TIMESTAMPS: 01:57-First Glimpse of the Yangon River; 08:32-River Dogs; 10:28-Buying Ticket for Pansodan Ferry; 14:28-Boarding the Ferry; 17:23-Arriving at Dalla Across the River; 19:59-Strolling Around the Dock at Dalla; 24:42-Waiting to Board for the Return Trip; 28:49-Ferry for Return Trip; 31:57-Arriving Back at Pansodan; 36:23-Tiny Boat Foreigner Price; 38:31-Taking a Tiny Boat Across the Yangon River; 48:02-Return Trip by Tiny Boat; 50:42-Arriving at Shore and Conclusion
Your seems to me very much soft, cool and kind person. I was born and brought up there now live in western country, used to be very good in Myanmar now worst in Asia.
107°F =41°C That's HOT! Currently it is 31°C = 88°F in Kuching and cloudy. We've been experiencing heavy rain later in the day for a few days now. It's such a relief after a few weeks of super hot sunny days. I enjoy watching your video.
The temperatures here have consistently been up in that range. It was 107 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) yesterday as well. A cool day here is when the temperature reaches 101 degrees. That's pretty crazy. This poor Canadian is melting. 😃
Thank you for visiting my township. This is our daily life, we have to ride to work in Yangon every day. "oole" mean is called ''Uncle'', "bule"mean is called '' Who''.
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I've heard in the past that the Canadian accent is a bit easier for many people to understand than a British or even an American accent. And in my case, years of teaching English and working in recording studios for ESL publications probably trained me to try to speak a bit more clearly. It's in my blood now. 😎
Lol.....I'm surprised you weren't lambasted by Brits for that comment. I always love when I speak to someone from England and they remind me I speak Anerican and not English.....and they're right lol
This year is one of the hottest years in Myanmar, even locals can't resist . I'd suggest you to go out morning or evening, if you are still in Yangon, I have bad news for you . Yangon has the fairest weather among cities on plain , if you go Mandalay,Nay Pyi Daw, or Bagan , the temperature is quite higher . Especially in Bagan, you will get to train ballet dance on the floor of temples and pagodas if you go out at noon . haha
Hello Doug, just have to tell you that I thoroughly enjoy your vblogs and wish I was young and well enough to be able to come over to meet you and have a chat. In 1978 I travelled for 8 months through SE Asia NE Africa and Europe. It was a far cry from what I now view on the host of internet vblogs. Back then I travelled with no credit cards, smart phones, gopro cameras and drones as one might do today. Life was much more simple then and I feel also more enjoyable. Carry on your great vblogs and discriptive dialog. Michael JF
Idk why but there's just something spiritually eerie and mysterious about the crows in myanmar. It's really what made this place grow on me over time. Knowing part of my ancestry lies here from the myanma empire and having finally gone there really made me feel like I was in another home. My time at shwedagon felt like an imagination of heaven though. Myanmar especially Bagan will always have a special place in my heart. Much love from NJ in USA.
Thank you. Yes, it is nice to see more people interested in the videos I'm making. I'm still bumbling along with this video-making process and trying to find my "voice" so to speak. Hopefully, the videos will get better, and more people will enjoy them as time goes on. 😃
job good dude. it sounds crazy but this is the way to explore out of your comfort zone and see what local people do and how they commute. I was born in Rangoon and live in US for the last over three decades. I used to had classmates who live from other side of the river, take that small boat, walk another over one hour to get to the school on daily basis. the scary part is when it rain and rain hard and you are sitting inside that small little boat to across the river. I don't take it for granted. this was real. I had many classmates did that.
Thank you. It was interesting to see how quiet the Yangon River was compared to the river in Dhaka. The river and all the boats was my favorite part of visiting Dhaka. So I was glad to see that there were at least some boats on the Yangon River.
I have heard about many foreigners who complained about the discrimination (that is the discrepancy) the locals have to pay and that for the foreigners. You are right, the government is responsible for this. I hope one day, this difference would be discontinued. U lay means uncle and therefore not a bad word.
It's a common practice in countries around the world, and there are a bunch of ways of looking at it. You can argue that it is discriminatory or even racist. But local policy-makers might argue that tourists are rich and should pay more than the locals. But these days, that is far from true. Malaysia, for example, has a very strong economy and lots of people there have far more money than I do, but I have to pay much higher entrance fees at the Bird Park and other attractions in the country. And they apply a tourist tax at all the hotels - even budget hotels. Myanmar just struck me as a bit unusual. The higher ticket prices for foreigners in Malaysia is at tourist attractions. But in Yangon, foreigners have to pay to visit the pagodas, and these are active places of worship. It feels a bit strange to visit a Buddhist temple filled with hundreds of devout Buddhists, but I have to buy a ticket to go inside. This small boat in Yangon was also quite strange because it has nothing to do with tourism. It is just a part of the local transportation network. And even when I rode on that large ferry across the river, I had to go to a special tourist office and buy a much more expensive ticket. In a way, it's like a tourist riding the subway in New York city, but they have to pay ten times more than locals. It doesn't make sense. But, of course, I still pay the extra fee, and I don't get upset about it. It's just part of life, and the experience is worth it to me.
The heat and humidy can cause problems, so take care as it can lead to serious dehydration. Avoid summer months and midday travel. Drinking water in high humidity will not help in cooling the body. When native people are not exposed to foreigners they tend to be wary and avoid contact especially since the language also tends to be a barrier. Dual system of charging is quite common in many of the countries in the subcontinent.
Interesting video. Seem like you get a glimpse on the other side of Myanmar, other than Yangon. Looks like a lot of peoples from southern area will stop at Dala & cross the river to run their errands or work in the city. Lots of motorcycles were parked there as well. The ferry looks simple enough. With a chairs like that & simple open side-docking area. · 1:05 Is that a tram track? It looks like it. · 11:40 It would be interesting if you show how the foreigner price stated. · 17:57 Ouch, near miss! Why he didn't tied it up first? · 31:10 Do you know what kind of birds is that? · 41:00 Wow, very bumpy ride. Without life jacket, you must be brave 😄 · 44:45 The horse really eat that thing? 😕 · 45:45 When you heading back, did you try to ride with locals as well? · 46:40 On that note, it seem a bit contrasting from what you said before. I couldn't remember your exact words, but something like peoples there are very helpful & brave enough to talk to you.
