In search of an Empire.Siam,Burma and Singapore.

[drron]

We have had over 20 visits to Singapore so not many tourist activities for us.But several TRs here on AFF have shown the Gardens By the Bay.Gardens are our thing so we went.Spent several hours there but did not see everything but can certainly add to the recommendation to go.Magnificent.The surrounding construction adds to the sense of grandeur.So a short pictorial-

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[drron]

I'm really amazed at the work it must have taken to get these ancient olive trees here-

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We decided this was a Japanese photo shoot and guessing the model was male.Who knows.

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[drron]

You just cant get away from that building-

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Though I didn't approve of the above ecological vandalism.

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[drron]

And on the last afternoon I took a walk.first was going to where one of our favourite pictures of Singapore was taken 30 years ago-

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And the hawker place very close to the Westin which you can see between the buildings in front-

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And a final view from the Westin pool-

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So just our flight home and summary to go.

 

[drron]

So Thursday and time to go home.A late breakfast.Pack and do some of this TR.Checkout at 1600.Get a cab to Changi and of course seeing we have hours to wait it is there in about 15 minutes.Less on the meter than to the Westin.
Checkin no problems,straight through Immigration and we now have 8 hours to kill.
Changi is still set up for Christmas-

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We then waste some time in the butterfly enclosure-

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Then wander around the shops but things aren't cheap here so eventually go to the Krisflyer lounge.No exclusive place for us.Find a reasonably quiet corner but soon interrupted by a fellow from Melbourne skyping his partner.Yes she may be in Melbourne but you don't have to talk loudly to get her to hear your inane conversation.He goes and a woman with 2 little darlings arrives.But the screaming littlies are all over the lounge so nothing left but to drink.
For all the people in the lounge they put out little quantities of food and only 2 bottles of red,white and sparkling.A couple of times I had to ask for fresh supplies.

Wander off to the gate a little early.fairly long line at gate security and as usual I slow it down more as my knee sets it off as usual.
boarding is a little late and once on board a further delay as some have not boarded and their bags are being removed-probably asleep somewhere.

SQ255. SIN-BNE. ETD-0045. PB-0058. TO-0111.
ETA-1025. Land-1036. At gate-1041. Seats 12A,C. A333 regional seats.

Once again champagne on sitting but after that the service deteriorates.We opted for sleep and to have breakfast instead of supper.Unfortunately quite a few wanted supper.The lights remained on,service was slow and noisy so didn't get much sleep.Breakfast-

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At second furthest gate,Smartgate refused to recognise me but our bags are the first 2 out so we get to customs before everybody else.Cant use fastpass as have wooden things to declare but we hit the last of a chinese plane so agent lets us through to the fast lane.no problems with our items so soon back to the Sunny coast.Humidity is a bit much-wasn't humid at all in Burma.

So just a summary tomorrow.

 

[RooFlyer]

<snip>
Just one strange thing.To get to our carousel we passed a carousel with a JQ flight number up.When the luggage started coming out there were at least a hundred bags this colour-

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A JQ convention?

Or a Hare Krishna one?

I'm surprised you said somewhere else that you didn't find Myanmar humid. I found Yangon reasonably so (and hot!), but not Mandalay or Bagan. Maybe my Tasmania habitat Vs your Nth Queensland one.

 

[drron]

Yangon certainly was a little more humid than Mandalay and Bagan but I walked for nearly 5 hours on that last day without too much problem but an hour walking outside in Singapore had me sweating profusely as does 30 minutes in the garden at home.Then again I vividly remember the first day I worked in Tasmania.I walked into the ward wearing a jumper.Everyone said isn't it hot and humid.Well I just didn't consider 18C and 45% humidity really cut the mustard.

So to the summaries.First the cruise.
The Orcaella is a great little ship.Very comfortable.Staff fantastic.As I said before the food is really good.It is a little more expensive than others but anyone more comfortable with an upmarket experience it is worth it.
As I said we did have problems with Belmond the organisation.However everything has been resolved and behind us.It does appear the fault was not with the local organisation but probably Head Office.

