zeolite
Brilliant_Rock
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2008
- Messages
- 619
The finest ruby mine in the world is located in Mogok, Burma. No more than a handful of outsiders have visited it, since the Burmese military took over in 1962.
In order to visit Burma, you must get a visa, and inform the officials where, when, and what you are going to visit. Until shortly before I visited, it was well known that Burmese government agents would tail and observe each visitor, to make sure that you didn’t cause trouble. I expected that when I was there, but didn’t spot anyone following me. Perhaps they were very discreet?
The Myanmar government only controls perhaps slightly over half of the country. A large portion of Burma has forbidden zones, areas of insurgency and/or the opium drug trade, where foreign visitors are not permitted to go. Mogok is in one of these forbidden zones.
I asked my Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) based travel agent: Can I get permission to visit Mogok? His answer was maybe, but if so, it will cost you considerably more.
I got permission to visit Mogok, and on my way, soon discovered why. I had a private car and driver as we started there from Mandalay. We passed through a series of military checkpoints.
At one checkpoint a military guy in a very different uniform, grilled my driver with questions. It is said that 80% of communication is non-verbal, I can’t speak Burmese, yet I could tell this guy was one that you don’t want to irritate. I kept my mouth shut, I did not say a word, I didn’t even look at him directly. This was getting to be a bad situation.
He showed my driver a large poster of a very attractive young woman singer, and my driver paid him. As we drove off, I asked my driver who that guy was, and his only answer was that the military officer demanded a bribe, with the pretext of purchasing the poster. I reimbursed my driver for this and we drove on.
We stopped at a final outpost, and were asked to wait there for some unknown time. Ever the photographer, I asked if I could take pictures around the post? The answer was no! Oh well, it wasn’t important. After an hour, our Burmese Army escorts arrived in their vehicle, and we were informed that they would accompany us for the next 4 days, until we left that zone and were back in Mandalay.
Credit cards were not accepted then, and copy machines were viewed with suspicion. My Army escorts gave me a form to sign. I managed to get them to leave me alone for awhile, as I copied the contents of the form into my travel notebook:
“We are going to the central region (Mogok, Mandalay Division) of Myanmar to visit the gem mines. Our sole purpose is sightseeing only, we undertake to pledge that we shall not carry away the precious gem stones and make any transactions in Mogok without the approval of the Ministries concerned. We also promise that we will not go beyond the permitted mining area”.
Whew! You do not want to get on the wrong side of the Myanmar government!
Traveling in the tourist areas of Burma is like stepping back to 1920, but traveling in the forbidden zones is like entering 1850! No machines, only animal and human muscle power.
In order to visit Burma, you must get a visa, and inform the officials where, when, and what you are going to visit. Until shortly before I visited, it was well known that Burmese government agents would tail and observe each visitor, to make sure that you didn’t cause trouble. I expected that when I was there, but didn’t spot anyone following me. Perhaps they were very discreet?
The Myanmar government only controls perhaps slightly over half of the country. A large portion of Burma has forbidden zones, areas of insurgency and/or the opium drug trade, where foreign visitors are not permitted to go. Mogok is in one of these forbidden zones.
I asked my Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) based travel agent: Can I get permission to visit Mogok? His answer was maybe, but if so, it will cost you considerably more.
I got permission to visit Mogok, and on my way, soon discovered why. I had a private car and driver as we started there from Mandalay. We passed through a series of military checkpoints.
At one checkpoint a military guy in a very different uniform, grilled my driver with questions. It is said that 80% of communication is non-verbal, I can’t speak Burmese, yet I could tell this guy was one that you don’t want to irritate. I kept my mouth shut, I did not say a word, I didn’t even look at him directly. This was getting to be a bad situation.
He showed my driver a large poster of a very attractive young woman singer, and my driver paid him. As we drove off, I asked my driver who that guy was, and his only answer was that the military officer demanded a bribe, with the pretext of purchasing the poster. I reimbursed my driver for this and we drove on.
We stopped at a final outpost, and were asked to wait there for some unknown time. Ever the photographer, I asked if I could take pictures around the post? The answer was no! Oh well, it wasn’t important. After an hour, our Burmese Army escorts arrived in their vehicle, and we were informed that they would accompany us for the next 4 days, until we left that zone and were back in Mandalay.
Credit cards were not accepted then, and copy machines were viewed with suspicion. My Army escorts gave me a form to sign. I managed to get them to leave me alone for awhile, as I copied the contents of the form into my travel notebook:
“We are going to the central region (Mogok, Mandalay Division) of Myanmar to visit the gem mines. Our sole purpose is sightseeing only, we undertake to pledge that we shall not carry away the precious gem stones and make any transactions in Mogok without the approval of the Ministries concerned. We also promise that we will not go beyond the permitted mining area”.
Whew! You do not want to get on the wrong side of the Myanmar government!
Traveling in the tourist areas of Burma is like stepping back to 1920, but traveling in the forbidden zones is like entering 1850! No machines, only animal and human muscle power.
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