To my fellow travelers

Consider this an open letter to all travelers, backpackers, or those who, like me, simply feel a strong sense of what my father once said best explained me, wanderlust. And, of course, this is an open letter to those travelers I do know (Jazz!).

Few countries are considered out of bounds for us. Perhaps that's the curse. It seems that politics and, at times, safety, are of little concern when it comes to our travel plans. We avoid the politics and we plan for the safety (e.g. people do travel to Afghanistan as tourists, by the way- again, Jazz). We rarely see the link, if it can be said to exist, between our presence and the at times horrendous politics of a nation. I have often asked myself where wouldn't I go? Would I go to China even though I strongly dislike the regime? I discourage attending the Olympics there but would I go there? I've even looked into going to North Korea as I am fascinated by the idea of a living totalitarian society.

When I was in SE Asia this was a very real question. Burma, or Myanmar, was right there. It was slightly off the main 'trail' and it was tantalising. It was strange, it seemed forbidden, it seemed even more exotic and intriguing than the Killing Fields of Cambodia I had just left. But could I go there? Technically speaking, yes, I could. But would my presence in some small way legitimate a very oppressive regime? Would my money play a small part in supporting that regime? Could I, as some had suggested, avoid the government and somehow undermine it by getting off the trail, working with locals, skipping out on the official guides, the official tourist sites, and the officially sanctioned hostels? I know some people who have done all of this. Jazz, if I remember the story right, told me how he avoided paying an entrance fee at some tourist site by traipsing through the bush and finding an alternate route in with the help of a local, whom he then paid as a guide. Could I do that? Probably. And I almost did (I went to Laos instead).

But this letter isn't about all of that. As of late I have found myself increasingly drawn to Myanmar. I want to go there. I have an urge to go that only another traveler would understand. I just want to go. But recent events have confirmed that I should not go; No one should go. It is not about safety- though certainly it is currently a very dangerous place. Quite simply this government, this military junta of three men is literally killing its people in the streets. It is a paranoid regime that built an isolated city/fort cum capital in the centre of the country as dictated by both military logic (easier to defend) and astrological idiocy (no one moved into the completed city until the stars were in proper alignment). This is a regime that no one should support. I am glad now that I never made plans to wander into this country. However much we may desire to see this place, to be there, we cannot eliminate the tacit acceptance of this regime that exists by our mere presence. To be there is to support this state. Unless you are there taking up arms and demonstrating on the streets you are legitimating this very illegitimate regime.

So with that my fellow travelers, I bid you adieu.

DB