Three Visits to Myanmar (1980)

Three Visits to Myanmar

By Rich Juro

I. 1980 The Land Tour

     When we went to Myanmar (Burma) the first time in 1980 you legally couldn’t stay more than a week in the nation.The official at the airport made sure we changed $200US into the Burmese currency. We stayed one night at the Strand Hotel in the then-capital, Yangon (formerly named Rangoon). The Strand Hotel was built by the British when they were a colonial power but nothing had been renovated since independence in 1948. So the elevators were not working (but we were fairly young then), the furniture was old and gouged, and the air conditioning didn’t work. In fact, the hotel was a dump; but we didn’t care.

     After a day, we were scheduled to take the 7:00 pm railroad toward Mandalay. So we took our suitcases to the station and boarded the train. There were rattan seats and it appeared they hadn’t been replaced since 1948. We put the luggage in the back of the car but I had to check on it every 10 minutes to make sure it wasn’t stolen. The conductor announced in Burmese and broken English that the train was not leaving for 7-8 hours due to a train wreck on the rails. Then the conductor told us and several other Western passengers:

“There is an air conditioned hotel just a few blocks from the station.”

     We tipped the conductor to safeguard the suitcases and eight passengers headed to the A/C hotel. Four of us rented a large room with a window air conditioner. Just a few minutes after we drifted off to sleep there was a banging on the door. The conductor loudly announced:

“The train is leaving at 11 pm.”

     So we rushed to the train and checked on the luggage. Fran slept sitting up in the rattan seats but I could not. I was too worried (unnecessarily) about the baggage and couldn’t sleep on the uncomfortable seats. We passed the derailed train; it was sitting on a side rail and the passengers were still in it.

Pagan

(Credit: Washington Post)

     The next morning we arrived in Pagan (Bagan). Look at the photo: it was one of the most beautiful sights in the whole world. 2000 Buddhist temples, everyone slightly different, and in a small valley. We checked in the hotel, had lunch, but we were anxious to get to the 2000 stupas (Buddhist temples) so we hired a “horse carriage”. The driver was Aung Myint and he told us a sad story. He had been a university student when the military closed the universities several years before when the students had been protesting. When the military finally opened the colleges Aung Myint had been too old (27!) to re-enroll in the university. So Aung Myint was destined to drive a horse carriage for the rest of his life. We passed hundreds of stupas and explored some of them. It was one of the happiest days for Fran in her lifetime. She loves Buddhist temples and there were 2000 of them! Aung Myint finally drove us to the monastery where he had been living for cheap rent with his wife and baby daughter. We met two of the monks. One of them offered a Pali book of old Therevada Buddhist texts for $20. We probably shouldn’t have purchased it, but we still have it.

     There were still no tourists in Myanmar. We encountered only two Western women in the whole afternoon. The next day while enjoying our good fortune to be in Bagan we saw a whole group of young people on motorcycles. When they dismounted, Fran approached them with no fear:

“Where are you from?”

“Rubyland”

“Where’s Rubyland?”

“In the north of the country.”

     Apparently, Rubyland was way north in Myanmar. There were rubies there and they sold them in Thailand, explaining why they rode shiny motorcycles and had nice clothing. The Rubyland young people appreciated the beauty of Bagan but were soon returning to the north of the nation. We had to catch the train the next day but we were glad we met the in-country tourists.

     In two nights we disembarked the railroad in Mandalay at 2 AM without further incidents, and found our hotel. We were on the “Road to Mandalay” but found nothing of interest in Mandalay but the Buddhist temples. Next evening we boarded the public ferry on the Irrawaddy River, which goes down the center of Myanmar. Soon Fran found a group of local women. They naturally “discussed” face makeup without Fran speaking a word of Burmese, and the women not speaking English. Fran pointed to the white makeup on their cheeks. They giggled and “explained” that the white makeup prevented them from getting sunburned. Next the women pointed to Fran’s face. Fran pulled the blue eyebrow shadow out of her purse. They all giggled. Then Fran put the blue eye shadow on two or three women. Fran and the Burmese women happily carried on for an hour without speaking words (except they exchanged names and “thank you” which produced more giggles). We retired on the narrow ferry’s beds, sleepy but exhilarated.

