Welcome to the Monsoon...

Somewhere in here there is a field and a road I swear... because we were on it.

You're in Myanmar? And where the heck is Myanmar?

Myanmar is sandwiched between Bangladesh and India's NE states, China, and Thailand/Laos. (Can you be sandwiched between that many things? Really, I feel like Myanmar, like Bangladesh, straddles SE Asia and the Indian subcontinent, more on the SE Asia side while Bangladesh takes the other. Well, if you look at a map, it really is solidly SE Asia. I'll just stop now.) You may know Myanmar as Burma. I certainly did. When the current government took control of the country in the 80's, it decided to rid itself of some of the old vestiges of colonialism and changed the name from Burma, an English version of the main people group, to Myanmar. Of course, this government, having one of the worst human rights records in the world, is not recognized by the USA, so we therefore don't recognize the new name, either. Here are another few interesting Myanmar government tidbits:

1. The exchange rate is government set, and you can trade your US dollars at the airport for 450 kyat ("chat") per dollar. However, on the street, the exchange rate is more like 1250ky = 1$! There's an entire black market for money trading involving back alleys and dimly lit stairways. The old bills are also huge- a bit too big for a wallet- so they have an interesting way of counting money from the side (the photo below shows new and old sizes). Also, the largest denomination that we've seen is 1000ky. So basically, we've been carrying around a few hundred dollars worth of one dollar bills with us, as there are no ATMs in the country, and the exchange rate is much better in the capitol than anywhere else! So, Dad, that handy little passport holder Josh has been using doesn't do much around here...
2. The government's lucky number is 9. So they decided to issue nine-related currency. Of course. Who wouldn't? Although we have yet to see any, apparently there are 90ky and 45ky bills! (The opposition's lucky number is 8, so they like to hold protests on August 8 at 8:08 am... A strange coincidence that that is also our anniversary. Kinda glad that's our default "team".)
3. At some point, the government decided Myanmar should drive on the right side of the road. All traffic switched sides practically overnight. However, as a previous English colony and with used cars primarily coming in from Japan and Thailand, most cars and buses we've seen still have the driver on the right hand side, too!
4. All tourism is government-regulated. So we can only stay at approved hotels or take approved ferries/buses. We went to the bus station yesterday to buy a ticket from Mandalay to Inle Lake and everyone pointed us to the same window, even though we could see our destination listed at other companies. I guess the government only gave one company permission for that route! Also, only day trips are allowed for foreigners over land. Otherwise you have to fly. Many of the outlaying states are out of bounds for tourists, as well.
   
5. A lot of the tourist infrastructure- the railroads, the new palace built when the ancient one burned down- was built with forced labor. Note the comment on human rights. You have to be careful what you pay to see around here and who you pay to get there.
6. Many websites are supposed to be illegal to get to, like yahoomail and gmail. Somehow, most places get around this. I did spend over an hour sending an email in Bagan, though (an emergency! Really!). The entire city uses ONE phone line to connect to the internet! A phone call to the USA was $6/minute.
   
7. Not government related, but a comment... We fell asleep (sort of) on a bus in the south near the capitol of Yangon to constant rain and flooded streets. When we woke up in Bagan, it was so dry there were cactus... Wierd.