I took a closer look at the map of Myanmar after this trip, and I saw that there is a large oceanside region to the southwest of Yangon, and I think Dalla is the jumping off point for all the people going from that area to Yangon and then back again. Good question about the tracks. I'm pretty sure there aren't any trams running today. Maybe there were in the past. But I think the most logical answer is that they're just regular train tracks serving the dock area and the large ships loading and unloading. Perhaps they aren't used anymore at all. You can see the sign for the foreigner prices briefly, but I go by it too fast to be able to read it. It just said something like "Foreigner Price - 2,000 kyats one way" and "4,000 kyats - both ways". Yes, it looked painful when that young guy fell while tying up the boat. When we returned to the other side, he did the same work, but he didn't slip and fall that time. 🙂 I don't know the exact species of bird, but I'm pretty sure they are a type of seagull. I've always liked seagulls. When I was young, the book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" made a BIG impression on me, and I've loved seagulls ever since. I wasn't worried about my own safety on that boat. I practically grew up in rivers and lakes and swimming pools, so I'm very comfortable in the water and can swim very well. But I was a bit worried about my cameras and smartphones and other expensive equipment. I certainly wouldn't have been happy if the boat tipped over and I lost all of that. Yes, that horse ate it all. I'm always surprised when animals eat stuff like that. Makes me realize that they aren't as smart as we sometimes think they are. They often have no idea what is food and what isn't. They'll often eat things that can really harm them. I can imagine that netting like that could cause some serious problems in the horse's digestive system. I guess it smelled or tasted good somehow. I wanted to ride on a regular boat with local people on my return trip, but it wasn't possible. So I didn't even try. As soon as I showed up, they indicated that I should get on the private boat by myself. I suppose if I wanted to, I could have just climbed on a regular boat and seen what happened. I'd still pay the foreigner price of 5,000 kyats but ride on a regular boat. Maybe they would have let me. But I don't usually like to cause trouble. I try to smile and laugh and just be friendly and not cause a scene. As someone else pointed out in the comments, the special treatment is probably meant to make me more comfortable. I'm paying more, so I should get a private boat. They think that is what I would want. If I tried to ride on a regular boat, they might not understand why. So I just do what I'm told usually even if I don't understand the system. You're right that when I said the local people were shy that I was contradicting myself. To be honest, I don't really believe that they're shy. I kind of said that just to be nice. I actually talked a lot about this earlier in that video, but I deleted it because I didn't want to be critical or negative. I was just surprised at how unfriendly the boat drivers and the boat helpers were. When I took river boats in Dhaka in Bangladesh, I also had to pay a special foreigner price and take a private boat, but the boat drivers were smiling and laughing and really friendly with me. Everywhere I went in Dhaka (and in Indonesia), people called out greetings and wanted to chat with me and would bring me tea. But in Yangon, people are just not interested in me as a person. They actually remind me of people from Thailand. People in Thailand are also generally not interested. And that's fine. They have their own lives and their own friends, and they don't care about some dumb tourist like me. And the people in Myanmar appear to have a similar quality. They're interested in me as a source of money, but that's about all. So, really, I don't think they're actually shy. I think they're confident and independent and just aren't as outgoing and friendly as people from some other countries I've visited recently. I think in my earlier comments, I was referring specifically to how people treated me in restaurants and other public stores and businesses. In those situations, I was surprised at how the people in Myanmar weren't afraid of talking to me. The waiter would come right up to me and bring me to a table and take my order and they were very helpful. In other countries, people might be nervous and they wouldn't have the self-confidence to deal with me. The waiters and waitresses would often run away and giggle and be too afraid to talk to me. But in Yangon, waiters come right up to me. They are self-confident that way. But that self-confidence also seems to mean that there is less friendliness on the streets. The boat driver wasn't shy. He was willing to take my 5,000 kyats and bring me across the river. But it was a business transaction for him. He had no interest in being friendly with me. He was just doing his job I think.
@@PlanetDoug Thanks for the reply. I looking back this comment after some readings. There was actually trams running in Yangon in 2016 but it only lasted for 6 months. The trams is kept near Wa Dan Street. Maybe you can take a look if it's still there. With number of viewers on your videos, I understand your discomfort of talking with critical views. Any chance to get that kind of rambling like in your blog before? It might be impossible to keep updating your blog like before. Some insight in community tab could be a good place for each video posting.
The tracks are still being used, the train that service the docks but not super regular. Dala is Land of the thieves and was known as the cursed land where only sketchy people live and tons of scams. Most locals are not interested and this is only common at dala and not the entire country. Mostly people are uninterested with tourists and not looking to rip them off. Of course dual pricing is officially practised in the country.
It is almost like Kolkata to Howrah ferry crossing and also similarly priced The only difference is that here you pay the same fate as that of locals pay.All of you reading this are welcome to enjoy Kolkata Howrah ferry crossing in India.
I might get a hat someday, but it's unlikely. I've never found hats to be very comfortable. And I do have sunglasses. I even had them with me on this boat and ferry trip. I just never put them on. I wear them when I'm cycling, but I always feel a bit weird wearing them in a city - like there is a barrier between me and the people around me. I always end up taking them off because it feels rude to talk to someone with these big, dark sunglasses on my face. Plus, they get in the way when I'm operating the camera and they get so sweaty with all the sweat dripping off my face. 😎🤣
I planned on going to other parts of the country, but I got a bit sick, so I had to stay in Yangon and rest. But I'm feeling better now, and I hope to visit some other places soon. Of course, I have to at least see Mandalay and Bagan while I am here. 😃
Thanks! I was recording with 2 cameras at the same time. So some of the clips are from the GoPro Hero 7 Black and some of them are from a mirrorless camera - the Panasonic G85. Most of the time when the camera was pointing at me - at my face - that clip is from the Panasonic. And a lot of the shots pointing away from me (ahead of me as I was walking along) are from the GoPro. And then I just mixed them together. It was just something I wanted to try out. I mounted the GoPro on top of the Panasonic and I started recording on both of them at the same time. The audio, however, is almost 100% from a lavalier mic attached to the Panasonic. Even when the video is from the GoPro, I used the audio from the Panasonic. The audio from the GoPro is so much worse, and it would have sounded really weird to switch back and forth from one to the other. I hope to attach an external mic to the GoPro eventually, but I don't have the audio adapter for the GoPro yet.
I know exactly what you mean. I guess that's human nature. We're never happy. 🙂 It's practically a way of life in Canada. We can spend all winter shivering in the cold and wishing summer would come. But as soon as the hot summer sun arrives, we wish it was nice and cold winter again.
It's a possibility. The other day, I was looking at inexpensive flights out of Kuala Lumpur, and there appear to be a number of them going to India and Sri Lanka. I was thinking about flying to Sri Lanka (a place I've never been) and then going from there into India. I went to India once before, but I didn't go as a tourist. I went there long ago on a kind of student exchange. India is such a big country, though. There are so many amazing places and so many different regions, it would be difficult to decide where to go. 🙂
I never did find out what the regular fare is for regular people. I asked a couple of people on the other side, but all they would tell me is the foreigner price of 5,000 kyats. 🙂
Just subscribed to your channel. As an American with dual citizenship from Canada, I do get a kick as to how polite and articulate Canadians are in general. I can't say I would have done that ferry trip, especially with that bullshit foreigner price and then the onslaught of pushy (fake helpful) people that see you as a human ATM. Looking forward to more of your adventures.
I couldn't understand the kids, of course, but apparently they were saying some bad things as they followed me around. I did recognize one word: "bule". At least I think they were saying bule. I heard that word a lot in Sumatra, and it meant "foreigner" in Indonesian. Perhaps they use the same word in Myanmar.
Hi Doug, “bule” was actually “oole” which meant Uncle in Burmese. As for the profanity, I personally felt ashamed as a yangonite. Anyway, keep up man. Great videos! Just subbed this morning.
1. Cycling canadian - you need to understand that you are not a tax paying resident of Myanmar 2. those ferry Services are cheap for the people of Myanmar because they live there permanently and some of them do pay income taxes which is used to subsidize such services cheap for native people and locals 3. you do not pay taxes...and you cannot demand the same cheap rates. 4. Hope you do some costing before commenting that this type of pricing is discriminatory...
