APOYANDO UNA DICTADURA - SUPPORT A DICTATOR IN ASIA

El ir o no ir a Myanmar, esa es la cuestión. Birmania (antigüo nombre de Myanmar) es el único país del sureste asiático que todavía no ha sido transformado por completo por y para el turismo. ¿Cómo lo consigue? Fácil, con un dictadura militar. Los Birmanos han tenido un "gobierno" militar desde hace muchos años y el control que éste ejerce sobre el pueblo, el país y sus fronteras es absoluto. Myanmar, un país fantasma atrapado en el pasado. 

To go or not to go, that is the question. Burma (old name of Myanmar) is still today the only country in South East Asia that has not been transformed by tourists. How is this possible? Simple, with a military dictatorship.

Hace muchos años, el gobierno de Myanmar solo permitía entrar al país a tours organizados. Los destinos y movimientos de los visitantes estaban controlados por la junta a través de puestos de control distribuidos por las principales rutas turísticas (algo que se sigue haciendo hoy en día, aunque en menor medida). Ahora, por suerte, el país está más abierto al viajero independiente. Pero, por otro lado, a pesar de que los tours organizados ya no sean obligatorios, los impuestos son tan elevados que todo aquello relacionado con el turismo, sale caro. Pagodas, templos, lagos, parques, reservas naturales…  todo tiene un precio, un dinero que tarde o temprano va directo al bolsillo del gobierno. Una de nuestras sorpresas fue al llegar a Bagán, un complejo de pagodas de lo más surrealista. Antes de entrar al pueblo, nos encontramos con una taquilla un tanto improvisada donde debíamos abonar la entrada al complejo. Si no la pagábamos, no solo no podíamos acceder a los templos sino al mismo pueblo donde se encontraban los hostales. 15 dólares o 15 euros, no importaba la divisa, solo importaba que el extranjero desembolsara unos cuantos billetes. De nuevo, ¿dónde va a parar este dinero? Como no, a la junta militar…

Muchas guías hablan sobre cómo evitar dar dinero a la junta. La verdad es que se puede minimizar este ingreso, pero no evitarlo al 100%. La junta tiene la mano metida en todo aquello que el turista hace. Pongamos un ejemplo. El alojamiento es muy caro para la calidad que se ofrece, como en Cuba, pero es que el 50% del precio que se paga se lo lleva la junta en forma de impuestos. Aunque seamos muy anti dictadura, pro derechos humanos etc, aquí hagamos lo que hagamos, indirectamente, estamos apoyando una dictadura. Una lástima…

Por otro lado, en Myanmar no hay 7eleven's, ni grandes timos, ni robos, ni centros comerciales, ni locales asqueados al ver turistas faltosos en ropa ligera y borrachos como una cuba. Algo bueno tenía que tener. Aquí hay poco que hacer en términos de "ocio occidental", por eso muchos mochileros que acuden al sureste asiático en busca de fiesta no deciden visitar Myanmar, porque para eso ya están Tailandia y Camboya. Pero esto no es lo único que frena a los turistas. A pesar de que el país se vaya abriendo poco a poco, hay zonas en las que el extranjero no puede entrar. Las razones todavía no nos quedan claras. Puede ser que haya conflictos armados, represiones violentas o campos de trabajo que el gobierno no quiere que veamos. El caso es que para visitar ciertas zonas del país se necesitan permisos que tardan meses, billetes de avión, no ser periodista y mucha suerte.

El ir o no ir a Myanmar no es solo cuestión de presupuesto (a pesar de que no salga tan caro como muchas guías indican), sino una cuestión moral, ética y personal. ¿Como lo harías tu?

The burmese have been under a military regime for over a decade. It has unrestricted control over its people, country and borders, something that has always put off travelers. The result is a totally unique country. You can feel this when you cross the land boarder from Thailand, recently opened to foreigners since August 2013. There are no 7elevens, no large scams, no robberies, no huge shopping malls, neither disgusted locals sick of seeing farang in skimpy cloths, drunk off their faces. The country however, still isn't completely open to foreigners. Some of the states require a special permit to enter. To obtain them takes far more time than the regular stay in the country. We still don't know why this is. Some people say that there are labour camps, armed conflict or violent repression. One way or another it 's something the government doesn't want us, or lets us see.

In Burma there is little to none "western" nightlife too, that is why many backpackers in search of a good party exclude Myanmar from their travel route. There is always Cambodia and Thailand to do things like that. But the lack of full moon parties is not the only reason backpackers don't come to this raw country. It is also because Myanmar is known to be an expensive country for travelers on a tight budget. We can luckily say the contrary, as in some occasions it can even be cheaper than the neighboring Thailand.

Myanmar's "government" seemed to only want high budget travelers in their country at first. Only organized (and rather expensive) tour groups were allowed to visit the country. Destinations and movements were completely controlled by the military regime. Luckily since august 2013, the country seems to be opening the doors to independent travelers, however unfortunate, we have to pay for everything of touristic interest. Pagodas, temples, lakes, parks, national parks… everything has a price and this income, in its majority, will end up in the pockets of the military leaders. A surprising example of this is when we arrived to Bagan, a potential touristic hotspot and possibly Angkor Wat's direct competition. Before entering the village where the guest houses are located (not the archaeology sight) we were forced to pay the entrance fee to the archaeology site. We were asked to pay a grand sum of 15 dollars per person. 15 dollars or 15 euros… the currency wasn't important, a few bills with a strong currency is all that mattered. If we did not pay were would not be allowed in the village where the accommodation was located. AUCH! Once again, were does this money go? You guessed it, the majority ends up in the wrong person's pocket.

Many guide books (even locals) explain how they can avoid giving money directly to the government. The truth is you can minimize the amount yo give, but can not avoid it 100%. As stated before, the government has their hands in practically everything the tourist uses or needs. The private no governmental owned guest houses have such a high tax rate, that half of a rooms price is just to cover taxes. What ever we do, and how ever hard we try, we can not avoid giving money to the government. This is a hard price to pay, not to say a moral dilemma, if we want to see a country unspoiled by the cancerous western society.

Coming to Myanmar is not only determined by your budget (even though it is cheaper than what most guide books say), it is more of a personal, ethical and moral decision. One way or another, you will be supporting a military dictatorship. What would you do?

Zonas restringidas a extranjeros