destination
FROM PAST TO PRESENT
BURMA UNDERWENT SIGNIFICANT CHANGES AFTER INGE
SARGENT LEFT THE COUNTRY. TAKE AT LOOK AT HER FORMER
HOME HSIPAW, AN UNTOUCHED AREA OF MYANMARText Monica PitrelliMyanmar dominated global
headlines in 2012 for all the right
reasons. The National League for
Democracy swept the country’s by-
election, the world’s most famous former
house arrestee, Aung San Suu Kyi, was
elected to Parliament, and international
sanctions were lifted. The country was
on track to morph from recluse to world
player by the year’s end.
But old habits die hard. That
year, I tried to obtain a tourist visa to
Myanmar. The man behind the counter
at the Burmese embassy perused myapplication, saw the words ‘Occupation:
Writer’ and promptly tore it in two.
He passed me a new application
and whispered, “this time, you are a
housewife”. Permission granted.
The rules were in flux. The old way
of doing things was ending, and a new
script had yet to be written. Change
was afoot, but how much and, more
importantly, would it last?
The world waited for these answers
with bated breath. Tourists, however, did
not. Instead, they pounced. Myanmar
attracted over one million tourists in2012 – a record at that time. This year
it expects five times that amount.
And while tourism spurs economic
growth, it can come at a price. In
Bagan, a woman I met expressed her
frustration and concern about the rising
number of children who spent their
days selling trinkets to tourists rather
than attending school.
First-time travellers to Myanmar are
largely hitting the hotspots – places
such as Yangon, Bagan and Mandalay.
This means that many areas of the
country are still blissfully quiet.© Wikicommons