For foreigners only; that’s because you are paying more, so they make sure you have a seat. In other countries, there are seats reserved for the elderly and people with disabilities.
I appreciate the intention. 🙂 It just struck me as kind of funny that the special treatment is often the opposite of what we actually want. That was particularly true of the trip on the small boat. I guess they want to make me more comfortable by giving me a private boat. But I actually felt very weird and awkward and uncomfortable riding across on my private boat. I wanted to just get on a regular boat and exchange a smile or two with the other passengers. But I wasn't allowed to do that. 😄
I got the impression that those children weren't being very nice. They followed me around and made kissing sounds with their lips and did some other very weird things. But, of course, I had no idea what they were saying. I didn't know that they were swearing. 🙂 If it IS something really bad, I can still delete that portion. I'd just need to know the exact time codes to know which part to remove - start point and end point.
As a local burmese, I can understand what you want to say. I have met many situations like that while I am young. In fact, those things are just reflections of their surroundings and most importantly their parents who struggle with their daily lives and don't have enough time to teach kids appropriate manners. So, what can we say... Didn't mean to annoy you but if you really wish to cut off, 23:48-23:51 :)
You don’t have to use such a thing as a private boat, you can travel for 400 Kyat on any small boat, just walk away when they say that nonsense. I’ve lived here for over 10 years, don’t let them suck you in.
Personally, I have no patience for bargaining. It seems like such a waste of time and energy. 😄 So if I don't like the price, I just walk away and buy whatever it is somewhere else, or I don't buy it at all. That's actually one of the reasons I walk and cycle everywhere - so I can avoid the hassle of having to bargain with tuktuk and taxi drivers, etc. In this case, however, I don't think there is any chance of bargaining. It's a set price for foreigners established by the government or tourism department. You can either pay that price and ride the ferry or boat or don't pay it and don't ride on the boat. It's not a price that can be changed. That's definitely true of the big ferry. The official ticket they issue is for foreigners only and has the official price printed on it. For the small boat, there is no ticket issued, but I think it is just as official.
That's an interesting question - how they identify foreigners. It's pretty clear that they just do it based on appearance. A tall white dude like me is obviously a foreigner of some type. But is someone from Thailand or Laos also considered a foreigner? Do they have to pay the foreigner price? And what if someone from a poor country in Africa showed up? Would they assume that since he is a tourist he must be rich? Or would they assume he was poor and let him pay the local price? There are all kinds of difficulties in a policy like this once you start thinking about it logically. It only works in a country where foreigners look different from local people. This system wouldn't work in Canada because everyone looks different. You can't tell just by looking at someone if they are a Canadian citizen or a visitor from another country. You'd have to ask to see their ID, and I'm pretty sure that would be illegal. No business would be allowed to charge different amounts based on checking your nationality. 😃
@@PlanetDoug unless its a heavily subsidized price for its citizens. US 6 cent for a ferry ride is not a fair market price for a ferry ride. This is evidently a heavily subsidized public transport for working class Myanmar citizens. Nothing to do with charging more to rich foreigners. You are not entitled to a subsidized pricing. Just like Singapore cars cannot buy a subsidized fuel grade in Malaysia. Same logic. Get over it. Pay your 2.6 $, enjoy cold water and enjoy the ride.
At least he seemed to recover quickly. And he didn't fall into the water and get trapped between the boat and the dock. So that was good. But he sure seemed to hit pretty hard. He probably woke up with a couple of bruises the next morning.
The exchange rate with the dollar is too tempting to resist for the authorities - it almost seems an injustice by itself. A foreigner can take solace in the logic that he is helping some lesser fortunate people. Though how much difference would it make either way is negligible really. The Bhutanese govt expect foreigners to spend USD. 200 per day per person.
ASEAN members should pool their money and provide soft loan to its member. A bridge across the river could be easily financed and would improve the capital city greatly in many ways. Prosper thy neighbour and the ASEAN region will prosper too.
That's a good point. I had similar thoughts when I recently spent some time in Dhaka. They really needed some more bridges across the main rivers in the city. But at the same time, the lack of bridges means that there is a lot of work for boat men. If everyone suddenly starts taking buses across new bridges, there would be no work for all the men with their boats. But I guess that's an unavoidable part of progress. Things change, old jobs disappear and new ones are created.
@@thekingminn ahh good thing to know. Im a bit disappointed though ( still it is good to see that something is being done) because personally i believe that ASEAN should play a greater role in developing this region and take it as its main agenda. There are super rich nations like the Singapore and Brunei but small and lack then raw economic power of Indonesia and Vietnam. and there are countries that are doing quite well like Malaysia the Philipines and Thailand. If everybody chip in and doing it right this ASEAN would be like the second EU - economic powerhouse and world wide influencer. Right now it is either China or the USA is our Daddy and both giants they are sort of forcing us to choose sides which is a bad thing. And not to forget India's role in the Andaman Sea which is too close for comfort. ASEAN must remain neutral. It is time to stand on our own. Sigh it is just a dream i guess. Not in my life time anyway.
@@talhahabdullah8980 Good view. I remember Tun Mahathir our Malaysia Prime Minister once said that we should enrich our neighbours so they can buy our products. We shouldn't depend on loans by super power nations such as USA and China because they will interfere with our local politics. I don't know much about these things but I should do some educational reading.
A friend of mine with an Asian heritage told me about how he went to all the tourist attractions in Myanmar and never paid the foreigner fee. He dressed in local clothing and he wasn't carrying around a giant camera, so everyone assumed he was local. I don't think I could get away with that. 😄
Watching this video makes me feel so much grateful and lucky living in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Sorry dude, based on this video it was unpleasant journey... very uncomfortable and feel worries almost all the time. I did not watch till the end. Only a first quarter video and I had to stop it. I would prefer Indonesia then.
It's true that the types of things I like to do aren't for everyone. 🙂 I enjoy wandering around riversides and regular city neighborhoods - even when it is brutally hot - just to go exploring. In the past, my goal was always to take pictures, and I liked walking around and taking pictures. Now I'm trying to do something similar with video. It's often physically uncomfortable and stressful to be on your own in a new country like this, but I like the adventure of it.
Douglas Jonathan 1. You are a tourist and not a citizen of Myanmaa 2. THis ferry service is operated by the Govt of Myanmaa....and the Citizen of Myanmaa deserves a subsidized rate because he/she lives there and pays taxes for which the government gives back subsidy in the form of reduced prices.... 3. you do not pay taxes in Myanmaa...you cannot expect the same treatment equal to that of a citizen... 4. Hence please do pay up the true economic fare .
Citizenship is irrelevant for prices in most countries in the world. If a citizen of Myanmar (or of any country) goes to Canada as a tourist and takes a bus or train or boat or goes to a movie or goes to a museum or goes anywhere at all, they pay the same price as Canadian citizens or anyone else. The price for everything is the same for everyone. In fact, it would be illegal in Canada to ask someone what their nationality is and then charge them a special price based on the country they come from or how they look.
