04/19/99
Myanmar (written in Kunming China)
This will probably be our last entry point as internet is supposed
to be verbotten in Myanmar. (Versus just completely tracked
behind closed server doors here. In China you don't want your browser
to be visitng hundreds of anti-China sites. Don't type in *ANY*
net-based communication the words T*b*t, or Ti*nn*m*n 10** Ye*r
Anni***sar*, or Ta*w*n - which is still shown as a province of China
on every map). Travelling to Burma these days can no longer be a
carefree intermingling with peoples and wanderings thru their ancient
temples and cities. A lot of thought has gone into our decision to add
Myanmar to our trip and I thought I would share.
At first I flat out didn't want to go. That thing about not giving
hard currency to the regime that represses the nation. (They require
independent travellers exchange $300 US into Gov't Tourist Dollars at
the airport. Many people get around this.) Then I thought what the
heck can my $300 do, they have oil, rubies, teak, opium and are
getting fatter. I want to go there. I want to meet Burmese, Kachins,
Chins, Kayans, and more. I want to give them some access to the world.
Then we started hearing some horror stories about people overheard
speaking with westerners were dragged off to jail. That being the last
thing I want, I decided I wanted to go, see, and witness. See the once
magestic Buddist cities of yore, imagine Kipling's day, The Road to
Mandalay, The Southern Silk Road, The Burma Road, all which were
closed outright to westerners for 50s,60s and 70s and might be so
again at any point
When the fear-driven consular staff started grilling about our
political interest in Myanmar and wanted to know if we would be
bringing a camera to 'document' what we saw, I started hoping they
would reject our visa. I didn't like them and I hated their paranoia.
I reread Aung Sung Soo Kyi's Freadom from Fear book and really started
getting an idea how it is possible the whole country is being run by
thugs using old-fashioned fear tactics, 1984 propaganda and closing up
all lines of communication. THey created a state of fear, where no one
feels they can trust anyone and people simply disappear if they are
considered trouble. (They are too savy to hassle a westerner and risk
even more ostracization.)
The more we have heard and read the more I want to go. The people are
so cut off from the world that when they know it is safe to caht
with someone, they have a lot they want to share and give. (We heard a
Scorpions tape is good as gold) A dark interest fro me has to do with
the police state. You can read what it's like all semester in a
classs, but to live and feel the horrow, to share a day with someone
who has none of the rights we wrap around our pillow every night is a
hard fate to fathom.
We mostly want to see the ancient cities, meet the people, feel the
palable buddhism. No plans on bringing the gov't to their knees this
time, but I have a feeling after the experience I will look forward to
they day they fall apart.
Regards to all. Hope spring is coming early and tech stocks get back
in order ;)
T-
jalondon@hotmail.com
tedinasia@hotmail.com
04/19/99
Return to Kunming, Escape from China
Ted and I returned to the City of Eternal Spring this morning after
one final night on a bunkbed-style sleeper bus. It was the best
night's sleep I've had in days. A sad but true fact: the budget
accomodation in Yunnan has been dismal enough that I'd sleep on a bus
or a train anyday. At least on the train, the toilet has a door. At
least on the bus, the bed doesn't smell like toilet.
We spent the last week in Dali's old city, part of Yunnan's Bai
Natioanlity Self-Governing Area (the Chinese are big fans of appeasing
the local minorities by giving them a region with a fancy sounding
name that implies much more autonomy than it actually confers). The
Bai are the most visible minority in Dali. Like the other Yunnan
ethnicities we've seen, it is the women who are keeping the culture
strong. They are the ones wearing tradional clothing and tending the
babies. The men prefer to wear dark blue Mao suits and spend their
time gambling and spitting.
Compared to Lijiang, old Dali has undergone a lot of gentrification.
Streets have been widened, internet cafes established, and tourist
consumerism embraced. Still old traditions die hard even in the face
of developing major tourist infrastructure. A majority of the local
economy remains based on marble quarrying and stone-cutting. Parks are
filled with folks playing Mah Jong. Local markets are held every 5
days where you can buy anything from blocks of boiled pig blood
(delicious according to our good Chinese friend, Xu) to Titanic nail
clippers. Propoganda is still painted on the sides of buildings in
giant red characters reminding Han Chinese that "if you must a baby,
have only one". And a short hike up into the mountains will lead you
to places like Wu Wei Si, a Buddhist temple and Kung Fu training
school whose honorary leader is a 500 year-old tortoise with a
fondness for apples.
