"Yangon spruces up" a timely (?) t

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Subject: "Yangon spruces up"  a timely (?) travel article from Daily Yomiuri

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Not long after the arrest of 262 NLD representatives, this travel
article appeared in the Daily Yomiuri.  

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Daily Yomiuri, June 8, 1996 

YANGON SPRUCES UP

Myanmar is an unspoiled destination where tourists are treated as
honored guests, writes Matin Robinson after a visit to Yangon.  The
country is opening up and later this year is expected to begin offering
two - month tourist visas, instead of the current one - month visa.

Myanmar is changing rapidly.  Foreign investment is being
encouraged and two - month tourist visas are expected to be available
beginning in October, the start of Visit Myanmar Year.  Currently
Myanmar offers only one - month visas.

The country of 43 million is opening up.  Shortages of everyday items
are a thing of the past, international name - brand goods are
everywhere, and Yangon's first shopping malls and luxury hotels will
open soon.  Insurgency wars on the borders are on the decline.

Young ladies in smart uniforms at the airport will help you chose a
hotel and advise the best way to get there.  New hotels are opening
every month so the traveler has a much wider choice.  The cheapest
places, such as the YMCA, are about $10 for bed and breakfast.

Yangon is an orderly but crumbling city with lots of parks and lakes. 
With its wide roads and sidewalks, and a lack of traffic jams and
skyscrapers, it has a pleasant, old - fashioned atmosphere.  Men still
wear traditional cotton sarongs down to their ankles, and social life
centers on small pavement cafes where everyone sits on tiny stools
and chats over tea and snacks.

But there is virtually no nightlife and few places are open after 9 p.m.

Yangon is spread out, but a taxi ride across town costs less than $3. 
There are also buses and cycle rickshaws.

The large zoological gardens are popular for picnics, especially on
weekends, when at 2:30 p.m. some worried - looking girls dance with
large snakes as partners, and some cute elephants play harmonicas
and do other tricks.

There is also an elephant - drawn bus and a natural history museum
to enjoy, as well as lots of birds and animals.  Surprisingly, the lion's
den is still called the King Edward VII Carnivoria -- a remnant of the
British Raj that has not been renamed.  Admission is $5 for
foreigners.

Visitors soon realize that Myanmar is unlike anywhere else.  This
feeling is reinforced outside the wonderful Shwedagon Pagoda, where
hawkers stand with cages full of sparrows and other small birds. 
Buddhists pay to release the birds in the belief this gains them merit,
although the birds are only caged in the first place because people pay
to release them.

One television program was called "Prize - winning Songs for 48th
Anniversary Armed Forces Day Song Competition."  Now that Time
magazine and BBC satellite news are available, perhaps the local
media will improve.

>From Yangon you can take a short boat ride up to Twante village to
buy handicrafts or to Tanyin to see the ruins of an 18th century
Portuguese church - cum - fortress.  Further afield are Pago, Pathein
(which can be reached by overnight boat), unspoiled Chaungtha
Beach and the Balancing Rock Pagoda, which involves a long bus or
train ride and a 12 kilometer uphill hike.

But wherever you are in Myanmar, try to visit a pagoda festival. 
These are very popular events that attract crowds of all ages hunting
for bargains in market stalls and playing games like throwing hoops
to win prizes.  And don't miss the Myanmar - style entertainments,
which are held in large tents.  There is usually a traditional puppet
show, although these days gangster puppets with guns and rock star
puppets with dark glasses and electric guitars are popular.

The magic shows are excellent and combine music, humor, and
highly skilled sleight - of = hand tricks.  Song and dance shows often
have young men giving perfect impersonations of women.  About 9
p.m. an all night rock opera tells complicated stories of kings, queens,
love, war and supernatural spirits, accompanied by very loud
Myanmar and Western music.  

Attending at least part of one of these marathon dramas is quite an
experience, especially when the audience participates.  It's a cross
between a Shakespeare play, an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical and a
rock concert.

Tourists are still a novelty in Myanmar, and treated as honored
guests.  Accommodation is nothing fancy and the food is unexciting,
but the genuine helpfulness and friendliness of the people ensure that
every visitor returns home with plenty of good memories.  

Historical sites abound in Myanmar's old capital

Mandalay, 700 kilometers north of Yangon, was the royal capital
when the British took over in 1885.  The city is still dominated by the
walls of the palace with its moat and pagoda - style gateways and
guard towers.

It's a pleasant ride to bicycle the eight kilometers around the walls. 
The palace was destroyed in 1945, but you can see replicas of some
of the buildings such as the throne room and the red circular watch
tower.

The town is laid out on a grid pattern, so it's easy to find your way
about.  Renting a bicycle (less than $1 a day) is a good way to look
around.  The Mahamuni Pagoda, Zegyo market and gold, silver and
marble craftsmen are on the list of things to see, and brightly colored
applique wall tapestries are a popular buy.

The prime attraction however, is Mandalay Hill, which is covered
with Buddhist pagodas, shrines and monasteries.  Families live there,
selling food, handicrafts, toys and Buddhist offerings to pilgrims and
tourists.  At the base of the hill are large white statues of lions.  More
than 1,500 steps lead up to the top, and it's best to go there in the late
afternoon when it's cooler.  The sunset is fabulous.

Mandalay is a base for excursions to the surrounding area which is
full of historical sites.  For $25 a day you can hire a car and a guide
for the day.

At Amarapura, 11 kilometers south of Mandalay, there are silk
weavers and U Bein's teak bridge, named after a man who was the
town mayor about 200 years ago.  In the dry season this one-kilometer bridge spans dry land that is intensively cultivated, but in
the summer monsoon months the whole area is flooded and the bridge
is useful.  It's a good place to observe rural life and to take photos of
ox - carts, duck herders and fishermen.

Another excursion involves a one - hour boat ride along the
Irrawaddy river to Mingun.  Here is a huge ruin that illustrates the
high ambitions and weaknesses of Myanmar's royal rulers.

Pyin U - Lwin is also worth a visit.  It's seventy kilometers east of
Mandalay.  It's' up in the Shan Hills, 1,100 meters above sea level. 
Cycling around some suburbs you feel you are in Britain.  There are
mock Tudor mansions surrounded by lawns and red - brick Victorian
houses with tiled rods and chimneys.

-- Martin Robinson
The Daily Yomiuri STYLE Section
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