In addition, tourists such as myself contribute a great deal to the economies of countries such as Myanmar. We bring a lot of money into the country in foreign currency and spend it all while we are there. And we pay all the usual taxes placed on goods and services that we purchase while we are in Myanmar. Taxes and fees were applied to most things that I purchased in Myanmar, such as hotel rooms. Plus, foreign tourists are charged vastly higher prices for most things in the country compared to Myanmar citizens. We often have to pay for things that cost nothing if you are a citizen. The fee for the tourist visa itself can be substantial and all of that money goes to the government. Therefore, to say that we don't pay tax and don't contribute to the economy is not even remotely true.
Well, the ticket seller was setting him up for a scam also. Why did he give the ferry ticket to that young guy?? Many people have complained about scams in Dala and with this ferry system. They are taken on tuktuk tours and grossly overcharged or forced to buy rice for a village. Do you think this is fair too?
The poor horse must be starving. The Burmese people do not seem to care much for animals and the Canadian had little to comment on the horse trying to grab a piece of plastic to fill his stomach. There seems to be animal welfare organisation in this very dirty piece of country.
There seems to be NO animal welfare organisation in this piece of country. All they're interested is in pending their limited financial resources in building Pagodas. Pagodas symbolize negativity and as a result Myanmar remains very poor and dirty. Poverty makes these people fleece foreigners as this Canadian esxperienced in this boat trip and his train trip.
While I was in Yangon and Mandalay, I looked online to see if there were any animal welfare organizations operating, and I found a couple of them. I wanted to visit one of them - since I love dogs and cats so much - but I never got the chance. I also read a few newspaper articles (both in Yangon and Mandalay) about efforts to deal with the large population of stray dogs. There were attempts to implement TNR programs (Trap-Neuter-Return), but they were simply too expensive. That leaves, unfortunately, the only real option, which was to round up the stray animals and euthanize them. Certainly, the stray dogs were a big part of my experience of Myanmar. They were everywhere. Some seemed to be in relatively good health, but, of course, others were in bad condition. In my videos, I found myself calling them "Temple Dogs" "Train Station Dogs" "River Dogs" etc based on where I saw them. As I said, they were everywhere.
Please, please, please get some protection from the sun. You simply do not have the protective pigmentation in your skin. Get a foldable washable cotton hat/cap for comfort. I assume video was taken a few days ago. Full moon was on the 19th, and Yangon River being tidal, the tide would have been quite high, hence the strong currents. With other boats using motors, they would have created washes that cause the smaller boats to rock. Foreigner prices? That I experienced in KL Butterfly Park, entrance prices there are not low. I am Malaysian, my children, are of mixed race. I, a “local”, was paying for the tickets, so I expected local prices. I threatened to leave with my family, before the cashier relented. There in Myanmar you would have no choice but to pay. Segregation… legacy of western colonisation. Whereas the westerners by and large have changed their attitudes, many Asians especially those who have not mixed socially with the “white masters” would prefer not to risk offending. And, finally, I do admire how you can keep your cool even in such heat.
The whole issue of foreigner prices is an interesting one. I remember that the foreigner price was quite a bit higher at the Bird Park in KL as well. And you had personal experience with how weird that can get. It surprised me that Malaysia has a dual-pricing system. I thought they would have left that in the past. I assume the dual-price system in most countries originated at a time when local people had less money and foreign visitors were generally much wealthier. But that isn't necessarily true anymore. And how does the system work when the foreigner is from Thailand or India or Bangladesh or Laos? Or even a foreign visitor from Peru or Uganda? Where do you draw the line in terms of who to charge the higher price? Is it just white skin? That, obviously, starts to stray into touchy territory... And it's funny that it only works in countries where a foreign visitor looks very different from a local person. Such a system would be impossible in Canada, for example, because there is no way to tell just based on appearance whether a person was a Canadian citizen or a tourist from another country. You'd have to ask to see everyone's ID to establish their nationality before serving them, and I'm pretty sure that would illegal. 😃
To be fair, we have similar systems in Canada. The first example, which is easy to understand the dual pricing, is university and college tuition rates which are twice as expensive for foreigners. The second example is the Tourism tax in places like Niagara Falls region. The tax is added to your bill in restaurants and hotels...No effort is made to inform the customers about it. Although it is not illegal for business groups to support the scheme, it is not required for a person to pay it; you can legally have the waiter/host remove the charge from your bill. I prefer to pay the tax and leave no tip for the waiter. If anyone is going to get the tax repealed, it will be the service staff who lose their income to it. Segregation is racism.
@@arty2k I can understand the dual pricing for Uni’ and College fees. After all tax payers pay their taxes to benefit their own children and citizens. Tourists do impact places they visit, sometimes good but mostly bad. Most tourists, some deliberately, have no appreciation of this. As for tourism tax, so long it is not a surprise, I agree to it too. The only proviso is that the tax be used to remedy the damages done to the environment in the areas of tourist interest. Yes segregation is bad especially when you are not given the choice. Btw, Malaysia and Myanmar have not signed the ICERD (International Convention to Eliminate Racial Discrimination).
Better to complain to maynmar consulate when r in canada this burma is poor country runs on tourism cheating is very common but we need to teach them lesson u can do it. Complain to consulate
7:20 Foreigner Price. Yes. But that's too much. You have to be clever with yourself when dealing with these low class Myanmar people. They always tend to make advantage of foreigners who don't know anything about regular prices. That's very sad to see that Myanmar people are not very honest when it comes to money.
TIMESTAMPS: 01:57-First Glimpse of the Yangon River; 08:32-River Dogs; 10:28-Buying Ticket for Pansodan Ferry; 14:28-Boarding the Ferry; 17:23-Arriving at Dalla Across the River; 19:59-Strolling Around the Dock at Dalla; 24:42-Waiting to Board for the Return Trip; 28:49-Ferry for Return Trip; 31:57-Arriving Back at Pansodan; 36:23-Tiny Boat Foreigner Price; 38:31-Taking a Tiny Boat Across the Yangon River; 48:02-Return Trip by Tiny Boat; 50:42-Arriving at Shore and Conclusion
Your seems to me very much soft, cool and kind person.
I was born and brought up there now live in western country, used to be very good in Myanmar now worst in Asia.
107°F =41°C That's HOT! Currently it is 31°C = 88°F in Kuching and cloudy. We've been experiencing heavy rain later in the day for a few days now. It's such a relief after a few weeks of super hot sunny days. I enjoy watching your video.
The temperatures here have consistently been up in that range. It was 107 degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) yesterday as well. A cool day here is when the temperature reaches 101 degrees. That's pretty crazy. This poor Canadian is melting. 😃
i really admire your patience and genuine desire to see and experience what regular people's lives look like. keep safe always! 🙂
Thank you for visiting my township. This is our daily life, we have to ride to work in Yangon every day. "oole" mean is called ''Uncle'', "bule"mean is called '' Who''.
Good travel report. Thanks.
As always great video and entertaining! And I really like English spoken by Canadian, clear and solid. Unlike British's..
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I've heard in the past that the Canadian accent is a bit easier for many people to understand than a British or even an American accent. And in my case, years of teaching English and working in recording studios for ESL publications probably trained me to try to speak a bit more clearly. It's in my blood now. 😎
Lol.....I'm surprised you weren't lambasted by Brits for that comment. I always love when I speak to someone from England and they remind me I speak Anerican and not English.....and they're right lol
lovely explantion sir thanks a lot
I did the same thing in 2011....took the boat to the other side. Love to see the river activities.
