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Around the world in 2000,
via Asia and Madagascar.
Yangon - Taunggyi (Myanmar)
Bec2004-09-18 16:46:29
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Yangon
I had visited the Shwedagon pagoda when I was here in 1973 so this time I kept a second visit there for the last and spent a couple of days in downtown Yangon before going to Taunggyi in the North. I stayed at the Garden Guest house, next to the Sule pagoda seen here, for 6 $US a night.
The Sule pagoda is not as impressive as the Shwedagon pagoda but it is nevertheless an important downtown landmark. It derives an important part of its revenue from the rental of the shops around it. The inside ring seen below is a haven of quiet from the noisy traffic outside.
Almost 90 percent of the population are Buddhist but there are about five percent Christians, almost four percent Muslim and one percent Hindus.
Below left, a new clock tower for the Buddhist monastery near the downtown market and a few Buddhist nuns on the right.
Judging only from the diverse places of worship, Myanmar looks like a land of freedom and tolerance but if you scratch the surface you quickly realise that there is little room for dissidence in that country.
As always, the most evident symptom of a totalitarian regime is its complete control over information. Slogan posters, like this one proclaiming that the dictates of big brother only reflect the desires of the people, are frequent. Personally I don't think that anyone believes such propaganda but the SLORC must be getting some mileage out of it otherwise they would not bother. Maybe they only serve to remind people that big brother is watching them.
There may be freedom of religion and freedom of private enterprise but I found little evidence of freedom of political opinion. Wherever I go, I like to find out what people think of their governments and leaders. It is also an easy ice-breaker for generally, everyone has an opinion of how things should be run.
Here, you can talk about religion, money, sex, but anything that comes close to politics
...
See photographs from:
Burma (Myanmar) Gallery
