Myanmar

I am back in Bangkok and ready to move on aain. I fly into Shanghai this evening and from now on, I guess it will be only big cities for the rest of my travels. Coming back into Bangkok was a bit of a shock....nice in some ways I guess. My last few days inYangon have made me appreciate so many of the things that we take for granted. Telephones, internet and even just basic electricity. It was impossible to make international calls from Yangon and therefore from the rest of the country too. Internet was extremely hard to find and was only available occasionaly, when central government hadn't cut off connection, in Yangon and Mandalay. In the big cities, everyone had generators for electricity whereas outside the cities people worked with candlelight. And running a Tv for some evening entertainment....I have pictures of at least 10 car batteries and twice as many cables all hooked up to make the Tv run. Arriving into Bangkok, there was just amazing releif in being able to keep communications with home open.
The 'saffron revolution' n September has left Myanmar worse off. There are no tourists. Gasoline prices have been hiked up so high and petrol is rationed so that there are huge queues at the very few gas stations that exsist. On the roadsides people sit with bottles filled with cheap petrol from China half mixed with water and even this is sold at unaffordalble prices. We met restaurant owners near the 'touristic areas' who have shut down restaurants for the year. Everywhere we went, people told us to pass the message on and tell people that it was safe to go to Myanmar and that the people there really need the business. We travelled from Yangon up to Mandalay, from there we spent a few stunning days at Inle Lake and then to the glorious temple filled landscape of Bagan. All along the way we kept an eye out and except for an odd french or german couple here and there we were the only tourists around. Back to Mandalay and from her we took the train up North to Mykthina. Being the only foreigners on board we had a whale of a time...everyone wanted to feed us something, everyone wanted their photo takes, they constantly kept pointing out to us all the sights we passed along the way...look cows, they would all shout and gently push our faces to the window...at times we faked our amazement but at others we were genuinely amazed at the sincere warmth and friendliness of these people.
In Mykthina, we checked in at the YMCA and as we were unpacking, I heard my name and went to check what was going on. The local police had rung up to find out what I, a'British foreigner' was doing there. The people at the YMCA reassured them that I was only a harmless tourist but they follwed our every move. From Mykthina we got the boat to Simbo, a tiny little riverside town of about 400 residents. The place was so small it did not even have a guesthouse so we had to sleep at the house of some of the girls we had made friends with on the boat. However there was an immigration office here and as soon as we set foot on the banks of the Irrawaddy river, there was an officer asking me where I came from and leading me his office to be registered. Next day they made sure we got on the boat and they knew exactly wher we were heading. Staying in Simbo was just amazing. We arrived on the day of the Shan new year and therefore were able to take part in the local festivities and watch the traditional dances. Being a small town, everyone knew who we were and where we came from and as always there we smiles, presents and the 'may i help you'
I fell in love with Myanmar and the people there. It's the safest place in the world because the people there would never let anything happen to you. Now more than ever they need us to go and see the lives they live and help in our own little way.