It is almost the end of 2011

We wish everybody a happy, wonderful, and healthy 2012!

It is later than I expected (I do get 'lost in time' now that we have internet back home). More postings tomorrow or in 2012....

In the last post I mentioned tourists... and we see a fair few at the moment. That is not what I wanted to mention though.

Most people don't know much about Burma (Myanmar). They have heard about the country (and seldom in a positive light) but not many people know where it is exactly and what it is like here. This is not Thailand (even though that is a neighbour). What surprises me every year, and this year is no exception, how ill-prepared some tourists are.

First of all, quite a few people think since this is not on the general tourist trail in SE-Asia, it is a dirt cheap country to visit. This country is much more expensive in general than e.g. Thailand. There is not a lot on offer accommodation wise, there are no 'tourist buses' that travel between favourite destinations, and food is cheap but only if you know where to look. So, regularly, people arrive here with a few dollars in their pocket thinking this is just an undiscovered, and therefore cheaper, version of Thailand. Which brings me to the second thing that people should know about this destination.. THERE ARE NO ATM's! (actually since a few weeks there are ATM's they are just no use to anyone yet). No places to cash in traveller's cheques and very very few places where you can pay with a credit card. And Western Union has no auxiliary here. And every year people haven't done their homework and arrive here only to find that they have a problem.

Money is just the biggest problem if people haven't researched this country, but I've met people thinking that the beaches here were just like Thai beaches (with all the nightlife). Well.... not exactly. The beaches are nice but apart from swimming and sunbathing there isn't much to do. Some guys think that there are girlie bars here on every corner too... Mmm, no. There is a little bit of nighlife going on in the bars of the big hotels but that is about all. Last year we met some very disappointed travellers. they had prepared themselves for some  serious clubbing only to find that there was nothing going...

You can't hire a car here as a tourist, nor motor bikes, scooters, etc.. Bicycles, yes. In Bagan and Mandalay especially. Mobile phones don't work here but it is no problem bringing them into the country. And nowadays you CAN buy a prepaid card. You just can't top it up. Internet works in the main destinations, though sometimes at a snail's pace, and I've carried in (and out) several cameras and a laptop on many occasions. That is fine. No worries there.

This whole pots was triggered by a comment on a travel forum. Not that posting this will help much but at least I've mentioned it (again).

An update on email, weather, electricity, and more

So, yes, the internet connection works. I can't say it works fine though. Yesterday i could't get a decent enough connection to actually view a single web page. Today I've already been disconnected 3 times in the past hour. But... I've just read my email at home, reviewed the BBC news pages and am typing this in the hope I can update my blog again....

It is late December and this is usually the only time of the year that I like here in Myanmar. It is WINTER (at least, that is what THEY call it). Normally, I would wear a scarf in the morning since it can be slightly cool but this year that hasn't been necessary yet. It is supposed to be my 'yes-I-can-make-it-through-the-rest-of-the-year' - cooling down period but temperatures are still 30+ degrees Celsius in the afternoon... What kind of WINTER is that???? I hope January will bring the annual relief from the heat otherwise I'll definitely feel cheated...

Electricity.... Prices will go up 50% in January. The promise is that electricity supply will improve. I do hope so. I don't mind the price hike so much if service will indeed get better. It is rather difficult to bake bread or cookies when there is a power outage in the middle of your baking process (very frustrating I can tell you).

For the rest... not too much. There are definitely more tourists in Yangon. But even now we comment on any westerner we see, especially when the seeing has been done away from the usual sites. We saw 4 young, western guys the other day way out of the tourist hotspots and we think they were expat kids (though not 100% sure). That really gave us conversation for the next 5 minutes. So, even though it is obvious that there are more people visiting this country, it isn't exactly overrun yet....

YES YES YES!!!!!

We have internet at home. I'm in heaven..... Well, sort of. It is a dial-up connection of a bandwidth, and therefore speed, of next to nothing. I don't think I've had a normal connection that was this slow since the early 90's.... Admittedly, internet is often slow in this country but seriously, the way the pace is now, it is not a lot of action for my 30 hours prepaid.....  Then again, in theory I can internet whenever I want, keep this blog better updated, research things like baby food, and in general feel like I'm connected to the rest of the world....

