Yangon

Some information about Burma/Myanmar:

Hello:             Mingarlabar
Thank you:    Jee zoo de mar Te.  Jee-zoo-bar (for short)
Cheers!         Jammar bar zee - good health

Population of Yangon:      5,000,000

Average monthly wage:   $USD100

1,000 kyat = $USD1

300-500 kyat 1 litre water (on the street). Supermarket 200 kyat

The number plates are coloured: 

red - taxis, buses;
blue - tourist;
black - private;
yellow - religious;
white - diplomat. 

Myanmar is known but three names, "Union of Myanmar", "The Golden Land", and "Land of Pagodas" - when you close your eyes and point with your finger, there will be a pagoda.

Cars are made for Australian roads - the steering wheel is on right hand side but they drive on right hand side of the road! Imagine it - to overtake cars - as the driver you're on the gutter side of the car, not being able to see what's coming towards you, you've got a long way to 'slide out' into the road to have a peek - so dangerous.

And you won't see a motor bike in Yangon - about 30 years ago a young person on a motor bike tried to shoot a VIP in a car on his way from the airport - banned then and still to this day.  

At various properties along the roadsides, clay pots and occasionally a cup, sit on ledges or tables. In order to gain merit, water is "donated" by locals for thirsty travellers. The better you are here on earth the more merit you gain and you'll come back as something better than an animal in the next life. 

There's not a lot of infrastructure here and certainly no rubbish collection: garbage litters the roadsides and people drop litter without any thought it seems. 

After arriving in Yangon and freshening up at our hotel, we headed off to see Shwegadon Pagoda in all its golden glory.  Every Burmese has a wish to visit this pagoda at least once in their lifetime. If they do, they can't then die happy.  
 

The stupa has a crowning diamond - 76 carats atop a ‘Diamond Bud’ of 1,800 diamonds for a total of 800 carats.

This was followed by a welcome dinner from our tour company, Myanmar Travel, that also included the obligatory cultural show, both of which we would have been happy to miss. You can't really beat a simple meal at a local restaurant - one where the locals eat. 

Thai monks wear saffron coloured robes. The monks here wear what I would describe as "crimson" robes, but we're told they are actually "dark brown". When commercial dyes were not available natural dyes were used and the tree bark colours the robes of Burmese monks. 

 

Women and children have their faces painted with a paste made from the thankha tree and water to protect them from the harsh sun and to, "make their skin soft and beautiful". The men wear it too but at night, at home!

Rainey having thankha paste put on to make her skin beautiful!

Boy at temple with face paste.

 The writing in Burma fascinates us - we're not sure what the symbols represent but here is an example:

 

On our way to Thanbyuzayat

I'm writing my entries on my iPad in Notes and uploading them into the blog when we get internet connection so some parts of the blog will appear a bit disjointed, but now you'll know why.

We've been on the road to Mandalay for just on two hours having left Hotel 51 after tea and Twinings lemon and ginger tea at 7.30 am. I was aroused from a deep sleep by a man calling out - sounding very similar to the pilgrims in Tibet, I was sure he was on a pilgrimage to the monastery - but no, after listening to my video our guide tells me he was selling "steaming beans"!

Toot, toot, toot is our constant companion.  The driving here is very similar to the driving in China - but with horns.  Not too dissimilar to NYC either.  Many of the taxis are motor bikes converted with a tray attached for passengers.
 

 

As for the local transport; people sit on top of cars and trucks; people are crammed onto the local buses and jump on and off as they start to take off, hanging precariously onto the hand rails with feet barely touching the running boards. 

Here in Burma, as in Thailand, the billboards large and small - in fact most advertising - shows the locals with nearly white complexions. The darker your skin the lower down the caste ladder you're considered to be. 

The soil looks to be quite rich and fertile with green fields, rice paddies, and buffalo that help the farmers plough the soil. Stupas are dotted throughout hidden by rubber plantations, tall and smaller palm trees and eucalypts. Smoke tendrils waft up from burning litter or burning fields. Bamboo is a well used commodity I see it being used for scaffolds, huts and as a means to carry goods. It hangs from the back of a motorbike, too long for the pillion to hold it drags along on the ground. 

There're lots of corrugated tin huts some newer tin much of it rusted. Army trucks with soldiers pass us but they're not menacing looking unlike those in Tibet.