This year is one of the hottest years in Myanmar, even locals can't resist . I'd suggest you to go out morning or evening, if you are still in Yangon, I have bad news for you . Yangon has the fairest weather among cities on plain , if you go Mandalay,Nay Pyi Daw, or Bagan , the temperature is quite higher . Especially in Bagan, you will get to train ballet dance on the floor of temples and pagodas if you go out at noon . haha
Hello Doug, just have to tell you that I thoroughly enjoy your vblogs and wish I was young and well enough to be able to come over to meet you and have a chat. In 1978 I travelled for 8 months through SE Asia NE Africa and Europe. It was a far cry from what I now view on the host of internet vblogs. Back then I travelled with no credit cards, smart phones, gopro cameras and drones as one might do today. Life was much more simple then and I feel also more enjoyable. Carry on your great vblogs and discriptive dialog. Michael JF
Idk why but there's just something spiritually eerie and mysterious about the crows in myanmar. It's really what made this place grow on me over time. Knowing part of my ancestry lies here from the myanma empire and having finally gone there really made me feel like I was in another home. My time at shwedagon felt like an imagination of heaven though. Myanmar especially Bagan will always have a special place in my heart. Much love from NJ in USA.
Congratulations on 2k subscribers. It may worth to start monetize the channel. At least it can cover expenses on 'foreigner price' 👍
Thank you. Yes, it is nice to see more people interested in the videos I'm making. I'm still bumbling along with this video-making process and trying to find my "voice" so to speak. Hopefully, the videos will get better, and more people will enjoy them as time goes on. 😃
As a local, Great to know the honest view and great video too.
5000 kyat is about $5 CAD. Still quite cheap to go for a boat ride. Cost way more to cross with the ferry from the Toronto Harbor to Centre Island.
Nice video of pansodaan jetti....you are really a daring person going alone there...keep it up sir....
You got quite enough energy talking Sir. Kudos. Love your tour.
Canadian, this time you are in Dhaka, you must be at my house. My parents, my wife and I have a daughter. It will be a lot of fun.
job good dude. it sounds crazy but this is the way to explore out of your comfort zone and see what local people do and how they commute. I was born in Rangoon and live in US for the last over three decades. I used to had classmates who live from other side of the river, take that small boat, walk another over one hour to get to the school on daily basis. the scary part is when it rain and rain hard and you are sitting inside that small little boat to across the river. I don't take it for granted. this was real. I had many classmates did that.
Thanks for showing us this experience....i dun think i will go there so watching your video i do feel like im there already....😁😁😁
Awesome momments.... Seeing very nice boat and panaroma in mayanmar
Thank you. It was interesting to see how quiet the Yangon River was compared to the river in Dhaka. The river and all the boats was my favorite part of visiting Dhaka. So I was glad to see that there were at least some boats on the Yangon River.
@@PlanetDoug Thank you sir
if you really want to cross the river in a small private boat...1 time. Then you pay the going rate, and just enjoy the moment.
wow... almost a full hour video... !!! awesome...
I have heard about many foreigners who complained about the discrimination (that is the discrepancy) the locals have to pay and that for the foreigners. You are right, the government is responsible for this. I hope one day, this difference would be discontinued. U lay means uncle and therefore not a bad word.
It's a common practice in countries around the world, and there are a bunch of ways of looking at it. You can argue that it is discriminatory or even racist. But local policy-makers might argue that tourists are rich and should pay more than the locals. But these days, that is far from true. Malaysia, for example, has a very strong economy and lots of people there have far more money than I do, but I have to pay much higher entrance fees at the Bird Park and other attractions in the country. And they apply a tourist tax at all the hotels - even budget hotels.
Myanmar just struck me as a bit unusual. The higher ticket prices for foreigners in Malaysia is at tourist attractions. But in Yangon, foreigners have to pay to visit the pagodas, and these are active places of worship. It feels a bit strange to visit a Buddhist temple filled with hundreds of devout Buddhists, but I have to buy a ticket to go inside.
This small boat in Yangon was also quite strange because it has nothing to do with tourism. It is just a part of the local transportation network. And even when I rode on that large ferry across the river, I had to go to a special tourist office and buy a much more expensive ticket. In a way, it's like a tourist riding the subway in New York city, but they have to pay ten times more than locals. It doesn't make sense.
But, of course, I still pay the extra fee, and I don't get upset about it. It's just part of life, and the experience is worth it to me.
It's quite hard work but you've done very well.
11:17 What if you know that you can pay just 100 Kyats to go across and you pay 100 Kyats? Do you think they allow you to ride on the ferry?
as a Foreigner, who have a guaranteed seat on the ferry, and quiet zone.
The heat and humidy can cause problems, so take care as it can lead to serious dehydration. Avoid summer months and midday travel. Drinking water in high humidity will not help in cooling the body. When native people are not exposed to foreigners they tend to be wary and avoid contact especially since the language also tends to be a barrier. Dual system of charging is quite common in many of the countries in the subcontinent.
Interesting video. Seem like you get a glimpse on the other side of Myanmar, other than Yangon. Looks like a lot of peoples from southern area will stop at Dala & cross the river to run their errands or work in the city. Lots of motorcycles were parked there as well.
The ferry looks simple enough. With a chairs like that & simple open side-docking area.
· 1:05 Is that a tram track? It looks like it.
· 11:40 It would be interesting if you show how the foreigner price stated.
· 17:57 Ouch, near miss! Why he didn't tied it up first?
· 31:10 Do you know what kind of birds is that?
· 41:00 Wow, very bumpy ride. Without life jacket, you must be brave 😄
· 44:45 The horse really eat that thing? 😕
· 45:45 When you heading back, did you try to ride with locals as well?
· 46:40 On that note, it seem a bit contrasting from what you said before. I couldn't remember your exact words, but something like peoples there are very helpful & brave enough to talk to you.
I took a closer look at the map of Myanmar after this trip, and I saw that there is a large oceanside region to the southwest of Yangon, and I think Dalla is the jumping off point for all the people going from that area to Yangon and then back again.
Good question about the tracks. I'm pretty sure there aren't any trams running today. Maybe there were in the past. But I think the most logical answer is that they're just regular train tracks serving the dock area and the large ships loading and unloading. Perhaps they aren't used anymore at all.
You can see the sign for the foreigner prices briefly, but I go by it too fast to be able to read it. It just said something like "Foreigner Price - 2,000 kyats one way" and "4,000 kyats - both ways".
Yes, it looked painful when that young guy fell while tying up the boat. When we returned to the other side, he did the same work, but he didn't slip and fall that time. 🙂
I don't know the exact species of bird, but I'm pretty sure they are a type of seagull. I've always liked seagulls. When I was young, the book "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" made a BIG impression on me, and I've loved seagulls ever since.
I wasn't worried about my own safety on that boat. I practically grew up in rivers and lakes and swimming pools, so I'm very comfortable in the water and can swim very well. But I was a bit worried about my cameras and smartphones and other expensive equipment. I certainly wouldn't have been happy if the boat tipped over and I lost all of that.
Yes, that horse ate it all. I'm always surprised when animals eat stuff like that. Makes me realize that they aren't as smart as we sometimes think they are. They often have no idea what is food and what isn't. They'll often eat things that can really harm them. I can imagine that netting like that could cause some serious problems in the horse's digestive system. I guess it smelled or tasted good somehow.