So is a cruise on the Ayeyarwady/Irrawaddy river worth it?
Definitely.infrastructure is not well developed yet in Burma.Although there is a new highway from Yangon to Mandalay other roads are not great.You can get into the larger towns but it was great being able to visit smaller villages.I really don't think it matters which of the many different riverboats you use they all have the ability to get to smaller places.
Again it is better to do this sooner rather than later.There are several dams being built in the headwaters of the river mostly by the Chinese.These may very well end up affecting the water flow in the river.This is one of the unintended consequences of the sanctions imposed on Burma.The Chinese government are not concerned with Human Rights and as virtually the only source of investment have a big presence in Burma.

Once again you are faced with poverty and the near absence of medical help and wonder what you can do.As in PNG they really welcome any spare reading glasses,simple surgical supplies or unwanted drugs.Most of the ships have a local doctor on board who will coordinate the distribution.

Definitely disappointed that we didn't go north from Mandalay but only try from mid August to Mid October to be sure of river levels.However the cruises from Mandalay down to Yangon certainly offer you an experience that would be difficult to achieve anywhere else.

 

[rogerkambah]

A wonderful TR drron!!. Thank you for all the time and effort you have given to allow an insight to Myanmar in particular.

Cheers

 

[drron]

Burma-absolutely loved it.Much better if you are a people person.The locals are friendly,very much interested in you and love it when you try to interact.
But just know a couple of phrases.As Rooflyer and then myself keep saying you must remember mingalaba as the greeting.Can be used any time of day.I know mrsdrron is glad I am not saying it any more.
Second-kayzuba (I am writing it as said not how you will see in phrase books).Thank you.
These 2 words will go a long way to start off a conversation.If at a temple and you see locals taking pictures of their family don't be shy.A mingalabar and sign language that you are offering to take a picture of the whole family will get you a lot of good karma but then be prepared to be in a picture as well.

All school children learn English.They rarely have any experience in conversation so are hesitant but you will get surprised at times as I was when a grade 9 girl had a conversation with me on a sandbank in the middle of the river.Her conversation came from listening to the BBC.


The children are delightful.I used tamarind candies as an icebreaker-they are local and not as sweet as some of our candies.They all seemed to love them.Often the parents would want them as well.There is a picture of the packet back in the story.Quite cheap.

Bagan is a must.Just amazing.But definitely do the balloon ride.It is seasonal I think from October to April.Try to get out into the country and less visited villages.Unfortunately tourist numbers are growing exponentially so get there soon.For example in 2010 there were 3 balloons a day over Bagan.2011-5.Now-20.

Yangon is worth a visit but not for too long.It is hot,dirty and really quite expensive.The Shwedagon Pagoda definitely worth a visit.I wasn't impressed with Scott's market.

Don't worry too much with money changing.The rate was virtually identical everywhere.Also there is a very small spread.During our 3 weeks the US dollar ranged from 1030-1033.but you could buy back dollars at 1033-1036.So when we arrived we got 1033 for our US dollars and the day we left we could buy them back at 1033.Never had an experience like that anywhere.Cash is definitely king.The US dollar is accepted virtually everywhere.One side benefit of charming the locals was that I was often approached to buy US dollars in small amounts that people had accepted but always at a rate of 1000K per dollar-as that is the rate that they accepted them in the first place.New notes though.
There are ATMs and obviously the numbers are increasing.Credit cards are starting to be accepted but nearly always Visa or MasterCard.However they are not used to dealing with CCs and our transactions took quite some time-and we only used them at hotels and onboard the Orcaella.