Dali is also an excellent oasis from the mental and physical rigours
of traveling in Yunnan. It is a crossroads where you meet locals,
Chinese tourists, Western backpackers, and expatriates. You can have
conversations about Tiennaman Square, Chinese censorship, or someone's
train journey across Siberia. Best of all, in Dali you can avoid
eating rice or noodles for days on end.
Although feeling restored, I am wearing a huge smile right now anyway:
our flight to Yangon departs tomarrow. Myanmar is only hours away. Ted
and I will make it out of China with our sanity intact and our immune
systems only slightly depressed.
Speaking of which, I'll leave you with a handy medical tip passed
along by a Chinese friend: snake bile is good for treating coughs and
other phlegm-producing respitory ailments. It sounds nasty, but
actually tastes sweet. It cured a case of China Syndrome I'd been
carrying around for weeks. Pick some up at your local Chinese pharmacy
today!
-- your itinerant human guinea pig, julie
jalondon@hotmail.com
tedinasia@hotmail.com
04/16/99
Still Kickin'
Dali, Yunnan, China
Five days left in China, and for a couple days we were painfully
counting them. China has been by far the highlight of this trip. We
ahve gotten so far off the beaten path, goings days without seeing
another whitey, days without encountering any English speaks, going
days without seeing a toilet with running water.
From Lijiang we went west to an area that was all Tibetan before
China annexed it and some of China's neighboring regions usurped
Tibetan swaths into their domain. The road was high and long and
hardly paved. OUr final destiantion was Deqin, which Shangri Wasn't,
but it was Tibetan Himalayas and so far out there. The bus took us
over a 15,000 ft pass. The city was little of note, but outside was
an extemely important tiny temple we got to. For some reason they had
6 full-size dead goats hanging in the court yard. Around walked
Monks, pilgims and ancient old women coming to give offerings. One
Monk was walking from Deqin to Lhasa, a four day bus trip. The
weather was cold to freezing and before we left we saw snow fall and
the ride out offered the extra excitement of fresh snow on the dirt
mtn road. Constantly encounter minority people all over this region,
each as unique and distinct as their language and dress. It always a
treat when we slow down to watch a family walk by dressed
fantastically by our terms and they two are slowing down to gaze at
us a little longer. Very powerful, that
On the way out we stoped at the larger Tibetan town of Zhongdian and
visited the 600 lamaist monk stong tibetan monestary of Songzanlin.
Stunning, like a mini Lhasa. Met a monk who had lived in exile for 5
years in India. He dared not answer our question if he wanted to stay
in India. China is very sad like that. Have made a good Chinese
friend, now 34, who was serving in the army in Beijing during
Tieniaman (spelling all wrong). He was not scared to tell us all the
details. Sad sad sad. 10th anniversary coming up. Big plans in Hong
Kong, but if you mention it here you can expect 10 years in the Gulag
Gotta go, we're great. To answer the suspense we got visas to Myanmar
even though I was wearing an Indonesian student protest shirt under
my sweater and Julie had a copy of Aung Sung Su Kyi's Freedom From
Fear book in her back pack. We'll write more when we return to Kunming.
jalondon@hotmail.com
tedinasia@hotmail.com
04/05/99
Lijiang, China / 6 months on the road
SIX MONTHS ON THE ROAD!
MOM AND DAD'S ANNIVERSARY!
China continues to be a last of constant amazement and wonder. How often
I've stood thunderstruck at what I am witnessing. Yesterday it happened
watching an old very traditional Naxi woman, just three feet from an
open canal of fresh running mtn water, cup her hand down to the
cobblestones and slurp up four palm fulls of muddy street water to
quench her thirst!
China, however, has reared two darksides that have been trying and
disturbing (and I'm not even talking about the communal non-flushing
squats!) The first is that China is a police state and though we are far
from Beijing, this is a country where you can end up in a world of hurt,
you'd leave a part of yourself behind. This was stuck home when we saw
police pistol whip and badger a handcuffed suspect right infront of
everyone on a train. We were three feet away. Finally when they had to
get really mean they dragged him off between cars. YEsterday we heard a
story from a development worker. A female colleague corrected her name
spelling on her identification card, brought it to the notice of the
oversight police and she was interrogated, light tortured and kept
captive without notice for a week! Needless to say we are staying well
on the right side of right, but a case of mistaken identity and you'd
been in hell. I've never been in a police state before and I must say,
though you hardly ever notice it, I don't like it (Hard to forget those
two chinese that just got sentanced to 15 years for forming their 10
person democracy party. Chinese prisons must be hell, and your family is
expected to pay all costs of your trial and incarceration, the bullet if
necessary!)