We headed 40 kms towards Mandalay before turning off on the road south towards Mawlamyine, Moulmein as it was called when it was under British rule. Lunch was at a tourist bus destination - large covered buildings with row after row of aluminium tables and chairs and we were the only "white people" there.  (Political correctness in the way people are described hasn't come here - you're described exactly how you are - white.) Local river catfish, fried chicken, rice, Myanmar curry veggie and peanut soup, "chicken insides" ie liver, catfish, and Myanmar beer! The bill for lunch 12,500 kyat ~ $12.50. Yes our wallets are HUGE - if only the kyat was equivalent to the AUD or USD! 

We crossed one of the four large rivers in Burma to get to Mawlamyine and passed alongside  the original bridge the British bombed during the war.  It wasn't repaired.  After checking into our hotel and having a short rest, we explored the city seeing the original St Matthews Anglican Church, the First Baptist Church built in 1827 and a Catholic Church.  The Strand was quite remarkable with old Colonial buildings stretching from one end to the other, and blackened run down houses in between - a real show of the differences between the 'have's and have nots'.  The Indian quarter was particularly depressing.  Women sat on their doorsteps rubbing coconut fibres between their hands making long lengths of jute.  Little kids ran around the dirt by the roadsides in a filthy state.

 

We went up in a lift (thankfully) to the top of the mountain - another pagoda but this one had a beautiful view over the whole of Mawlamyine and the river and waterways.  Asked if we'd like to see around the other side of the pagoda, we opted to be dropped off on the Strand to check out the street food stalls where we had dinner - five courses, two large bottles of beer all for $4.70.

 

 

 

Details of Reg's "F Force"

This information taken from information supplied by the TBRC:

On arrival at Thanbyuzayat, some groups of workers were fortunate enough to be transported to their work areas.  Most of them however were forced to march.  In the early stages of construction this was not a major problem since the distance to be marched was short and was done during the dry season.

By early 1943, the situation was changing and for the worst.  Many of the workers were arriving in an already weakened state after living under Japanese control for more than a year.  The distances to march were longer – up to 300 kilometres.  Then in April – just like now - the rains started.

The group of Allied prisoners of war to suffer most from this was Reg’s “F” Force. This group of 7,000 British and Australians had to march 300 kilometres, at night, carrying all of their personal equipment, medical and camp stores, Japanese stores and their own sick.  This march lasted seventeen days and passed through camps occupied by Asian workers where cholera had already broken out.

“Leave at night.  Weather terrible.  Track nothing but mud.  Cannot see.  Boys tired.  This is murder.  Help one another along.”  Eric Stone, “F Force”.

On arrival at their worksites, most workers found dilapidated or unfinished bamboo and attap huts.  Others carried worn out tents with them.  Often they were not given time to repair or finish this accommodation before being driven out to work on road or rail.  Whatever the accommodation – tattered tents or leaking attap – the men were packed in together like sardines, 28 men under a tent fly which normally covered eight.

The sleeping platforms added to the distress of all.  These were made of split bamboo fixed to bamboo frames.  Not only were these platforms a torture to emaciated bodies but also soon became infested with blood sucking lice and other biting insects, so even the chance to have restful sleep was denied the exhausted labourers.

Mosquitoes from above – lice from below and all night, the demands of dysentery making distressed men stumble and crawl their way to and from the latrines.

“The camp is a quagmire, mud on everybody and everything – in the tents, on the bamboo bed boards, splashed up our legs and taken to bed with us …”  Ray Parkin, “Dunlop Force”.

Initially the railway construction timetable allowed reasonable working conditions to be imposed on the POW’s who, at that time, formed the majority of the workforce.  This combined with the fact that the work was being done during the dry season of 1942-43 meant that few deaths occurred during the first eight months of the construction period.

                                                           Deaths:  July 1942 to February 1943

                                             Americans 8, Australians 27, Dutch 136, British 255

In March 1943 when the Japanese High Command ordered the rapid completion of the railway – soon to be known as, “The Speedo” period – working conditions became much worse.  Large work quotas, longer working hours and increasing brutality became the norm.  The inadequate diet, which had just been sustaining the men, no longer proved sufficient and the physical condition of the men began to deteriorate.  But still the death rate remained moderately low.

