Where does Myanmar begin and where does Burma end? For the locals, it has always been and remains Myanmar; in the West, the country was nicknamed Burma when it was still a British colony. Tourists are rare guests here, although there are so many antiquities per capita that many Indochina countries have never dreamed of, plus virgin nature and people unspoiled by the tourism industry. Now that there are no places left untouched by Europeans on the map of Asia, Myanmar is a pleasant exception.
Visa by weight
The path here is not as ornate as it seems. It is most convenient to fly from Moscow to Bangkok (direct Thai Airways flight), and from there - 40 minutes to Yangon, the largest city in the country, which was the capital until 2006. Now she was transported to the town of Naypyidaw, lost in the jungle. You can get a visa at Yangon Airport ($ 40), but you can do it in advance in Moscow, at the Myanmar Embassy - who else will you see a handwritten visa in your passport? And in the questionnaire they will ask what your eye color, skin color, height and even weight. Already at the Yangon airport, Mingaladon, it is clear that the country is ruled by the military. Two (or even three) people with shoulder straps in one window check the documents - one looks at the passport, the other puts a stamp. Because of them, or rather, the military junta, which has ruled since 1962,a country with colossal natural and cultural potential remains closed and economically disastrous in comparison with its neighbors - India, Thailand, China. True, something good is happening - if only because after 16 years of house arrest, the Nobel laureate and "mother of the nation" Aung San Suu Kyi was released. Bono dedicated the song Walk On to her.
People in skirts
I first visited this country 18 years ago and lived there for three years at the Russian embassy, where my parents worked. Since then, little has changed there. The Burmese rhythm of life was as unhurried as Buddhist, and has remained. In Yangon of five million (in the Western style - Rangoon), men and women wear loungzhi skirts, all women smear their faces with tanakha (yellow paste, which is obtained from the tree of the same name). It protects the face from the sun, and it is used against all ills - wrinkles, acne, skin irregularities - in general, an ideal cosmetic product that has not yet been invented in the West. Men still mint on the street chinlon - a ball woven from cane rods, and chew betel nut, a red plant gum with intoxicating effect that badly spoils teeth. It will not work to calculate the Burmese by the face, because there are Thai,Indian and Chinese characters, but it is easy to identify by their behavior. They are extremely benevolent, unobtrusive and, in principle, do not want anything from you, and if they do, then only to gawk at the white-skinned alien or say "minglaba" ("hello" in Burmese). And you can easily recognize a Burmese in a restaurant - they don't talk over the meal. Deathly silence! The waiter is called by the sound of a kiss or by folding the index and thumb in a circle, as we usually show "ok". The waiter is called by the sound of a kiss or by folding the index and thumb in a circle, as we usually show "ok". The waiter is called by the sound of a kiss or by folding the index and thumb in a circle, as we usually show "ok".
Buddha with glasses
Buddhism is here in everything - in the rhythm of life and in architectural appearance. Nowhere else are there so many golden pagodas, lying, sitting, giant, tiny statues of Buddha, there is even a statue of Buddha with glasses (in the city of Shvetown). The symbol of Yangon and the local Kremlin is the 99-meter Shwedagon Pagoda, covered with gold, its spire is crowned with three thousand golden bells, tens of thousands of diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. The gigantic stupa-bell is surrounded by another 68 smaller pagodas - also gold - and figures of animals. Only eight - according to the number of days in the week. For Burmese, Wednesday is two days: before noon and after. Every Burmese knows exactly the day of the week when he was born - the year and the number are not important. Children are named according to the day of the week. They have no surnames. A Burmese cannot take a step without a personal astrologer. They turn to him for any reason - for advice in business, in personal life. Any numerologist will say that "Tuesday's daughter" does not shine with happiness with "Thursday's son." And any Burmese knows that you need to sleep with your head to the south or east (west is death), and the wife should sleep to the left of her husband. He hugs her with his left hand, and in case of an attack, he will fight off the enemy with his right. What a romance! Morning in Yangon, as, indeed, in any other city or village, begins with a monastic procession. A string of monks of all ages (there are even six-year-old boys) in orange and brick-colored robes with black lacquer pots go from door to door and collect alms - only food (they are not allowed to take money). Anyone can become a monk - even for life, even for a few days. All boys are tonsured monks at the age of nine. Women can also become nuns (tilashchin), but they are not held in such high esteem as monks. All monasteries are open to the public - you can see where the monks sleep, wash, eat and wrap themselves in orange. Another nice looking uniform is school uniform. It is white and green, and is worn by both five-year-olds and high school students. White means that the child does not know anything yet, and green means that it is a tree that needs to be watered.
