1. New Year celebrations last four days
Photos: Touring Myanmar
Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown: Myanmar
The Burmese make a big
deal of the New Year. Thingyan, known as the "water throwing festival,"
is celebrated in April. This year it takes place April 13-16.
Everything shuts down
over the four-day New Year -- banks, restaurants, shops. The biggest
celebrations are in Yangon and Mandalay.
During the New Year
water-throwing frenzy everyone throws and sprays water at each other.
Staying dry isn't an option. Water symbolizes the washing away of the
previous year's bad luck and sins.
On New Year's Day, the fourth day of the festival, fish and birds are released as acts of merit and feasts are held for monks.
In recent years of
privation, hard-core Burmese punks used leather glue to spike up their
hair at New Year. The superstrong glue meant their mohawks stayed
standing through the Water Festival, but when the party was over they
had to shave their hair. These days, Burmese punks use hairspray.
2. Myanmar has fantastic beaches
Myanmar has 1,250 miles
(2,000 kilometers) of coastline and some of the finest stretches of
beach in Asia. Many beaches along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea
remain undiscovered by tourists and unspoiled by development.
Many of them face west, so they produce great sunsets.
The best known is
Ngapali Beach, a 45-minute flight from Yangon, where almost two miles of
white sand are lined with palm trees overlooking the Andaman Sea. Here,
you'll find a number of large resorts.
Less developed is Ngwe
Saung, a beautifully unspoiled beach that's a five-hour drive from
Yangon. Also called Silver Beach, its eight-mile (13 kilometers) stretch
makes it one of the longest beaches in Asia.
3. The Internet isn't censored anymore, but it's still slow
The Internet arrived in Myanmar in 2000, but high prices and slow connections mean it's still not widely used.
Under the former
government, websites such as YouTube and Gmail were blocked, but
restrictions have largely been lifted and last month Google chairman
Eric Schmidt visited the country.
Far more popular than
the Internet are mobile phones, though here, too, prices are high
compared with other Asian countries. Local IT firms are lobbying to
introduce cheaper SIM cards and a breakthrough is expected soon.
A U.S.$15 SIM card for mobile phones will be made available in June, in the run-up to the Southeast Asian Games to be held in Myanmar in December, but will be available only to foreigners.
4. You'll need plenty of cash -- and make sure it's clean
There are few ATMs in
Myanmar, so visitors need to bring plenty of U.S. dollars. The higher
the denomination, the better the exchange rate.
Your greenbacks should
be squeaky clean -- that means no creases, stains, marks or tears. A
note that's folded or even a little worn is worthless in Myanmar.
At present, credit cards
are accepted only in five-star hotels and up-market shops and
restaurants, usually with a 2-3% fee added to the bill. But this is
changing. By the end of the year, credit cards should be more widely
accepted.
The local currency is
the kyat (pronounced "chat") and U.S.$1 will get you about 882 kyat. The
new 10,000-kyat note (less than U.S.$12) is the highest denomination --
be prepared for a bulging wallet.
There's little worry
about carrying a lot of cash. Crime against foreigners is rare and the
Burmese -- the vast majority of whom are Buddhist -- are generally
honest.
5. A kissing sound gets you a beer
When the Burmese want to
get a waiter's attention they make a kissing sound, usually two or
three short kisses. It's the sort of sound you might make if calling a
cat.
Walk down 19 Street in
Yangon's Chinatown and you'll hear that kissing sound a lot. This
narrow, pedestrian-only street is where the Burmese come to drink.
Restaurants line either side of the street and chairs and tables are set out in front.
The local brew is Myanmar Beer and it's cheap -- about 60 cents for a glass of draught.
This is prime people-watching territory and if you keep an eye out you'll spot Yangon's hip-hop royalty on the prowl.
Just don't expect to see
any females. Most Burmese women -- married and single -- stay home in
the evening. That's not to say Western women aren't welcome. It's
understood that foreigners have different customs.
6. Hotels are expensive
Room rates shot up 350% last year, which means that a room that cost U.S.$25 a night in 2011 now goes for almost U.S.$100.
