although the name
of the tour sounds like we would be served food, this was not the case. We were going to visit a pagoda and a huge reclining
Buddha statue. Our bus was fourth in a
line, all going to the same places and having a police escort (on a motorcycle)
who stopped traffic when the buses turned left on a busy road, for example.
 |
| On Singuttara Hill |
Our guide told us
to call him “Kay” because his given name was difficult for us to say. He spoke with a heavy accent (as had our
guide the previous day), but his information was very interesting. Kay had been a veterinarian with his own
clinic from 1988 to 1998. Besides
serving health needs of animals, he also helped people with their medical
problems. (His grandfather and father
also had been doctors.) However, he was
on the side of “the people,” not of the military, and in 1998 he was told to
destroy his clinic or they would destroy it.
After that time, he changed careers and became a tour guide. He might be in his 50’s. We felt great sadness for all people who have
to endure life in place where there is little hope for a better life and often
fear that it could become worse.
First today, we
visited the world-famous Shwedagon Pagoda or Stupa Shwedagon. The 2,500-year-old pagoda is located on the
190-foot Singuttara
Hill. For
centuries, this glittering golden stupa has been highly venerated as a symbol
of architectural perfection, and the appearance of Gautama Buddha in the
present world. Its spire soars a massive
326 feet into the air, and its dome is topped with more than 6,500 diamonds,
rubies and other precious stones.
Singuttara Hill is also home of over 1000 Buddha images from various
eras and many styles.
 |
| Tuesday's Fountain |
After we arrived
at the grounds and removed our shoes and socks, we walked into a large area of
brilliance. Some structures were gold and bejeweled, and others were dazzling
white. When the bright white struck
Sally’s eyes, her first thought was that she needed to put on her sunglasses –
but her sunglasses were already on and the scene was stunning! Although a short description of the ancient
pagoda sounds as if this is one isolated structure, we received a map as we
entered the grounds. The map identifies
and describes at least 20 structures, and there were other things to see as
well.
Kay had told us
that our feet would not be burned by hot pavement there because we would walk
on white marble, which would absorb most of the heat. This proved to be true. He said that the reason shoes are removed is
because visitors to the Buddha try to achieve mindfulness, which comes from all
directions including from below, through the feet. We needed to clear our minds. Believers bring gifts to Buddha, especially
water or flowers. As we walked, we could
see water fountains beside statues of Buddha, with labels such as “Saturday” by
the fountain. Kay said that, if you were
born on Saturday, you should go to that fountain, use a cup by the water, and
then pour water from the cup over the Buddha’s head or shoulders. (Sally guessed that she might have been born
on a Tuesday and poured water from that fountain onto a Buddha as others were
doing, but it turns out that both she and Jesse were born on Thursdays.) While walking around in that area, we talked
to others in our tour group. Sally found
that one woman was very familiar with Monmouth and Galesburg, Illinois; she had
almost attended Monmouth College, and her brother lives in Galesburg. (“It’s a small world, after all!”)
 |
| On Singuttara Hill |
At this pagoda,
we also used a restroom. Although Sally
took the camera with her this time, this toilet was of the western type – so no
interesting photo.
From here, our
bus took us on to the Chaukhtatgyi Pagoda.
There, after again removing shoes and socks, we viewed the huge
Reclining Buddha, housed beneath a large sheet metal roof. The Buddha’s head reaches a height of about
2.5 stories, and he is positioned resting on his right side with toes
together. Three colors are used (besides
white): blue, red, and yellow. With the
colors (such as a red mouth), our guide said that the Buddha’s face is almost
like a woman’s, which is true.
 |
| Reclining Buddha |
We hadn’t
realized that there are several Reclining Buddha images in Asia, and Sally had
thought that we had seen longest one in Thailand. However, it turns out that the reclining
Buddha in Thailand is only 46 meters long, and this one in Yangon, Myanmar is
66 meters (217 feet) long. Still, the Yangon
Buddha is not the biggest (or longest) in the world; the biggest (180 meters
long) is in Mawlamyine, Myanmar – so big that it can be spotted from many miles
away (apparently not being under a roof).
Yesterday and
today, we frequently saw local women and a few men with white powder on their
faces. This is dried Thanaka cream,
which has been used by Burmese for over 2,000 years, made by grinding the bark
of a thanaka tree with a small amount of water.
Apart from cosmetic beauty, the cream also gives a cooling sensation and
serves as a sunscreen. It is believed to
help remove acne and is an anti-fungal.
After seeing the
reclining Buddha, we re-boarded our bus for our return to the ship, again
fourth in a convoy of four buses.
Interestingly, riding motorcycles has been outlawed in the city of
Yangon. However, outside the city, they
are everywhere. At one point, a
motorcycle driver (with his brother on the seat behind him) made a left turn onto
our road, apparently intending to merge in front of our bus. Despite our bus driver’s honking in warning,
the motorcycle hit the side of our bus. Then
we stopped for 5 to 10 minutes, while our driver and then Kay left the bus to
speak with the motorcycle driver. When
Jesse asked Kay about the problem, he replied that the motorcycle driver wanted
money for damages; however, Kay had seen the accident and that the motorcycle
driver was to blame. There is no
insurance in Myanmar, so the motorcycle driver will have to pay for repairs out
of his own pocket.
Canute and Julie had
been on a bus yesterday that hit a car.
Canute, who was sitting in the front of the bus where he could prop up
his bad leg, was thrown into the stairwell, which was 2 or 3 steps below the
level of the aisle. Fortunately, he wasn’t
badly hurt, just somewhat bruised. If he
had been seriously hurt, he would have been on his own for expenses because it wasn’t
like being in the U.S. (or Canada, where he lives).
We arrived back at
the pier soon after 1:30 PM, in time for lunch in the café, where we sat at a
table with Kath and Gordon. When we
compared our experiences in Myanmar over the past two days, Gordon said that yesterday
their guide was also a lawyer; he said that, although Myanmar has courts, the
military can overrule any court decision if they desire so that courts are
useless.
At 6:00 PM the Insignia
left the Myanmar dock. Soon after that,
we were swimming for a half hour in the pool, finishing again in the dark. Later, after dancing for a half hour, we set
our clocks forward by one hour again before going to bed.