I wanted to ride on a regular boat with local people on my return trip, but it wasn't possible. So I didn't even try. As soon as I showed up, they indicated that I should get on the private boat by myself. I suppose if I wanted to, I could have just climbed on a regular boat and seen what happened. I'd still pay the foreigner price of 5,000 kyats but ride on a regular boat. Maybe they would have let me. But I don't usually like to cause trouble. I try to smile and laugh and just be friendly and not cause a scene.
As someone else pointed out in the comments, the special treatment is probably meant to make me more comfortable. I'm paying more, so I should get a private boat. They think that is what I would want. If I tried to ride on a regular boat, they might not understand why. So I just do what I'm told usually even if I don't understand the system.
You're right that when I said the local people were shy that I was contradicting myself. To be honest, I don't really believe that they're shy. I kind of said that just to be nice. I actually talked a lot about this earlier in that video, but I deleted it because I didn't want to be critical or negative. I was just surprised at how unfriendly the boat drivers and the boat helpers were. When I took river boats in Dhaka in Bangladesh, I also had to pay a special foreigner price and take a private boat, but the boat drivers were smiling and laughing and really friendly with me. Everywhere I went in Dhaka (and in Indonesia), people called out greetings and wanted to chat with me and would bring me tea. But in Yangon, people are just not interested in me as a person. They actually remind me of people from Thailand. People in Thailand are also generally not interested. And that's fine. They have their own lives and their own friends, and they don't care about some dumb tourist like me. And the people in Myanmar appear to have a similar quality. They're interested in me as a source of money, but that's about all.
So, really, I don't think they're actually shy. I think they're confident and independent and just aren't as outgoing and friendly as people from some other countries I've visited recently.
I think in my earlier comments, I was referring specifically to how people treated me in restaurants and other public stores and businesses. In those situations, I was surprised at how the people in Myanmar weren't afraid of talking to me. The waiter would come right up to me and bring me to a table and take my order and they were very helpful. In other countries, people might be nervous and they wouldn't have the self-confidence to deal with me. The waiters and waitresses would often run away and giggle and be too afraid to talk to me. But in Yangon, waiters come right up to me. They are self-confident that way. But that self-confidence also seems to mean that there is less friendliness on the streets. The boat driver wasn't shy. He was willing to take my 5,000 kyats and bring me across the river. But it was a business transaction for him. He had no interest in being friendly with me. He was just doing his job I think.
@@PlanetDoug Thanks for the reply. I looking back this comment after some readings. There was actually trams running in Yangon in 2016 but it only lasted for 6 months. The trams is kept near Wa Dan Street. Maybe you can take a look if it's still there.
With number of viewers on your videos, I understand your discomfort of talking with critical views. Any chance to get that kind of rambling like in your blog before? It might be impossible to keep updating your blog like before. Some insight in community tab could be a good place for each video posting.
@@PlanetDoug it is a tram track left by British . Burma used to have tram until 1945 or 50 around that time.
The tracks are still being used, the train that service the docks but not super regular. Dala is Land of the thieves and was known as the cursed land where only sketchy people live and tons of scams. Most locals are not interested and this is only common at dala and not the entire country. Mostly people are uninterested with tourists and not looking to rip them off. Of course dual pricing is officially practised in the country.
You are a great entertainer!
Glad you made back to Yangon without being robbed.
2011 I crossed the river here.I was saling too
Hoping you would do the 5 snacks challenge in Yangon...
At 23:48 some little kid swear
It is almost like Kolkata to Howrah ferry crossing and also similarly priced The only difference is that here you pay the same fate as that of locals pay.All of you reading this are welcome to enjoy Kolkata Howrah ferry crossing in India.
For your own good, get a hat and sun glasses
I might get a hat someday, but it's unlikely. I've never found hats to be very comfortable. And I do have sunglasses. I even had them with me on this boat and ferry trip. I just never put them on. I wear them when I'm cycling, but I always feel a bit weird wearing them in a city - like there is a barrier between me and the people around me. I always end up taking them off because it feels rude to talk to someone with these big, dark sunglasses on my face. Plus, they get in the way when I'm operating the camera and they get so sweaty with all the sweat dripping off my face. 😎🤣
@@PlanetDoug Have not seen a new video from you lately?
Are you planning to go to other parts of Burma? Good luck with your travels.
I planned on going to other parts of the country, but I got a bit sick, so I had to stay in Yangon and rest. But I'm feeling better now, and I hope to visit some other places soon. Of course, I have to at least see Mandalay and Bagan while I am here. 😃
When u visit mandalay plz don’t forget to go to Shwe nandaw Kyaung
Good videos, I was wondering if you are recording with the hero 7 black ?
Thanks! I was recording with 2 cameras at the same time. So some of the clips are from the GoPro Hero 7 Black and some of them are from a mirrorless camera - the Panasonic G85.
Most of the time when the camera was pointing at me - at my face - that clip is from the Panasonic. And a lot of the shots pointing away from me (ahead of me as I was walking along) are from the GoPro. And then I just mixed them together.
It was just something I wanted to try out. I mounted the GoPro on top of the Panasonic and I started recording on both of them at the same time. The audio, however, is almost 100% from a lavalier mic attached to the Panasonic. Even when the video is from the GoPro, I used the audio from the Panasonic. The audio from the GoPro is so much worse, and it would have sounded really weird to switch back and forth from one to the other.
I hope to attach an external mic to the GoPro eventually, but I don't have the audio adapter for the GoPro yet.
At mouth of a delta, this speed of water current is beyond my comprehension...
You can go to Bangladesh form Myanmar by launch
You say it's hot now but once it rains you will wish it was sunny
I know exactly what you mean. I guess that's human nature. We're never happy. 🙂
It's practically a way of life in Canada. We can spend all winter shivering in the cold and wishing summer would come. But as soon as the hot summer sun arrives, we wish it was nice and cold winter again.
7:09 I hate it when locals do that. :( they do that in my country too to foreigners. It just gives the country and bad reputation.
Will you visit India?
It's a possibility. The other day, I was looking at inexpensive flights out of Kuala Lumpur, and there appear to be a number of them going to India and Sri Lanka. I was thinking about flying to Sri Lanka (a place I've never been) and then going from there into India. I went to India once before, but I didn't go as a tourist. I went there long ago on a kind of student exchange. India is such a big country, though. There are so many amazing places and so many different regions, it would be difficult to decide where to go. 🙂
34℃ is really killing us in KL, not to mention 41℃ .... Gosh!
Mayanmar is atlest 30 year's back in time....
look like harisson ford in some angle
Expensive boat ride 😩.
I never did find out what the regular fare is for regular people. I asked a couple of people on the other side, but all they would tell me is the foreigner price of 5,000 kyats. 🙂
Just subscribed to your channel. As an American with dual citizenship from Canada, I do get a kick as to how polite and articulate Canadians are in general. I can't say I would have done that ferry trip, especially with that bullshit foreigner price and then the onslaught of pushy (fake helpful) people that see you as a human ATM.
Looking forward to more of your adventures.
