In precisely a month I'm off on a journey and although I'm incredibly excited about it, I've been putting off blogging it because my destination is a little controversial. It is, however, an important trip for me and I really want to record it, so I'm taking the plunge and announcing it now so I can mark the whole trip - from soup to nuts, as it were.
Now, the thing is, the tickets are confirmed and there's no turning back, so I'm respectfully requesting that people please don't chide me for this. I've thought long and hard and know the pros and cons. OK?
OK. Read on.
My beautiful, wonderful, and incredibly generous cousin has invited me to go with her on a trip to Myanmar (Burma) for a week and a bit. The only cost to me is the airfare - she and her husband are paying for everything else. Needless to say, it's a difficult offer to refuse and refuse it I most certainly am not.
It's controversial because, as you may know, Myanmar is governed by a military junta and is currently undergoing sanctions by the US government as a result of their suppression of democracy and various human rights violations. Obviously this makes things difficult and not a little scary. I also know that my friend Francis got a bit of stick from people who didn't approve of his trip to Myanmar at the beginning of the year and the Lonely Planet guides were chastised for even providing information to would-be travelers. Hence my trepidation in blogging the trip.
Lonely Planet is a good first stop in any event as they list the pros and cons of visiting the country:
Reasons Not to GoReasons to Go
- International tourism can be seen to give a stamp of approval to the SPDC
- Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD have called on the international community to boycott travel to Myanmar until the candidates elected in 1990 are allowed to form a government
- The government keeps travellers away from areas where forced labour or repression of minorities is occurring
- It is difficult to avoid some government-owned businesses, tourism sites and transport, and impossible to avoid the mandatory purchase of US$200 worth of FECs (Foreign Exchange Certificates)
- Forced labour has been used to construct some of the country's tourism infrastructure
- Tourism remains one of the few industries to which ordinary Burmese have access. Any reduction in tourism means a reduction in local income-earning opportunities
- It is becoming increasingly possible to travel in Myanmar without staying in government-owned hotels, using government-owned transport etc
- Many pro-democracy activists within Myanmar itself argue that sanctions are counter-productive, and that economic development can lead to political liberalisation
- Keeping the Burmese isolated from international witnesses to internal oppression may only cement the government's control
Add to this the fact that I am an enthusistic (although admitedly inconsistent) student of Buddhism and anthropology with a particular interest in Tibet, Southeast Asia and India and there was really no way I could not take up this opportunity.
Right. So that's that. I'm going. More anon. Ever so much more...
Posted by Lisa at October 01, 2003 03:18 AM