At the beginning of June, The Responsible Travel Club of Vietnam (RTC) organized an inspection trip for our members to Myanmar which broadened our mind with a new experience and discovery on the concept of responsible tourism in this small but amazing country. As an emerging country in the world tourism industry, Myanmar is absolutely on the right track in planning sustainable tourism development in the country.
RTC team at the legend Shwedagon Pagoda, the world’s biggest gold gilded pagoda.
Culture proud and respect: Whether it’s urban or rural, you will always see the majority of Burmese men in their traditional longyi skirts, and women in Thanakha makeup on the face, though Jeans and processed cosmetics are not the lack at all. Those are the two cultural characteristics that created the very first impression when stepping on the land of Buddhism and definitely rate Myanmar different from any other places make a difference.
Young girl in traditional make-up, thanaka
Even in hard job like hammering gold leaf, men still wear their country proud costume, longyi
Community support and heritage conservation: The intangible heritages of Myanmar are various types of traditional crafts are continuously preserved in the workshop where they showcase the process of handcrafting to introduce to tourists as well as making advanced products for sale and create jobs for people locals. At the historic places where its spirit laid in architecture, tourists must follow the strict rules during their visit in order to minimize the negative impact of tourists to the national heritages.
A workshop showcasing how to make fabric out of lotus stem
At all of Burma temples and stupas, shoes need to be taken off before entering
Myanmar has opened our eyes marveled us with so many surprises and exciting experiences during the whole trip from vibrant Yangon to heritage Mandalay, from ancient Bagan to interesting Inle Lake. After the trip, along with continuous fun throughout 7 days, RTC has especially learnt one critical thing: There is much more to do for the sustainable development of tourism in Vietnam. As such, organizing such useful famtrip for our members is in our frequent task list to help our members learn practical exercises in responsible travel from successful models all around the world.
Lan Chi