At 23:48 what did the kid say? lol
He is saying the F word in burmese. How these kids... :')
I couldn't understand the kids, of course, but apparently they were saying some bad things as they followed me around. I did recognize one word: "bule". At least I think they were saying bule. I heard that word a lot in Sumatra, and it meant "foreigner" in Indonesian. Perhaps they use the same word in Myanmar.
Hi Doug, “bule” was actually “oole” which meant Uncle in Burmese. As for the profanity, I personally felt ashamed as a yangonite.
Anyway, keep up man. Great videos! Just subbed this morning.
That's interesting. It makes me wonder if the two words "oole" and "bule" have a similar origin, since they sound so much alike.
@@PlanetDoug "oole" mean is called ''Uncle'', "bule"mean is called '' Who''
1. Cycling canadian - you need to understand that you are not a tax paying resident of Myanmar
2. those ferry Services are cheap for the people of Myanmar because they live there permanently and some of them do pay income taxes which is used to subsidize such services cheap for native people and locals
3. you do not pay taxes...and you cannot demand the same cheap rates.
4. Hope you do some costing before commenting that this type of pricing is discriminatory...
For foreigners only; that’s because you are paying more, so they make sure you have a seat.
In other countries, there are seats reserved for the elderly and people with disabilities.
I appreciate the intention. 🙂 It just struck me as kind of funny that the special treatment is often the opposite of what we actually want. That was particularly true of the trip on the small boat. I guess they want to make me more comfortable by giving me a private boat. But I actually felt very weird and awkward and uncomfortable riding across on my private boat. I wanted to just get on a regular boat and exchange a smile or two with the other passengers. But I wasn't allowed to do that. 😄
Lol, kids swearing at 23:48. You should cut it off. Feels like a little inappropriate. Good video anyway :)
I got the impression that those children weren't being very nice. They followed me around and made kissing sounds with their lips and did some other very weird things. But, of course, I had no idea what they were saying. I didn't know that they were swearing. 🙂
If it IS something really bad, I can still delete that portion. I'd just need to know the exact time codes to know which part to remove - start point and end point.
As a local burmese, I can understand what you want to say. I have met many situations like that while I am young. In fact, those things are just reflections of their surroundings and most importantly their parents who struggle with their daily lives and don't have enough time to teach kids appropriate manners. So, what can we say...
Didn't mean to annoy you but if you really wish to cut off, 23:48-23:51 :)
You don’t have to use such a thing as a private boat, you can travel for 400 Kyat on any small boat, just walk away when they say that nonsense. I’ve lived here for over 10 years, don’t let them suck you in.
Local price and foreigner price for all transactions
In Asia you bargain, never pay first price.
Personally, I have no patience for bargaining. It seems like such a waste of time and energy. 😄 So if I don't like the price, I just walk away and buy whatever it is somewhere else, or I don't buy it at all. That's actually one of the reasons I walk and cycle everywhere - so I can avoid the hassle of having to bargain with tuktuk and taxi drivers, etc.
In this case, however, I don't think there is any chance of bargaining. It's a set price for foreigners established by the government or tourism department. You can either pay that price and ride the ferry or boat or don't pay it and don't ride on the boat. It's not a price that can be changed. That's definitely true of the big ferry. The official ticket they issue is for foreigners only and has the official price printed on it. For the small boat, there is no ticket issued, but I think it is just as official.
@@PlanetDoug I wonder how they identify foreigner from neighboring countries? Seem like they didn't verifying any ID, just by how someone looks only.
That's an interesting question - how they identify foreigners. It's pretty clear that they just do it based on appearance. A tall white dude like me is obviously a foreigner of some type. But is someone from Thailand or Laos also considered a foreigner? Do they have to pay the foreigner price? And what if someone from a poor country in Africa showed up? Would they assume that since he is a tourist he must be rich? Or would they assume he was poor and let him pay the local price?
There are all kinds of difficulties in a policy like this once you start thinking about it logically. It only works in a country where foreigners look different from local people. This system wouldn't work in Canada because everyone looks different. You can't tell just by looking at someone if they are a Canadian citizen or a visitor from another country. You'd have to ask to see their ID, and I'm pretty sure that would be illegal. No business would be allowed to charge different amounts based on checking your nationality. 😃
@@PlanetDoug unless its a heavily subsidized price for its citizens. US 6 cent for a ferry ride is not a fair market price for a ferry ride. This is evidently a heavily subsidized public transport for working class Myanmar citizens. Nothing to do with charging more to rich foreigners. You are not entitled to a subsidized pricing. Just like Singapore cars cannot buy a subsidized fuel grade in Malaysia. Same logic. Get over it. Pay your 2.6 $, enjoy cold water and enjoy the ride.
18:00 A common sad feature of poor countries is the poor training workers receive for workplace safety.
At least he seemed to recover quickly. And he didn't fall into the water and get trapped between the boat and the dock. So that was good. But he sure seemed to hit pretty hard. He probably woke up with a couple of bruises the next morning.
The exchange rate with the dollar is too tempting to resist for the authorities - it almost seems an injustice by itself. A foreigner can take solace in the logic that he is helping some lesser fortunate people. Though how much difference would it make either way is negligible really. The Bhutanese govt expect foreigners to spend USD. 200 per day per person.
@23:50....a kid is swearing “mother f#%*€r” ...in Burmese language.
Burma👨🦽🏃♂️👩🦽🏃♀️
ASEAN members should pool their money and provide soft loan to its member. A bridge across the river could be easily financed and would improve the capital city greatly in many ways. Prosper thy neighbour and the ASEAN region will prosper too.
That's a good point. I had similar thoughts when I recently spent some time in Dhaka. They really needed some more bridges across the main rivers in the city. But at the same time, the lack of bridges means that there is a lot of work for boat men. If everyone suddenly starts taking buses across new bridges, there would be no work for all the men with their boats. But I guess that's an unavoidable part of progress. Things change, old jobs disappear and new ones are created.
there is a bridge under construction now being build by Japan
@@thekingminn ahh good thing to know. Im a bit disappointed though ( still it is good to see that something is being done) because personally i believe that ASEAN should play a greater role in developing this region and take it as its main agenda. There are super rich nations like the Singapore and Brunei but small and lack then raw economic power of Indonesia and Vietnam. and there are countries that are doing quite well like Malaysia the Philipines and Thailand. If everybody chip in and doing it right this ASEAN would be like the second EU - economic powerhouse and world wide influencer. Right now it is either China or the USA is our Daddy and both giants they are sort of forcing us to choose sides which is a bad thing. And not to forget India's role in the Andaman Sea which is too close for comfort. ASEAN must remain neutral. It is time to stand on our own. Sigh it is just a dream i guess. Not in my life time anyway.
@@talhahabdullah8980 I agree 100%
@@talhahabdullah8980 Good view. I remember Tun Mahathir our Malaysia Prime Minister once said that we should enrich our neighbours so they can buy our products. We shouldn't depend on loans by super power nations such as USA and China because they will interfere with our local politics. I don't know much about these things but I should do some educational reading.
Lol, always say you are not a foreigner. ;)
For asian ....maybe this trick work hahahaha....
