Seeking authenticity in travel

Experiencing all the different facets of a country, not shunning one for the other, will make for a fuller appreciation of a destination. The opportunity to visit a place as it is, and not how we imagine it to be, should be the aim of travel.

My first trip to Myanmar in 2009 left a very deep impression on me. The former pariah state was then under an oppressive military junta which had ruled it for decades, and without the massive development projects and mass tourism that characterised so many other cities in Asia, the country seemed like a land frozen in time.

After a hiatus of six years, I made a trip to Yangon last month and discovered vast changes that have taken place in the country since its gradual liberalisation process in 2010. From a quaint city where just vintage cars and rickety buses ply the roads, Yangon has metamorphosed into a city hungry for changes. There is no shortage of chic bars and restaurants and streets are clogged with SUVs, while high-rises are popping up and Shwedagon Pagoda is no longer the dominating icon on the skyline.

There are positive factors arising from all these changes too. Money changers are more readily available, as is the acceptance of credit cards at major establishments in the city. As new hotels mushroom amid a construction boom, the once highly inflated room rates have given way to more down-to-earth pricing, making Myanmar a more affordable and visitor-friendly destination (see page 6). And with growing air connections, the destination is fast shedding its off-the-beaten-track label, if surging visitor arrival numbers are a good indicator.

As Yangon joins the ranks of other Asian cities in in its pursuit of economic development and modernisation, it would be tempting to dismiss the destination as losing its ‘authenticity’.

In fact, the authentic Myanmar remains to be seen and discovered at every corner, as authenticity, after all, exists in the day-to-day rhythms of a place. A family of four chomping on fried chicken served up in the air-conditioned comfort of KFC is no less real than the longyi-clad man sipping a cup of tea at a dilapidated roadside stall, as is the spanking-new Myanmar Plaza which lures shoppers with international brands like L’Occitane and Skechers as well as the crumbling colonial-era buildings in the downtown – each of them offers a facet of the diversity,  hybridity and history that make up Yangon.

By conflating traditions with authenticity and modernisation with Westernisation, we often project our own romanticised notions on how other countries and nationalities should be; economic advancement and tourism are often viewed in disdain, as contaminating and commoditising the ‘culture’ of a hitherto ‘pure’ place.

In reality, no culture is immune to changes and free from interaction with the outside world. Experiencing all the different facets of a country, not shunning one for the other, will make for a fuller appreciation of a destination. For me, the opportunity to visit a place as it is, and not how we imagine it to be, should be the aim of travel.

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