                                                                   Deaths:  March to May 1943

                                           Americans 4, Australians 148, Dutch 418, British 430

With the advent of the wet season of 1943, the real tragedy of the Thailand-Burma Railway occurred.  Disease thrived in the conditions created by a tropical wet season, and the effect on men already weakened by meagre unsuitable rations and brutal work was devastating.  They fell victim to diseases that would not usually prove fatal if reasonable accommodation, adequate food and medicines and time to recuperate had been provided by the Japanese.

                                                                 Deaths:  June to October 1943

                                     Americans 88, Australians 1,630, Dutch 1,303, British 4,283

                Reginald James French was among these Australians who died, 21 August 1943

 One of the obligations placed on combatant nations during a time of war is to maintain records of enemy captives.  This is one war convention that the Japanese did obey.  The POW’s themselves were involved in this record keeping.  After the war, both Japanese and POW records were used to compile accurate figures of POW deaths.

 

Bangkok - Kanchanaburi

We arrived in Bangkok and shared their hottest day in 55 years - 43C.  It was hot.  It was also humid. Bangkok – with the smells of food cooking at roadside stalls and the smell of the gutter drains which can be overwhelming at times - but they’re always a welcome smell – it means we’re in Thailand.

We caught up with Stevie and Peter in Bangers and after John got a rogue peanut in his meal on our first day’s lunch we had a trip to the fang doctor on Tuesday morning.  An hour and a half later, two x-rays, the removal of existing filling, and all work done in readiness for a crown on our return to Australia, we were out of pocket $150.  No wonder people travel here for medical and dental work.

After the ride from hell in a minibus from Bangkok we arrived in Kanchanaburi and requested the taxi take us to Apple’s Guesthouse – where I’d stayed with Joshua in 2009 and where I’d booked for three nights – only to be told Apple’s Guesthouse is closed down!  So we arrived on the doorstep of the Thai-Burma Railway Centre (TBRC) where Terry gave us a recommendation – VN Guesthouse and at $23 a night for a ‘raft room’ right on the water, it’s a winner. 

He also checked our accommodation up at Hintok (we booked it back in Melbourne so we’d be closer to Hellfire Pass for the Dawn Service) and we were told we’d have to, “drive to the 126 km road marker, ring the guesthouse and they’ll come and get you as there isn’t a road in”.  How on earth would we get out at 2 am to get to the service?  So that accommodation went by the by.

We’ve spent time at the TBRC over the past few days and revisited the museum which is a must if you’re ever in Thailand.  Rod Beattie who is the Director was awarded the Order of the Orange in 2010, belatedly the Order of Australia in 2012 and an MBE from Great Britain in 2013.  He is an amazing man who also manages the Kanchanaburi war cemetery on behalf of the Commonwealth.

We’ve met many ex-pats and many Australians who have travelled here for the ANZAC services.  We went to Hellfire Pass on Friday for a reconnoitre with Ken and Kitty, from Scoresby and walked down the cutting to the memorial.  Having walked this path several times it nevertheless always brings tears; it is a very emotional place.  We decided after talking with Mick, the manager, to leave our guesthouse at 1 am to get to the gates when they opened at 2 am.  This proved a wise move, as we were able to get a seat in the grandstand on Saturday morning, ANZAC Day.  We were too scared to go to bed in case we didn’t hear the alarm so we stayed up all night.  Over 3,000 people turned up for the service and only 1,200 people were allowed down into the cutting; a big screen was set up in the carpark for those who arrived later.

 

 

 

Unfortunately a dozen or so ex-RAAF pilots, now commercial pilots for Cathay Pacific flying out of Hong Kong sat behind us and they were absolute cretins; you'd have thought they were at the footy - yelling out across the bleachers for their mates telling them they had seats saved; playing music on their phones; playing stuff on YouTube and when challenged, they said it’s only 2.30 – we’ve got three hours till the service starts!  No idea about respect – no idea about using the time for reflection – no idea at all really.

When all was quiet about an hour before the service was to commence, an old bloke started a rendition of, “And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda”.  It was hauntingly beautiful and he got a huge round of applause. The service was wonderful.  A lone piper played from the top of the cutting and a bugler from the Thai Army played the Last Post.  Pte Neil MacPherson was present as he apparently always is.  He was in the 2/2^nd btn and was in Williams Force at Kilo 55, the same as my Great-Uncle, Reginald French.  It was a real privilege and honour to be able to chat with him after the service – he was so generous with him time.  He didn’t remember Reg, but there were so many POW’s, it isn’t a surprise. 

