Anthony Dendauw
IVE S U L C X E
THE REPUBLIC OF THE UNION OF MYANMAR ANTHEM Till the End of the World
PRESIDENT Lt. Gen. Thein Sein (2011) | VICE PRESIDENT Sai Mouk Kham (2011)
TOTAL AREA 657,741 sq km (253,954 sq mi)
GDP PER CAPITA U.S. $ 1.700
POPULATION (2014 est.)
54,584,650 (growth rate: 1.7%)
BIRTH RATE 19/1000 | INFANT MORTALITY 48/1000 | LIFE EXPECTANCY 57
LARGEST CITY Yangon 4.26 million | ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL Naypyidaw
MONETARY UNIT Kyat
LANGUAGES Burmese + minority languages
ETHNICITY/RACE Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Mon 2%, Indian 2%, other 5%
LABOR FORCE: 32.53 million | agriculture 70% | industry 7% | services 23%
RELIGIONS Buddhist 89%, Christian 4% (Baptist 3%, Roman Catholic 1%), Islam 4%, Animist 1%, other 2%
LITERACY RATE 89.9%
BORDERS China, India, Laos, Bangladesh and Thailand.
Myanmar (Golden Land) is a country in Southeast Asia. It lies on the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea coast with Bangla-desh and India to the west, China to the north, and Laos and Thailand to the east.
A beautiful and culturally rich country cursed for decades with a brutally oppressive regime, Myanmar has in recent years been making headlines for its tentative steps towards democracy. The big draw is the chance to see a country where the 21st-century world has barely intruded. This is changing but there is still a strong sense of the old Orient here. It's a place where Buddhism is still a way of life. Tourist numbers have swollen but the infrastructure has not yet grown to accommodate them all. Although this means that finding a cheap bed is harder than before, it does make this a fascinating time to discover Myanmar’s glittering golden stupas, bountiful rice fields, enigmatic ruined temples, picturesque mountain paths and postcard beaches. Most memorable of all, though, are the encounters with people eager to introduce foreigners to their country and their culture.
The beauty of being here is in not knowing what will happen and in the understanding that both you as a traveller, alongside the local people are helping to bring about a new beginning
INDIA CHINA
Mandalay Bagan
Inle Lake
Kengtung
LAOS Naypyidaw
Yangon
THAILAND
Mergui Archipelago
Yangon City, formerly Rangoon, was the capital of Myanmar until it was replaced by Naypyidaw in 2005. With a population of over five million it continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial centre.
White elephants are symbols of power and good fortune. The announcement by the ruling military regime of the finding of white elephants in 2001 and 2002 was seen by opponents as being aimed at bolstering support for their regime.
Yangon is the main gateway to Myanmar. Evergreen and cool with lush tropical trees, shady parks and beautiful lakes, it has earned the name of "The Garden City of the East". It was founded by King Alaungpaya on the site of a small settlement called Dagon in 1755.
The city is an amalgamation of British, Burmese, Chinese and Indian influences, and is known for its colonial architecture, which although decaying and beyond appreciation, remains an almost unique example of a 19th-century British colonial capital.
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, was built by the Empire of Japan during World War II. The living and working conditions were horrific. About 90,000 of the labourers and about 16,000 Allied prisoners died.
Everywhere you see bloody lips. Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition in many Asian and Oceanic countries. They are chewed for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a warming sensation in the body and heightened alertness.
As Myanmar opens up after decades of iron-fisted military rule, many people struggle to get enough food on the table. About 40 percent of Yangon’s population is very poor and vulnerable to shocks, such as health scares, commodity-price rises or floods.
There has been a revival of monastic schools since the 1990s with the deepening economic crisis. Children from poor families that can’t afford fees, uniforms and books have renewed the demand for a free monastic education wich enforced Buddhism in Myanmar.
Theravada Buddhism is practised by 89% of the country's population. Myanmar is the most religious Buddhist country in terms of the proportion of monks compared to the population and in terms of the proportion of income spent on religion.