But first... the real test.: Can I get this post out there? Too often I've been frustrated when I typed an update only to find I couldn't get it on the blog......

Christmas

As usual on Saturday mornings, we're in Ocean (a shopping 'mall') tending to the weekly household restocking and of course, checking emails and such (no internet at home). For the past weeks, we've been hearing Christmas music here around the clock. Everything is decorated for Christmas and we can buy more and more Christmas things from plastic trees and decoration to Santa hats. In this country Christmas was only celebrated by the Christians here but nowadays the 'middle class' wants to be considered western and therefor spends a lot on Christmas things. And it is promoted massively by retail.

Still, it doesn't feel like Christmas. At least, to me. Something is missing and I was wondering what it was. In the Netherlands, many people are no longer practicing Christians but the spirit of Christmas and the feeling that goes with it is still there. It still has a place in our culture. It is a time to spend with family and friends. Here it is a way to show how western you are and a way to make money for retail (like it is everywhere of course). What is missing is the Christmas spirit. And no amount of Christmas music and Christmas stuff to buy is going to make up for that.....

Talking about Christmas spirit. Just read on the BBC website about the riots that were in the US over sneakers. Ok, Air Jordans but still. Hardly the spirit of Christmas when people are pushing, shoving, punching, and even robbing others over a pair of shoes.....!

Sinterklaas

A picture or two of how we celebrate Sinterklaas in Yangon.

Here Sinterklaas arrives by boat (as he always does)....  but the boat in Yangon is a tad smaller than the one he arrives with in The Netherlands.












And of course, the kids meet with Sinterklaas and the Zwarte Pieten (Black Peters)

Taxi drivers

More and more tourists are seen here every day. We just had our breakfast in the teashop annex restaurant across from the airport and at one time there were 5! tour buses lined up (blocking the way for everybody by the look of it). The taxi rivers now think that it is open season to scam and overcharge for the next 2 months coming. Officially the taxis now have to use their taxi meters since the end of August. In the papers it was presented like this time the government meant business. The taxis had 1 month to repair their (often broken) meters form the last time the taxi meter scheme was supposed to start operating (over 2 years ago). But, unlike last time, the drivers don't even have the meter on. So apparently there is no control what so ever. Anyways, my frustration stems as usual from a taxi driver. First he wanted to charge us way too much. But eventually he settled for a reasonable price. We were heading to Ocean supermarket/shopping centre just down the road. The guy had no clue what he was doing and decided to drop us off across a very busy road instead of where we wanted to be. Then he wanted to make some sort of badly executed U-turn which he didn't manage and then let us out near the shopping centre on the correct side of the road but away from the entrance. He blocked the exit of the parking garage and the driver of a car that came out of there started to shout at him to move his vehicle. 'Our' driver started to shout back and even became slightly aggressive... I know there are good taxi drivers out there and even good ones in Yangon but here, everybody can become a taxi driver whether they can drive or not. They do not need to have any skills or even knowledge about the city. They only need to be able to make enough money to pay the owner of the taxi car (and often taxi license) 15,000 kyats ($20)per day for rent. We do get some seriously bad drivers, drivers who have no cue to even big places like the place we wanted to go to today, and who want to charge you double just because you're a westerner... Unfortunately owning a car costs a fortune here so that is not an option... I read the other day that 3 years ago there were a little over 10,000 taxis in Yangon. Now there are over 80,000. You would think that competition would have improved prices and service....

Weekend

And what a weekend it'll be. Tomorrow there is a Maths competition. Since 5 kids from my class take part, I need to be there in the (early) morning. But it is a good experience for them and I'm sure several of them will do well. After that I hope we have time (and I still have energy) to go to the free Jazz festival in the afternoon. Bringing the kids along of course. It would be very good for them and I know I'm so going to enjoy it once we're there. But whether we'll get there? About that I'm not so sure yet. And then, the big event this weekend.... Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) will arrive here in Yangon! And he even arrives by boat. There are quite a number of Dutch here and together with partners and kids (if any) we'll be around 50 people. It will be good fun I'm sure. And Xenne can't stop talking about Sinterklaas. Ok, Now 'Sinterklaas' has to go shopping...