Backstage on a Rickshaw

We rented two rickshaws for the whole day at just $5 per person. Two brothers were pedaling us around so we could see more of the city. Some rickshaw drivers had really new bikes, the ones who had their "offices" in front of the nicer hotels. There are designated spots where different rickshaw drivers are allowed to stand, with streets and corners divided among them. Our rickshaws weren’t in great shape, so I guess our money fell into a dry spot. They were definitely happy to have customers that day. A year ago, there were many more tourists, but that changed after the September demonstrations. Three years ago, the government also opened up trade with China, which brought a lot more cheap scooters into the country. This has taken work away from the rickshaw drivers since locals aren’t using their services anymore. A Chinese scooter costs only $500, while before, people could only buy Japanese scooters for $2000. We wanted to see the poorer neighborhoods of the city. Behind the front row of houses facing the street, we were led down narrow alleys. Here was a whole little community that you wouldn’t notice otherwise. This was also where all the trash was hiding. Around a small pond, houses were scattered. The waste was piling up in the water, which looked extremely dangerous. People lived in rickety bamboo huts, and the children weren’t wearing much clothing. Folks were hauling buckets of water up from the well to bathe, cook, and so on. Still, everyone greeted us with smiles. There’s an unbreakable joy for life in this country that surprises us time and again. Poor people who have to sleep on the streets are often picked up by the police, who drive them outside the city. Here, the government has taken a piece of farmland from the farmers for people to live on. The military regime relocates people and towns as they please. They take land from people without paying for it if they need it for roads, etc. We passed workshops where various crafts were being made. We cycled away with a 50 cm tall monk figure that we haggled down from 70,000 kyat to 19,000 kyat. We were quite pleased with our purchase :) The sunset from Mandalay Hill was supposed to be beautiful. It was a long walk up the mountain, but the sunset was stunning. We could see the entire city from above—the many stupas... and the prison. We tried to zoom in on the prison with our big lens. Some monks came over to us. They wanted to practice their English. They were very curious but also shy. You have to be a novice for five years before you can become a fully ordained monk. It’s considered prestigious to have a family member who is a monk. Myanmar isn’t fond of free speech. Any form of criticism is met with a heavy hand. The Moustache Brothers are a group that likes to do stand-up, joke about their society, and showcase traditional dances. Because of this, they aren’t well-regarded by the government. Several of them have been in prison multiple times for several years. They’ve been banned from performing publicly, so now they show their act at home, with the grandfather keeping watch outside for the police. We went to see their show. It was 8,000 kyat per person for an hour of entertainment. The humor was pretty harmless—maybe even a bit cheesy. But it’s a good cause to support their troupe. They refuse to be controlled by the military. They’re rebelling in their own way.