A friend of mine with an Asian heritage told me about how he went to all the tourist attractions in Myanmar and never paid the foreigner fee. He dressed in local clothing and he wasn't carrying around a giant camera, so everyone assumed he was local. I don't think I could get away with that. 😄
Shan tai
Watching this video makes me feel so much grateful and lucky living in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. Sorry dude, based on this video it was unpleasant journey... very uncomfortable and feel worries almost all the time. I did not watch till the end. Only a first quarter video and I had to stop it. I would prefer Indonesia then.
It's true that the types of things I like to do aren't for everyone. 🙂 I enjoy wandering around riversides and regular city neighborhoods - even when it is brutally hot - just to go exploring. In the past, my goal was always to take pictures, and I liked walking around and taking pictures. Now I'm trying to do something similar with video. It's often physically uncomfortable and stressful to be on your own in a new country like this, but I like the adventure of it.
Actually I am from Malaysia but now in Yangon and so much better here because life is simple and not caught in constant traffic
Douglas Jonathan
1. You are a tourist and not a citizen of Myanmaa
2. THis ferry service is operated by the Govt of Myanmaa....and the Citizen of Myanmaa deserves a subsidized rate because he/she lives there and pays taxes for which the government gives back subsidy in the form of reduced prices....
3. you do not pay taxes in Myanmaa...you cannot expect the same treatment equal to that of a citizen...
4. Hence please do pay up the true economic fare .
Citizenship is irrelevant for prices in most countries in the world.
If a citizen of Myanmar (or of any country) goes to Canada as a tourist and takes a bus or train or boat or goes to a movie or goes to a museum or goes anywhere at all, they pay the same price as Canadian citizens or anyone else.
The price for everything is the same for everyone. In fact, it would be illegal in Canada to ask someone what their nationality is and then charge them a special price based on the country they come from or how they look.
In addition, tourists such as myself contribute a great deal to the economies of countries such as Myanmar. We bring a lot of money into the country in foreign currency and spend it all while we are there.
And we pay all the usual taxes placed on goods and services that we purchase while we are in Myanmar. Taxes and fees were applied to most things that I purchased in Myanmar, such as hotel rooms. Plus, foreign tourists are charged vastly higher prices for most things in the country compared to Myanmar citizens. We often have to pay for things that cost nothing if you are a citizen.
The fee for the tourist visa itself can be substantial and all of that money goes to the government.
Therefore, to say that we don't pay tax and don't contribute to the economy is not even remotely true.
Well, the ticket seller was setting him up for a scam also. Why did he give the ferry ticket to that young guy??
Many people have complained about scams in Dala and with this ferry system. They are taken on tuktuk tours and grossly overcharged or forced to buy rice for a village.
Do you think this is fair too?
Yangon? more like Sweatgon from the looks on your head
The poor horse must be starving. The Burmese people do not seem to care much for animals and the Canadian had little to comment on the horse trying to grab a piece of plastic to fill his stomach. There seems to be animal welfare organisation in this very dirty piece of country.
Monks are religious elites, 😅😅😅
There seems to be NO animal welfare organisation in this piece of country. All they're interested is in pending their limited financial resources in building Pagodas. Pagodas symbolize negativity and as a result Myanmar remains very poor and dirty. Poverty makes these people fleece foreigners as this Canadian esxperienced in this boat trip and his train trip.
While I was in Yangon and Mandalay, I looked online to see if there were any animal welfare organizations operating, and I found a couple of them. I wanted to visit one of them - since I love dogs and cats so much - but I never got the chance.
I also read a few newspaper articles (both in Yangon and Mandalay) about efforts to deal with the large population of stray dogs. There were attempts to implement TNR programs (Trap-Neuter-Return), but they were simply too expensive. That leaves, unfortunately, the only real option, which was to round up the stray animals and euthanize them.
Certainly, the stray dogs were a big part of my experience of Myanmar. They were everywhere. Some seemed to be in relatively good health, but, of course, others were in bad condition. In my videos, I found myself calling them "Temple Dogs" "Train Station Dogs" "River Dogs" etc based on where I saw them. As I said, they were everywhere.
Please, please, please get some protection from the sun. You simply do not have the protective pigmentation in your skin. Get a foldable washable cotton hat/cap for comfort.
I assume video was taken a few days ago. Full moon was on the 19th, and Yangon River being tidal, the tide would have been quite high, hence the strong currents. With other boats using motors, they would have created washes that cause the smaller boats to rock.
Foreigner prices? That I experienced in KL Butterfly Park, entrance prices there are not low. I am Malaysian, my children, are of mixed race. I, a “local”, was paying for the tickets, so I expected local prices. I threatened to leave with my family, before the cashier relented. There in Myanmar you would have no choice but to pay.
Segregation… legacy of western colonisation. Whereas the westerners by and large have changed their attitudes, many Asians especially those who have not mixed socially with the “white masters” would prefer not to risk offending.
And, finally, I do admire how you can keep your cool even in such heat.
The whole issue of foreigner prices is an interesting one. I remember that the foreigner price was quite a bit higher at the Bird Park in KL as well. And you had personal experience with how weird that can get. It surprised me that Malaysia has a dual-pricing system. I thought they would have left that in the past.
I assume the dual-price system in most countries originated at a time when local people had less money and foreign visitors were generally much wealthier. But that isn't necessarily true anymore. And how does the system work when the foreigner is from Thailand or India or Bangladesh or Laos? Or even a foreign visitor from Peru or Uganda? Where do you draw the line in terms of who to charge the higher price? Is it just white skin? That, obviously, starts to stray into touchy territory...
And it's funny that it only works in countries where a foreign visitor looks very different from a local person. Such a system would be impossible in Canada, for example, because there is no way to tell just based on appearance whether a person was a Canadian citizen or a tourist from another country. You'd have to ask to see everyone's ID to establish their nationality before serving them, and I'm pretty sure that would illegal. 😃
To be fair, we have similar systems in Canada. The first example, which is easy to understand the dual pricing, is university and college tuition rates which are twice as expensive for foreigners. The second example is the Tourism tax in places like Niagara Falls region. The tax is added to your bill in restaurants and hotels...No effort is made to inform the customers about it. Although it is not illegal for business groups to support the scheme, it is not required for a person to pay it; you can legally have the waiter/host remove the charge from your bill. I prefer to pay the tax and leave no tip for the waiter. If anyone is going to get the tax repealed, it will be the service staff who lose their income to it. Segregation is racism.
@@arty2k I can understand the dual pricing for Uni’ and College fees. After all tax payers pay their taxes to benefit their own children and citizens.
Tourists do impact places they visit, sometimes good but mostly bad. Most tourists, some deliberately, have no appreciation of this. As for tourism tax, so long it is not a surprise, I agree to it too. The only proviso is that the tax be used to remedy the damages done to the environment in the areas of tourist interest.
Yes segregation is bad especially when you are not given the choice.
Btw, Malaysia and Myanmar have not signed the ICERD (International Convention to Eliminate Racial Discrimination).
Better to complain to maynmar consulate when r in canada this burma is poor country runs on tourism cheating is very common but we need to teach them lesson u can do it. Complain to consulate
😂 it will not work. Don't waste your energy. I knew better. Good or bad. It is what it is. I love the way he speak and quite positive too.
7:20 Foreigner Price. Yes. But that's too much. You have to be clever with yourself when dealing with these low class Myanmar people. They always tend to make advantage of foreigners who don't know anything about regular prices. That's very sad to see that Myanmar people are not very honest when it comes to money.