The other unpleasant side of China is much more on a day to day level.
I'm not sure if it's the communism, the hell of having lived thru the
cultural revolution or just a more sour demeanor to the general chinese
character (though we'eve encoutered so many friendly, helpful strangers,
even most all the police) but when people want they just give you the
(chinese) wall. For example, you check into a room. A long bargaining
process begins. You look at all the rooms, debating grimy carpets and
dirty sheets. Finally you get a decent price. Half an hour later you
find the toilet doesn't flush. You go down stairs to complain (all in
our awful chinese) and the staff simply says "meiyou shuey" meaning
Don't have water. You incedulously say "meiyou shuey???" and without a
care in the world they say a definitve "meiyou shey!" If you push them
all you'll get the "nothing can be done." No discount, no apologies, no
feeling of shame for hustling you a room when they have no hotel. You
get two extra themos of hot water and go fish. We've found this saps us
so quickly. You pay five dollars to see a cultural performance. You are
there early so you can get good seats, but all the seats are reserved
for high-end Chinese tour groups and you are told to sit behind a back
drop. You're on a crowded bus for 12 hours and some flem-filled slob
keeps spitting lung cookies on the floor just six inches form your foot.
People push without remorse. Scream at you. You scream back "I don't
understand you" they understand that, but just keep screaming. Very
arduous, this.
But, enough of the dark side. Not many backpackers like ourselves here
(most are situated in a city for work or here for a well prepared in and
out trip. Most have language experience or help.) and we understand why.
Bu thtis has gotten us well off the beaten path, deep deep into history
and the rewards are rich. Julie said last night, as muc as I hate this
at points, I am sure I will reflect back on China the longest.
After Kunming (where I got some acupunture just for the experience on my
back and felt as the doctor said 'the special feeling') we tooka 12
hour train to Szechuan province north of Yunnan. We went from spring
back to winter and felt it! Chinese who live south of the Yellow river
are forbidden to have home heating. But they are hardy. They don't even
weather proof their houses and restaurants are all open air, even if
it's 40 degrees! We wore every piece of clothing we had for four
days¡£OUr goal in Szechuan was to climb the holiest of mountains£¬ Mt
Emeishan like tradtional pilgrims and see the tallest buddha in the
world in nearby Leshan¡£
The pilgrimage up Mt Emeishan is walking ancient stone steps up to the
peak at 10£¬000 feet¡£ You sleep in monestaries £¨chilly£¡£© at night¡£
We slept one night in a cloud bank £¨7500¡°£©at roughly 33¡£1 degrees¡£
I really thought about turnign back¡£ We have so few warm clothes£¬ if a
key item got wet you were in trouble¡£ We percevered up the next am and
gloriously found when we cleared the clouds at 9£¬000¡± it was twenty
degrees warmer¡£The top was like el capitan£¬ just shear cliff drops¡£
We were very lucky because atop the weather was clear and perfect and we
saw the spiritual ¡®sea of clouds¡¯ affect which floated like an ocean
in all directions£¬ pieced only by lesser mtn peaks which looked like
fly spec S¡£ Pacific islands¡£ At the highest point was a beautiful
temple which made the affect of walking in one of those ancient chinese
visions of the craggy mtn top with temple floating above the clounds¡£
Sunset was amazing£¬ as was the moonset that coincided with a chilly
chilly 6£º20 am sunrise¡£
We walked 8000 feet down that day after sunrise¡£ Roughly walking
800 flights of staris£¡Our legs were pathteic for three days¡£ Also had
to fend a viscious canine-displaying Tibetan Macaque off the trail using
an impressive dominance disply¡£
Dafo- the biggest buddha in the world - is a sitting version 230
ft¡£high¡£ It¡®s over 1100 years old¡£ A totally ludicrous untertaking
and stunning in its existence carved out of a river cliffside£¬ like the
Egyptian gods along the Nile¡£ You could have a picnic on it¡¯s foot¡£
A night train and 10 hour bus ride and we are back in Yunnan in the
ancient city of Lijiang£¬ on the western downward slope coming off the
Tibetan plateau£º A travellers dream¡£ Still ancient city£¬ full of
traditional Naxi culture houses£¬ roads too thin for cars and canals of
fresh water run thoughout¡£ Somehow the Nxi nationality was able to
survive the exacting demands and marauders of the cultural revolution
that burnt£¬ shot£¬ destroyed everything that wasn¡®t Mao¡£ It¡¯s
another rare palce where the gov¡®t chose to build the modern city
nearby£¬ instead of pulling down the existing£¬ so the old city is most
intact as it ever was¡£ Older women still all wear their ancient
traditional dress¡£ At an Naxi performance last night I saw 5 or 6
instuments that are no where else on earth¡£ Really amazing place¡£
Next we are going NW to practiaclly Tibet itself£¬ but not quite¡£
Hopefully the crowds will dwindle out £¨the crowds are mostly Chinese
and they go where airports are£©¡£It should be cold£¬ but even more
traditional¡£ Nearby peaks will be 24£¬000 feet tall£¡Tibetans will walk
thru the markets and we¡¯ll see in Deqin really lives up to it¡®s name
of Shangri La£¡
Until then
T-
jalondon@hotmail.com
tedinasia@hotmail.com
03/26/99
Rolling with the Consular Punches ...