Neil MacPherson, 2/2nd btn

We had a cup of coffee, with a nip of Bundy rum, and an ANZAC biscuit in the carpark and chatted with others who were there for the same reason before heading back the service at the Kanchanaburi cemetery, which is organised by Rod.  Large marquees catered well for the over 3,000 people who attended.  Senator Michaelia Cash spoke on behalf of the government.

 

I told her afterwards that none of it would be possible without Rod – likewise Hellfire Pass.  It was Rod and his Thai wife who cleared Konyu Cutting (HFP) with machetes all those years ago. It was Rod who collected the memorabilia and put it on display in the Museum at the TBRC.  I told her if anyone should get a knighthood, it’s Rod! 
 

 

We met some bikers who’d ridden from Pataya and although impressed with the Services were very disappointed that Aussie snags had not been flown in for the Gunfire Brekky and that they ran out of beer.  Not happy!  They had brought some beers with them in the motorbike cases so we shared a beer and taught them, “Bum sore manure”.  The story (from our dear friend, Raymond) goes like this:  In WWI, the Aussie Diggers asked the French, “What are you Frogs saying?”  The French would reply and say, “Bonsoir Monsieur” or “Bonjour”.  So the Aussies tried saying it and ended up saying, “Bum sore manure”! 

 

We’ve had some big storms whilst here in Kanchanaburi – lots of lightning, but very little thunder and loads and loads of rain, but it only lasts about an hour or so and clears the air.

Our time in Thailand is coming to an end – we leave at 7 am for the drive to the airport in Bangkok where we’ll depart for the next phase of our pilgrimage – Thanbyuzayat, Burma/Myanmar. 

 

Burma/Myanmar and Thailand

A brief history of why Lorraine and John are heading to Thailand and Myanmar/Burma on Sunday 19th April 2015:

My Great Uncle, Reginald French, was a member of the 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion in WWII. The unit fought initially in Syria, Batavia and then Java.  In March1942 he was captured by the Japanese and made a POW.  He was later interred in Thailand and made to work on the Thai/Burma Railway where he died of malnutrition and pellagra on 21st August 1943. 
Reginald James French
Service Number: VX22666
Rank: Private
Unit: 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion
Service: Australian Army
Conflict: Second World War, 1939-1945
Date of death: 21 August 1943
Place of death: Thailand
Cause of death: Illness
Cemetery details: Thanbyuzayat War Cemetery, Myanmar

My Grandfather, Stan French (Reg's brother), was with the 2/22nd btn.  He was a Salvation Army bandsman who enlisted on my Mum's 16th birthday.  Bands were often attached to battalions and they gave the men moral support.  They also played marches as the soldiers practiced their marching etc.  The 2/22nd band played as the battalion marched into towns from Trawool, their training camp, to Bonegilla.  Stan was killed in Rabaul, PNG. Part of me feels we should stay in Melbourne while the Diggers of the 2/2nd btn and the 2/22nd are still with us, but there's a strong pull for me to travel to Burma this year. 

In 2007 John and I travelled to Kanchanaburi, Thailand to find Reg's grave as the war records state he was buried in Thailand. The records are incorrect. We did not know at that stage that as the POW's died, they were buried at the camps along the railway track.  Thankfully, the details of where these men were buried were recorded and after the War they were taken from those camp graves along the Thai-Burma Railway and buried in the Commonwealth War Cemeteries in either Kanchanaburi (Thailand) or Thanbyuzayat (Burma/Myanmar), depending whether they had died towards the southern end of the Line or the northern end.  In 2007 it was not possible to travel into Burma as the borders were closed to foreigners.

With Burma having recently opened  to foreigners, we've decided now's the time to head over there.  So, we're leaving on Sunday 19th April, the day after John's 65th birthday.  We're going to Bangkok for a few nights, then we'll head up to Kanchanaburi for the Dawn Service at Hellfire Pass on ANZAC Day.

The plan is to then head back to Bangkok and fly to Yangon (Rangoon) Burma and travel down to Thanbyuzayat to pay homage to my great uncle Reg.  The more we've researched Burma the more we've liked what we've seen, so we're now spending the greater part of our month-long trip in Burma.

We'll then head back to Thailand and spend just under a week down in Ban Bangniang/Khao Lak and catch up with the families we're still in contact with from the tsunami days which we're looking forward to very much.

I won't be sending any more emails so it's up to you if you'd like to follow our travels - just check in to this blog.

Cheers!
Lorraine and John