It's a simple matter of
supply and demand. Since the country opened up, business travelers and
tourists have been packing flights to Myanmar. There are a lot more
visitors -- more than a million last year -- but roughly the same number
of hotels.
More hotels are on the
way, but they take time to build and the hotel shortage is expected to
continue five to 10 years. Book accommodation well ahead.
A lot of hotels are
renovating and since they don't want to miss out on the visitor boom,
they're staying open while upgrading. When making a reservation it's
worth checking to see if any work is in progress and, if so, requesting a
room away from the noise. Myanmar hit by severe hotel shortage
7. The men wear skirts
The traditional Burmese
dress is the longyi, a wraparound skirt worn by men and women. Men tie
theirs in the front and women fold the cloth over and secure it at the
side.
NLD Leader Aung San Suu
Kyi is known for her beautiful longyis and tailored tops. Her
high-profile appearances have helped boost the popularity of the
traditional dress among young women in Myanmar.
As for what's worn
underneath, that's a matter of personal preference. In the cities,
Burmese men usually wear underwear beneath their longyis when they go
out, but at home wear it as the Scots wear their kilts.
In the countryside,
underwear is much less common -- for men and women. As one man jokingly
put it: "Longyi are great. Free air-conditioning." That's a plus,
especially when the summer temperature tips 104 F (40 C).
It's completely acceptable for a foreigner to wear a longyi and can be a conversation starter.
8. The food is exceptional
It's considered rude to
eat with the left hand as this is the hand used for personal hygiene. To
spell that out -- the left hand does the job of toilet paper.
So eating -- as well as giving money -- is always done with the right hand.
A typical Burmese meal includes steamed rice, fish, meat, vegetables and soup and all the dishes arrive at the same time.
The Burmese use their fingertips to mold the rice into a small ball and then mix it with various dishes.
As is the norm, Buddhists usually avoid eating beef and the Muslims don't eat pork.
Meals are served with
plenty of condiments -- from sweet to savory -- and everyone has their
preferred way of customizing a dish.
9. The trains are seriously bumpy
The poor condition of
railway tracks means carriages get shaken about. This makes for a bouncy
ride, but trains are still a great way to see the country.
Myanmar's trains are
slow and have a reputation for running late. The most reliable route,
Yangon to Mandalay, takes about 16 hours, assuming no delays.
On overnight trains,
there's more chance of getting some shut-eye in an upper class seat than
in a sleeper. It can get surprisingly cold a few hours after dusk, so
it's smart to bring something warm to wear.
Buses are usually a
faster option, but they're often crowded. Domestic flights are the most
comfortable way to cover long distances and relatively cheap.
10. Yangon has a newspaper vendor on every street corner
After five decades under
a repressive military regime, the Burmese are enjoying their newfound
press freedom and showing a healthy appetite for news.
In the past, all
publications had to submit their stories to the Press Scrutiny and
Registration Division for approval. Censorship was gradually phased out
in 2012 and at the beginning of this year the bureau was formally
abolished.
Under the former ruling
military junta, Myanmar had a reputation for jailing anyone who dared
voice opposition; that included many in the media. Last year was the
first year since 1996 that no journalists were jailed.
Burmese journalists who fled the country and were forced to live in exile are slowly returning.
April 1 was a landmark
for the country's media. For the first time since 1964, daily newspapers
were permitted. It's a big step for press freedom, but there are
concerns that some of the popular weekly newspapers will struggle to
make the transition to daily circulation.
11. The people with red teeth aren't vampires
Chewing betel nut is a national pastime. Small street stalls selling the palm-sized green leaves are everywhere.
The leaves are filled
with hard squares of betel nut, spices and sometimes a pinch of tobacco
and then folded up and popped in the mouth and chewed.
You have to chew a while before you feel the mild narcotic effect of the betel nut.
At about 6 cents a wrap
it's a cheap hit, but there's a downside. Not only does betel nut stain
your teeth a reddish-brown, the little packages are spat out on the
floor when finished -- making for messy sidewalks. It's also highly addictive.
