Home »

An Extra Day in Myanmar (And a Bit of Yangon Nightlife)

Posted by Stuart at 11:15 PM on September 04, 2006

Guess what? I missed my flight home to Bangkok this morning.

It was completely my fault. A stupid mistake, or a subconscious self-sabotage? I don't know. All I know is that I really, really did want to get on that plane to Bangkok. And I was quite angry with myself when I was at the tiny Yangon airport and could actually see the people boarding the plane at the gate, but I was too late to join them.

But as you might imagine, it turned out that I am very glad to have had another day in Myanmar.

I spent most of my extra day on a walking tour of Yangon. I visited several of the fanciest hotels in town: the Strand Hotel on the river, which was built by people connected to the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore in 1898, the way-past-its-prime Dusit Hotel at Inle Lake, and the very fancy but government-owned Kandawgyi Palace Hotel located at the very beautiful Kandawgyi Lake and Park. I also visited Shwedagon Pagoda, the towering golden chedi that has become one of the national symbols of Myanmar.

But before I go on with what happened today, allow me to relate an experience I had last night. I was walking around town to see what life at night in Yangon was like. I had just said good bye to my young monk friend and I was feeling a bit melancholy. Partly because I was alone again after having constant companionship for 3 days, but also because I wished that there was something I could do to help improve this young man's life. But of course there really isn't much I can do.

In any case, I decided to stop at an Internet Cafe to see if it is as heavily censored by the government and as slow and unusable as I have heard. Both turned out to be true. Both Yahoo Mail and Gmail were blocked. The guy sitting next to me started to show me possible work-arounds when the connection for the whole shop went down.

At this point, I had been in the shop 10 minutes and I had yet to see a web page, so I decided to leave. The guy next to me left too, and outside on the sidewalk he struck up a conversation with me. It turns out that he is a law student at a local university. And even though all of the guide books have said that Burmese people don't want to talk about politics, I have found the opposite to be true. By the second question he was offering his position on the current state of affairs.

And just as my monk friend the day before, his biggest dream was to see another country - with the first choice being the USA. But he knew that was a pipe dream and that really anywhere outside of Burma would do.

---

So last night I had a small taste of "life at night", but tonight, on the night that I was supposed to be home in Bangkok, I decided to experience a little bit of "nightlife". So, I headed over to one street at the Theingyizi Market that seems to be the heart of nighttime entertainment in Yangon. It was still a little early, and I was quite tired from walking around in the blazing sun all day, so before I reached the market I stepped into one of the many teashops for a rest. I sat down at a table next to a much-appreciated fan and next to a young Burmese couple.

After a short time, the boy started talking to me. I don't think he knew more than 100 English words, but that didn't keep him from trying. Eventually he was able to convey that during the day he worked at an AIDS clinic in Yangon and at night he and the girl worked at a night club at the market. He said that many of the people at the AIDS clinic are either intravenous drug users and/or sex workers.

The two of them invited me to join them at the club, and of course how could I resist? And I have to say I have never seen anything like it. The club was made up of one huge, long, but dark room. A big dance floor was at one end of the room, tables and booths ran along both side walls, and a big bar was in the center.

The 2500 kyat (US$2.50) admission came with two Myanmar beers (which actually ended up being mostly drunk by the couple's friends, which I encouraged). Around 9:00 PM the show started. It had several acts: a four-boy dance group, a transgender fashion show, a female fashion show, and a transgender lip-synching performance, and then more of the same.

My friend was constantly introducing me to Burmese people of all persuasions, and would now and then point out the sex workers that were in the bar. But even with this crowd, the atmosphere and show were not at all sleazy or sexual. It was almost classy, or at least as classy as it can be when everyone around is living on a few dollars a day.

The show wrapped up around 10:30 PM and we were all out on the street shortly after. I walked back towards my hotel with a diverse group of people and listened to their Burmese banter. I have no idea what they were talking about, but I'd guess that unlike my conversations with the monk and the student, this one had nothing to do with politics.

At the Sule Pagoda, we parted ways. They went on to catch busses home, and I headed back to my hotel alone. It was at this same pagoda that I met my monk friend four days ago. He gave me my first insight into life in Burma, so it was fitting that I said good-bye to my last group of friends (who had a completely different perspective on life) here as well.

But I have to admit that I had a feeling of hopeless as I walked back to my hotel. I want so much for these people to have a better life. Or at least to have a chance at a better life. They deserve more. But what can I do? Sure I can buy dinners and beers. I can tell them stories about the US. I can encourage them to study hard and become fluent in English. I can try to give them hope and encouragement.

But what does that do? How can that help? It's like drops of fresh water in a salty ocean.