Got some bad news from the Myanmar Consulate here in
Kunming. The China/Myanmar border we were hoping to
cross is currently closed to all but Chinese. Whities
need not apply. No exceptions.
We applied for the visa anyway, but we got grilled
during the process. Myanmar is ruled by an ugly
oppressive military regime. They were not happy at
all that we had spent time in Indonesia and Malaysia,
both of whom are in the throes of pro-democracy
movements. I am supposed to return to the Consulate
in an hour to hear the final decision on our
applications.
Assuming we get the visa, we will have to return to
Kunming in late April and fly to Yangon (formerly
Rangoon). This is the only way independent travelers
can currently enter the country. I don't know why. My
guess is that airport immigration is the only place
where the government can ensure that we trade the
required number of US $ into their bogus travel
currency (at a much inflated rate from their regular
currency). It is all very disappointing and will
probably end up being expensive (by our standards
anyway), but we already have tickets out of Yangon to
Dhaka so our hands are tied with lots of logistic
tape.
At least the rumour on the road is that Myanmar is
supposed to be really stunning with a very pure
Buddist culture and lots of incredible, ancient
temples. If it is anywhere near as unspolit as Laos
was, we will not be disappointed.
Meanwhile, we are reworking our route through China.
We'll get out of the city tomorrow night, take a 21
hour hard-seat sleeper train (whatever the hell that
is) north where we will join pilgrimming Chinese
heading up a sacred Buddist mountain. We'll be
sleeping in monasteries and avoiding public toilets
whenever possible. From there, off to see the world's
largest Buddha (71 meters plus, dating to c. 700 AD).
We'll play the rest by ear, either backtracking a bit
or heading higher into the mountains towards Tibet.
Internet access will be spotty for the next leg or
two. We'll keep you posted wherever we can ... -j
jalondon@hotmail.com
03/25/99
Ni Hao from CHINA!
Yes China! I just sent some letters back and wanted to call home, but
Chinese Telecom has got email going much better than international AT&T,
so I thought I would send a quick shout out.
China is amazing! We left N. Laos (Laos was truly a gem, get there
before a tourist industry forms in response to the waves of travellers
now adding it to their loops) no problem, entered S. SW China
(Xishuangbanna region) just as easy. Day and night change between
countires. Everything here is chinese: Fashion, movies (all DVD), cars,
language!, technology (well motorola somehow made a chinese character
pager), drinks, food (oh the food is best of show!), heavy construction
equipment, music. No western anything. We've also lost all the batik
clad banana pancake eating travellers and find ourselves near alone in a
sea of chinese. Finally able to explore on our own.
We are in Yunnan's capital of Kunming now for a couple days. HUGE city.
Neon, giant hotels, 1000s of bicycles and private cars. Construction
everywhere. I don't think they have eevn heard of the Azsian crisis
here. They are gearing up for their Horticulture Expo '99 and feel it
will put Kunming on the map. (We'll see.) It is constantly dumbfounding,
overwhelming and often I stand thunderstruck not believeing the world we
are in. (Yet the rural public bathrooms are absolutely disgusting. Rows
of slits in floor, no dividers, no door, no flushing, not even any water
around, maggots sometimes crawl at you feet and all down chute, while a
couple guys next to you are vacating their bowels. Womens room the same.
Truly not for the weak of heart)
Letters should be on their way. Hope all are having a great spring. We
will have opne month here. Wish it would be much much more. I'll wirte
again when I can.
Ted & Jules
jalondon@hotmail.com
3/12/99 - This came into You Can Too one morning...
Hi. Julie & Ted sent us a fax this morning from Vientiane, Laos. They are loving
the country, very
well and happy- and there until March 22; then on to China. They asked me to
forward their best
thoughts to you. take care, Deborah, Julie's Mom