Bargaining Is Appropriate
In Yangon, in addition to visiting pagodas, temples, the National Museum and the British Cemetery, go to the market. The largest is the Scottish Market in the city center. Eyes run up there from silver trays, teapots, pipes for smoking opium, jewelry with precious stones of all colors and stripes, teak carvings, hand-embroidered carpets and pillows, lacquerware. And all this for sane kyats (local currency). Bargaining is appropriate, although Burmese sellers are not arrogant and usually do not raise prices. To fully experience the spirit of Myanmar and its history, it is best to stay at the former British residence and now the best hotel in Yangon, The Governor's Residence (www.governorsresidence.com). It was built in the 1920s - completely made of teak, inside and out. The mansion is surrounded by a tropical garden with banana palms, lotus ponds and a fan-shaped pool.
City of a thousand pagodas
The country has a well-established air connection between cities (unlike buses and railways), but the surest way to see the country from the inside and make yourself a truly fabulous vacation is to rent one of 58 cabins aboard the legendary ship The Road to Mandalay, which belongs to the Orient company. -Express (www.orient-express.com). The name is inspired by a poem by Rudyard Kipling about the mysterious Burma, which amazed him to the core. The main waterway of Myanmar, where freshwater dolphins are found, the Ayeyarwaddy River ("the cool one"), which is more than two thousand kilometers long, runs through the whole country. On the way, the most prayed by Burmese and foreigners places - the dead city of thousands of pagodas of Pagan, the sacred mountain Popa-Taung-Kalats with temples at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level, the royal capital of Mandalay and the city on Inle Lake.where people live on water and harvest from floating gardens. According to legend, in ancient times there were four million pagodas and temples in Pagan, five thousand built in the XI-XIII centuries have survived to us. But this is enough to lead even an atheist into religious ecstasy.
Rum and more
For fans of English literature, Mandalay is associated with Mandalay rum, of which there is a lot. Although the Burmese themselves are non-drinkers. Even on holidays. The symbol of the second largest city in Myanmar is the 19th century carved teak palace complex, surrounded by a channel through which four bridges lead. In the Mahamuni temple sits a four-meter bronze Buddha - Buddhists believe that he is about two thousand years old and was personally sanctified by Buddha Shakyamuni with his aura. This statue is covered with a layer of gold 15 centimeters thick. And from year to year Buddha grows fat - parishioners buy gold plates and stick them to the body of the saint. Take the time to climb Mandalay Hill for the best view of the city. There is a temple (where without it?), Lined with small mirrors - an amazing light show is obtained in the sun. And to completely lose your head from the local flavor,sail to Inle Lake in Shan State, where the Inta people live. This is the only place in the world where a boat (sampan) is steered while standing, paddling with the right foot. Hands free - it is convenient to fish. People here live in huts on stilts right in the middle of the lake, and on weekends they have floating markets where shoppers hop from boat to boat to pick out zucchini, cabbage, fish and fresher tomatoes. They grow them right there, on the lake - the inhabitants catch floating islands, consisting of bumps, and fix them with long poles at their homes. In Inle you can find women from the hill tribes - padaung. Their necks are decorated with about 20 copper rings, which makes the neck look like a giraffe. The girl's first ring is put on at the age of six, and so on until she turns 21. The girls have 15 more metal rings on their wrists. In total, it turns outthat a fragile woman carries 10 kilograms of metal on her. In the Padaung tribe they say: "You will not marry with a bare neck."
Hell's Kitchen
In Myanmar, they eat anything that crawls, jumps or rests under the bark of a tree. Local markets are both a shock and a sight for sore eyes. Fried grasshoppers, huge cockroaches, larvae, sparrows, snakes, mice, strange-looking vegetables and fruits. It would be nice not to get to the market during the rainy season (from May to September), when durian is being harvested - the most stinking fruit in the world. It tastes like a mushy something, but the smell is beyond good and evil. Another delicacy that will argue for the title of the most fetid dish is ngapi. The fish is put under a press, where it becomes rotten, worms start there, and then it is overcooked with spices. Burmese are very fond of ngapi, they say: "What kind of ngapi is this, where there are no worms?" But you'd better order mohinga, moddee or khauswe - these are noodles with chicken, meat, shrimps.
In mid-April, when the temperature goes over 40, Myanmar celebrates the New Year - Tinjan. For five days, everyone wildly poured water on each other - from buckets, cannons, on the street and in houses. We would call it the holiday of Neptune. Nobody gets out of the water these days dry. If you are still thinking whether to go to Myanmar or not, it means that you are simply not ready to see the real Asia yet. But there is time for reflection - so far nothing in the country bodes well for big changes, so there is a hope that the word "exotic" will not lose its meaning.
Photo: Getty Images
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