And finally why do I still insist on calling the country Burma when it's name is Myanmar.Well most of the locals are Burmese and still call the country Burma.It was the Generals who came up with Myanmar so it is disliked.Though they all agree with the generals changing the name of the Irrawaddy river to Ayeyarwady river.I was also surprised at how open the people were talking about the politics of the country.Though I wondered at their optimism that they are on the road to democracy.The present President was a General and in fact was the military Prime Minister from 2007-2010.26% of the seats in Parliament are reserved for the military.The Constitution can only be changed by a 75% vote of Parliament.So the military is still in charge.

Then again Burma is no different to Thailand,Laos,Cambodia,Vietnam so I don't really think this alone should stop you visiting.

So Burma will change as the number of tourists increase.Go whilst it is still relatively unaffected by tourism.

Now signing off.Next proper TR will begin mid May when we are off to the US,driving Paris-Amsterdam,a few days in Helsinki and Copenhagen before cruising Copenhagen to Copenhagen via Norway,Murmansk and Archangel.Then 6 nights R&R in Bangkok.

 

[tgh]

Thanks for another great TR Drron, it was a great read.

 

[robd]

Loved it. Thanks drron.

 

[Pushka]

Thanks drron!

 

[jojen]

Thank you Drron for posting another great trip report. Your photos are amazing !!

jojen

 

[boomy]

Thanks drron for another great TR!
After reading RooFlyer Burma TR and now yours I'm loaded with information and wish I could book a ticket and fly there tomorrow

 

[RooFlyer]

<snip>
And finally why do I still insist on calling the country Burma when it's name is Myanmar.Well most of the locals are Burmese and still call the country Burma.It was the Generals who came up with Myanmar so it is disliked.Though they all agree with the generals changing the name of the Irrawaddy river to Ayeyarwady river.I was also surprised at how open the people were talking about the politics of the country.Though I wondered at their optimism that they are on the road to democracy.The present President was a General and in fact was the military Prime Minister from 2007-2010.26% of the seats in Parliament are reserved for the military.The Constitution can only be changed by a 75% vote of Parliament.So the military is still in charge.
<snip>.

I asked my guide about the origin of 'Myanmar'. It was the name of one of the combinations of ancient kingdoms of modern day Burma / Myanmar and was chosen as a unifying thing as the country has significant 'Balkanisation' type issues with the old kingdoms/modern 'States'. I was told that "Burma" has most recognition in Yangon area, but once you move out to the outlying States, 'Myanmar' has overwhelming support. My guide went so far as to say that Aung San Suu Kyi, who as you know dr.ron is often referred to as 'Our Lady', has limited her popularity and influence as she still uses 'Burma'. The outlying States wouldn't back her as strongly because of that.

Or so I was told!

 

[drron]

I think we both have been told a true story.The Burmese people who make up nearly 2/3 of the population prefer Burma.These are mainly concentrated in the Ayeyarwady river basin hence completely covering the area I went tne of the staff on the ship was Shan.they like Myanmar as he believes most of the minorities do.The minorities do live in the much more rural and isolated areas.However that doesn't mean they support the General's allies over "Our Lady" as the army has done a pretty good job at alienating most of the minorities but not all.
When we took a long bus drive into the hills from Pyay there were signs supporting her party the NLD and in Pyay itself and Mandalay we passed NLD offices.

Also the 2012 by elections the NLD won 43 of the 46 seats.the government only won 1.So opting for Burma doesn't seem to have harmed her much politically.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

There is a really great article in todays New York Times about the area in the north of Burma - I hope the link works

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/t...on&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

 

[Fifa]

Thanks for the detailed TR drron.
I enjoyed every posted and loved the photos.

Now to decide when I can fit in a visit...

 

[patnlcc]

Loved it all, Ron. Can't wait for your next trip. We are on the Silver Spirit transatlantic in April.

 

[MDC]

Excellent TR drron. It's given me a lot of inspiration for the family trip to Burma we have planned for later this year. It's my parent's homeland and this trip will be the first time for us and only the second time for my parents since they emigrated in the 1960's.