UTUBE, TRAVEL BLOGS AND TRIP ADVISOR

This trip, unlike earlier tours, takes place under an unusual set of circumstances. Because travelers have only recently begun to tour Burma in any significant number, not many resources exist to orient visitors. The recent, more open-to-the-world, orientation of the government has also prompted evidence of rapid change on so many different levels, even recent accounts are often outdated within weeks.

For example, within the month, the official currency exchange rate has been linked to the unofficial “black market” rate. Before this change, the difference between the two was significant, and many were tempted to exchange dollars for kyat on the street rather than in a bank or other official outlet. In turn, travel blogs often included accounts of being ripped off by slight-of-hand maneuvers that shortchanged “innocent” tourists. That no longer needs be true – and must have come as quite a blow to the black marketers (although many visitors haven't yet gotten the word and continue to exchange money “the old fashioned way”)!

Likewise, cellphones have become less a luxury item, at least in Rangoon, as imported Chinese phones have dropped prices from thousands of kyat to mere hundreds. The kiosks on the street with corded phones available for any passer-by for a per minute fee undoubtedly will soon begin to vanish. Likely internet conductivity will blossom, as well, as wireless hot spots proliferate, servicing this new communication tool.

But, on the other hand, periodic electricity blackouts are still so commonplace that many homes, businesses and hotels have backup generators on site, and large areas of the country are still without electricity altogether.

All this means change is in the air but so spotty that the results make it extremely difficult for any visitor to know exactly what to expect.

Our preparation has therefore been much more dependent on information found in cyberspace than would have been true in the past. That, in turn, has led to some interesting revelations about the web as a reliable resource:

• Personal UTUBE videos are spotty indeed. Many are poorly shot and largely unedited. The commentary, such as it is, is often inane. A very few are fascinating – one detailed a lengthy backpacking excursion by train that took two intrepid travelers all over the country although the viewer learned more about the two guys than Burma itself. Another simply videoed Burmese visiting and worshiping at the Shwedagon Pagoda, beautifully illustrating both place and people.
• Professional documentaries uploaded to UTUBE can be invaluable, providing interesting insights unavailable otherwise. Lee especially enjoyed an Aljazeera production that covered the effects of recent political changes on the country in general and included lots of visual coverage of contemporary life in both urban and rural Burma.
• TRAVEL BLOGS are a mixed bag. Most are the observations of young backpackers wandering from place to place, spending as little as possible and drinking up a storm in the company of others, locals and other transients, met along the way. The blog entries recount lots of adventures arranging transportation or locating clean and cheap accommodations but, for the most part, provide little insight into the culture or society through which they're traveling. One exception benefited from the inclusion of tens of well-conceived and executed images that, again, brought Burma visually and vividly to life. Most, however, proved not particularly relevant to our travel needs and/or expectations.
• TRIP ADVISOR is really useful for its hotel and restaurant reviews but needs to be used cautiously. The more recent the review, the better. One also needs to take into account the source of the review (since reviewers hail from everywhere in the world and often reflect significantly different cultural perspectives in their evaluations). Some appear planted to inflate (or deflate) the overall rating. Sometimes its helpful to consult other web review sites for another perspective.
• Some TRIP ADVISOR comments - especially concerning “must see” places to visit and “must do” experiences - display a woeful ignorance or lack of perspective. Reviews of one of Bangkok's most famous Buddhist temples, Wat Pra Keou, sometimes dismissed that glorious site altogether because the “Emerald Buddha” image housed therein was really made of jade, too small to see easily and couldn't be photographed – this in the midst of a rich architectural setting almost overpowering in its Oriental splendor and complexity which appears to have been overlooked completely!
  
  In another instance, reviews of the Sky Bar, located on the rooftop terrace of the tallest skyscraper in the city, drew negatives because there was a strict dress code (sometimes unenforced), the drinks were too expensive and photography was limited to some very specific locations. Most admitted , however, the place was often (over)crowded with tourists who only came for the view (as did they) and who left after taking some quick photos and consuming a single drink.

All these observations illustrate the need to learn how to evaluate effectively the flood of data brought to light with any Goggle search. There's gold in them there words and pictures but lots of dross as well.

Moreover, in the larger scheme of things, perhaps education needs to focus more on how best to separate the “useful and relevant” on the web (and elsewhere) from the “useless and irrelevant” …

That's all for now, folks. Look for some reflections on Bangkok next time you drop by – we're only hours (LOTS of hours) away now, somewhere over Alaska, eastward bound!

UPLOADED DURING OUR LAYOVER AT NARITA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT OUTSIDE TOKYO, JAPAN IN THE EARLY EVENING OF THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012!