The Burmese New Year, known as the water festival, is a time when many Burmese boys celebrate shinbyu, a special rite of passage by which a boy under the age of 20 enters the monastery for a short time (3 months) as a novice monk. Some of them stay a lifetime.
The present nuns of Myanmar are not regarded as full female equivalents of the monks. Nevertheless social rights for women are traditionally at a fairly high level in Burma. Women usually handle the family finances and are trained to do so when quite young.
Agriculture in Myanmar is the main industry, accounting for about 60 percent of the GDP and employing some 65 percent of the labor force. While Burma yields more than enough food to feed its entire population, many poor people still go hungry.
The agricultural potential is underrealised as evidenced by relatively low yields, input use, irrigation coverage despite ample water resources and low cropping intensity. In comparison with other Asian countries the harvest is very small.
Some slash-and-burn farming methods destroying the forests, causing soil erosion and depletion of fertility. The Burmese Government has increased its attempted regulation of farming practices, and this includes banning slash-and-burn tactics.
In Myanmar rural areas as the villages are not accessible with motor road, transportation is mainly depends rely on the cattle driven carts. Oxen or buffaloes are used to pull the carts and can be used to work on the field.
Ingredients used in Myanmar dishes are often fresh. Many fruits are used in conjunction with vegetables in many dishes. The Burmese eat a great variety of vegetables and fruits, and all kinds of meat and fish. They have very balanced food habbits.
The cheroot is a cylindrical cigar with both ends clipped during manufacture. Since cheroots do not taper, they are inexpensive to roll mechanically, and their low cost makes them popular. The word cheroot comes from French cheroute.
The Burmese ascribe a flower to each of the twelve months of the Traditional Burmese calendar. According to a Burmese poem, the king had the right to claim the first flowering bud of the thazin orchid and any transgression was punishable by death.
Many children are employed in factories, teashops and other business enterprises where they work long hours under arduous conditions, for very little pay. Many of these children are vulnerable to trafficking, and many are forced to work in the sex industry.
Despite the challenges, there is reason for hope. Myanmar is working with its partners to help children and their families surmount the problems that they face, and more fully realize their rights to health, education, equality and protection.
The Mergui Archipelago consists of 800 islands which form one of the last remaining untouched paradises on Earth. Most of them are densely forested and mountainous, with impenetrable jungles meeting white silica sand beaches.
Myeik is the "gate" to the beautiful and almost untouched Mergui Archipelago but the city itself is a real ‘shithole’. The seaside is very dirty, full of garbage, and the smell makes you dizzy after a couple of days. Hard to believe you arrived in paradise.
The people of the Mergui archipelago is engaged in fishing, production of rubber and coconuts, manufacture of fermented shrimp paste, the collection of edible bird's nests and pearl farming. There are big military camps to protect their coastline.
At the harbour of Myeik, ships, speed boats and fishing vessels are closely quad in a long line. Relying on the sea, cold storage factories, ice factories and warehouses for packaging fish, prawn and lobster are built along the bank, ready to be exported.
All of the islands are covered in thick jungle with majestic stands of Burmese Teak and Mahogany. These trees are used to built their traditionally wooden boats (kabang). They are handmade with most of the materials found and the islands.
Undisturbed by the passage of time and far from the tourist masses of neighboring Thailand. One of the last remaining untouched paradises on Earth. But even here they getting used to diesel engines. The engines are unbelievable loud.
The entire archipelago is so vast that not all the islands have yet been thoroughly explored. Its remoteness makes it a lively and unique experience. The Mergui archipelago is known for this reason as the secret jewel of the Andaman Sea.
The beaches of the Mergui Archipelago are postcard perfect: ribbons of white sand glow in the bright sun, all framed by the azure waters of a coral-filled sea. A vast majority of the more then 800 islands here are also something else: empty.
Special thanks to my wife Laura, our Mergui family somewhere in the archipelago, a priest along the way, Coco the translator, the boatcrew and many others who helped us out on this unforgettable journey.
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