The end is nigh
on My Thai (Thailand), 08/Aug/2011 06:26, 34 days ago
Yesterday was my first day back in the office after a fortnight off during which I travelled to Burma.The only thing which really interested me about going back into work was seeing where the photocopier had moved to this time (it seems to relocate on an almost weekly basis).Instead of the photocopier moving it was my desk though and while everything on it seems to have disappeared, I’m not feeling too distraught.I’m really struggling to get my head around the fact that I now have just three and a half weeks left on placement. I remember so clearly working towards my six month ‘anniversary’ and the many, many times I told myself that once I reached it I’d be over the hump and it wouldn’t all seem so insurmountable.How time flies!The past few months have sped by with increasing velocity and now the end really is in sight.The closer it gets, the more I’m thinking about life after VSO.After placement I’ll spend a couple of weeks travelling (money willing) and then head home.I’m then giving myself a few weeks to try and adjust to life in Blighty before heading back to school after the October half term.Let’s just say that I’m feeling very up and down about heading home at the moment.Having been away for a fair stretch before (no, not at Her Majesty’s pleasure), I know that there’s a certain weariness that sets in post-travel. As much as I’m looking forward to seeing family and friends again, I worry that after a few weeks, a few months, it’ll feel as though this year had never happened.Well, that’s not really what I mean since I know the impact it’s had on me will be felt for a long time to come. I mean more that I’ll slip back into old routines and habits which are likely to feel somewhat staid after the ups and downs of life as a VSOer. It’ll be nice to have a bit of the old ‘same same’ for a while...I’m just not sure how long that feeling will last.So these are the thoughts mostly occupying my neurotic mind at the moment.Still, I’m very excited about finishing placement and see making it to the one year mark a major achievement and feat of endurance in itself.Anyway, back to Burma...I travelled there with two fellow volunteers from up in Chiang Mai and after various secondhand stories about being followed by government spies, problems with immigration officials, etc., we were all a little on our guard passing through Rangoon airport.Personally I felt nothing but safe in the country and was surprised by the openness of a lot of the people we came across. Thailand may be called the land of smiles but it's got nothing on Burma! Being pretty cynical by nature and suffering flashbacks of countless Cambodian hawkers, it took a few days before I let my guard down and accepted that people didn't want anything from us - they were just genuinely interested and friendly.Shwedagon Paya, RangoonRangoon didn’t do much for me but I was surprised by the strong Indian influences there – in the teashops, restaurants and betel nut found at every turn. Many of the places we visited were similarly diverse – in Kalaw, a small town in the hills, we came across Buddhist wats, Christian churches, Sikh temples and Muslim mosques, all existing quite peacefully alongside each other. It’s something I definitely wasn't expecting in a country with such divisions between ethnic groups.Next stop was Mandalay. The city was much less frenetic than Rangoon, but unfortunately the weather (rainy season monsoons, 100+ temperatures and high humidity) showed no signs of changing.During our trip we visited some sights outside the town and also went to see The Moustache Brothers.The troupe, blacklisted by the government, now perform in their front room for tourists only. Several years ago, after a performance in Rangoon where several jokes were made at the junta’s expense, one of the ‘brothers’ was arrested and the eyes of the government have been on them ever since. After the show we were shown a video of the Rangoon performance where Aung San Suu Kyi can be seen breaking into fits of laughter at a joke about government ‘thieves’ – the only time I’ve seen her looking anything other than serene and composed!Taking the lazy ride back to the shore, AmarapuraLeaving Mandalay we took a slow boat down the Irrawaddy to Bagan.Despite being sat in the designated tourist zone on comfy plastic chairs while the locals found a spot on the floor, it was a fascinating trip. At each stop there’d be a rush of activity as women boarded the boat carrying trays on their heads full of wares to sell. At many villages the riverbank was full as people waited to collect or load goods or just check out the weird looking farangs.The river really does act as the lifeblood for so many communities– they wash, drink, bathe, farm and fish there.While most of the villages were simple bamboo huts with thatch roofs, we also saw signs of the development to come in a couple of massive bridges being constructed across the river.Once in Bagan we had a pretty interesting horse cart ride to our hotel in the pitch black. What we thought would be a short trip turned into an hour plus and I wish now we’d found some other means of getting there after what that poor horse had to endure for us!My cheapo supermarket torch definitely turned out to be the trip's best investment though after getting us through that journey, some evening walks, a few bike rides and many power cuts.While much drier than Rangoon and Mandalay, Bagan was also unbearably hot!The many temples were beautiful and after the two cities we’d visited it made a peaceful stop on our route.Temples of Bagan(I'm the pasty looking one at the back)After a few days in Bagan it was a 4am and ten hour local bus ride east to Kalaw. It was grim.Luckily we had seats (if you’d call them that!) but I’m pretty sure the people sat on plastic stools in the narrow aisle were no worse off than we were!Kalaw is like a bare bones version of Mae Hong Son, I guess.Being higher up meant we were able to escape much of the heat and the weather was like a summer day back home– lovely!Trekking around Kalaw...rice paddies aplenty!From Kalaw it was a whistle stop tour around Inle Lake which was just beautiful and then yet another bus ride back to Rangoon.Crumpets!  The gravity defying Intha fishermen of Inle Lake  Growing tomatoes on the water   For me the most interesting part of the trip was speaking to locals and listening to their thoughts on the situations they face. Safe to say, no one spoke highly of the government and outlooks ranged from the cautiously optimistic (Aung San Suu Kyi's recent meeting with government officials had been highly publicised by the country's media which is, surprise surprise, controlled by the government itself) to the resigned. People feel powerless to bring about change themselves and are afraid of stepping out of line as the consequences are often severe. For example, we were told by one local that the punishment for watching Rambo IV, where Stallone travels to Burma to rescue a group of aid workers (and blows up lots of things in the process), is five years imprisonment.Surely watching the film is punishment enough!Or 'New Lies of Myanmar' as one local told us it's often calledAt one point on a bus ride from Inle lake back to Rangoon our bus was stopped and a group of plain clothed officials with handcuffs boarded the bus. For several minutes they checked the ID cards of locals, poked around their bags and asked questions. Intimidation is obviously a powerful tool in the junta's arsenal.Anyway, I don't want to go on for too long but I definitely learnt a lot from the trip and it was great to share it with a couple of my vol friends too since our paths might not cross again before I head home.Home...scary thought!