Every time I see the horror and distraught in the media about the protests and scenes that are happening in Myanmar right now.
On the 26th of November 2019 I landed in Mandalay, Myanmar after a night sleeping on the floor of a Chinese airport.
What happened in the next 30 days in Myanmar was that I fell in love. I fell in love with the people, the culture, the kindness, the geography and truly, I can’t wait to go back.
Out of all the places I’ve been in the world, I’ve never met such genuinely kind people. Not just one or two, but everyone.
In the middle of nowhere, I stopped at a small hut that was someone’s home where they sold snacks and drinks out of the front. After buying some crisps and a coke (I’m always amazed at how far the stretch of western commercial companies are), he processed to give me some more snacks and drinks free of charge. He wouldn’t accept any money from me as much as I insisted.
Later that day, I reached a blocked road due to conflicts, a man in a van pulled over, threw me in the back of the truck and took me all the way back to where I started that day. His method of payment? A photograph. He wouldn’t accept anything else.
It truly is a country full of absolute gems.
For me, the jewel in that crown is Bagan, in particular, old Bagan.
A historic city full of pagodas both large and small. Electric mopeds to whizz around in (petrol ones aren’t allowed, incredibly progressive).
Starting the day with sunrise, you climb onto the pagodas surrounded by trees, hot air balloons fly over as the sun rises. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be in one of them (my budget didn’t stretch that far).
You spend the day visiting all the pagodas. Walking round these incredible structures is breathtaking. The smaller ones are also lovely which sadly are a fraction of what they were a few years ago due to an earthquake.
The evening is spent climbing upon the same pagoda you chose that morning and watch the sunset over the distance.
What really brings it all together though is the people. Rarely without a smile on their face and unlike the forced smile you become accustomed to in other SE Asian countries, it is genuine.
As the country has not yet been overrun with tourists due to the country only opening up in the last few years, there is genuine intrigue from the locals.
Unlike places like India, they are eagerly awaiting a selfie. However, unlike India, the people are too polite to ask for one so when you offer to have a photo with them, they are over the moon.
We have yet to ruin the country. However, the military are doing a good job of trying to ruin it from the inside. The systematic murder of the protestors is an abhorrent abuse of power. For the most part, western governments have stayed out of it which is confusing. Western governments live intervening in foreign affairs. However given that we tend to make a real mess of it, it begs the question, what should we do?
I have no idea, but I really hope that the people out there get their justice. They deserve nothing less.