Next day we left the ferry, walked the path to the train station, and after an hour got on the train and took it to Yangon. Before we got on the plane to Bangkok I had to deal with the official who exchanged my $200 for Burmese currency. This was 1980 and we had pre-purchased most of what we spent in Myanmar. The official was not in the mood to exchange the $150 back to US dollars. I politely reminded him this year was “The Year of the Tourist in Myanmar” and slowly he changed his mind. In the end, we got $140 back. He was happy, he had “saved face”, and I was happy. So thus ended our first week in Myanmar. Then we went to Laos, but that’s another story…

II. 2003 The River Cruise

     Fran and I got to Yangon in 2003 and had two days before joining the river cruise. We decided to visit the only synagogue still in Myanmar. The Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue was built in 1896 by Baghdadi Jews who were coming to establish trading businesses in India and Burma. It is located on a small street near the center of Yangon. Burma had 2500 Jews before World War II but it only has a few now. It only opens for the High Holy Days. (The synagogue was restored in 2013.)

Yangon Synagogue

(Credit: Trip Advisor)

     We took a bus from Yangon for an hour to a pier on the delta of the Irrawaddy River. We avoided the months of monsoon season, May through October. This wasn’t like the European glossy, modern river cruises. The ship was old but not remodeled, but we gladly boarded it. The crew spoke very little English but they were friendly and pointed out the life jackets, even if they were ancient. The guide’s English was passable.

     Every day we stopped on the river at another small or large town. There were steep sand banks at every stop we had to climb up. One of the crew or the guide helped us with the high, sandy incline. Then we would explore the village, careful not to step on the property of those who might not welcome us. We met numerous Burmese and they were friendly, but in these small towns very few spoke English. The Irrawaddy River ran down the center of Myanmar. Every day we passed barges and small boats loaded with rice, other foods, teak wood, and different products. The river’s length was over 1,300 miles but we got off halfway in Mandalay. It was one of the most interesting weeks we spent in our life. 

Irrawaddy River with Local Boats

(Credit: The Telegraph)

III. 2023 The Cruise

     In the winter of 2023 we cruised on our favorite ship, the Oceania Marina, from Dubai to Bangkok. Included was the overnight stop in Yangon (that’s before the military cracked down and cruise lines canceled their stops in Myanmar). By now, Fran didn’t get off the ship but I always signed up for the easy tours. So the people who flew to Pagan were thrilled with their tour. But we were very happy to see our former Myanmar guests.

     University of Nebraska-Omaha has an arrangement with the US State Department that whenever they fly over 20-25 YSEALI’s (Young South-East Asian Leaders) they contact Omaha community members to host 2-3 members for dinner and/or sleepovers. So that’s how we met Su Yi and Moon the previous spring. The first morning when we arrived at Yangon, I took the bus tour into the city and met Su Yi at a convenient deluxe hotel and ate a delicious lunch there. Between bites, Su Yi told me her family was OK and took me to the present on her activities. I gave her regards from Fran and explained why she couldn’t be at the lunch. Then after three hours I took the bus one hour to the ship dock. Because of the political situation we never contacted her later. I just heard from Su Yi and she’s received a fellowship to spend next year in London. 

As she wrote: “I am on scholarship so as per the rules, I cannot be in the UK after the degree but am still exploring ways to remain and other options. I will be in London until January 2025.”

I don’t understand how she got the grant, being from Myanmar, but congratulations to Su Yi!

     The next day Moon drove out to the ship. When I went out to the port office I explained that Moon was to visit Fran and me on the cruise ship. Moon’s family was obviously well-connected, she was driving a fairly new car, but the port officials weren’t impressed. After an hour of discussing the situation with the port officials, they finally let her drive on to the pier. I had set up with the ship’s security that we had a local guest. We were allowed to bring her to our suite, and she enjoyed a late lunch in the impressive dining room. Again, we didn’t contact Moon again because we thought American e-mails would put her family in danger. We haven’t heard from Moon again but we wish her and her family well.

We hope Myanmar goes through the difficult situation well, and we wish all the people health and prosperity.

                                                                Rich and Su Yi at the Yangon Hotel                                                                   Moon and Fran on the Oceania Marina room

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