Hotel Staycations
Due to the internet cuts and other things going on, many expats living in Yangon are taking the opportunity to stay in nice hotels, together with their families. Staying in hotels at this time has some benefits:
- Cooked meals provided
- Generators to avoid power outages
- FAST internet, as compared to what is offered at most residences
- Security
- Swimming pools, etc. (fun for the kids)
However, at this point, which is 5 April 2021, a lot of Yangon has actually calmed down. People are going to the market like usual, there is minimal police presence on the streets, parks are de-facto open again, restaurants are de-facto letting people dine in. It appears that things are returning to some kind of normal, despite all of the horrendous things that are continuing to happen outside of Yangon.
I took a staycation myself over the weekend. I got tired of rolling blackouts in my neighborhood, I never managed to install an airconditioner (and because my visa can't be renewed, I probably won't), and I wanted FAST internet. You know, internet that could be comparable to what we have in the U.S.
So, a friend recommended me a small place not too far from my house. The food was mediocre, it wasn't spotless clean, but I enjoyed actually having access to hot water, I enjoyed the 500 mbps WiFi, and having room service for affordable prices was nice, too. There was no pool or anything like that. It was a pretty basic hotel. But I got the best night's sleep that I had had in the past two weeks, so I knew that I had made a good decision, at least as far as my health was concerned.
There may be people who view this practice as a demonstration of privilege, because tons of expats are just chilling at hotels while everyone else is suffering. I would first like to remind everyone that many expats are somewhat stranded here. It is very difficult to access funds and with travel restrictions still in place by the government, the only flights out of the country are expensive. So, for some expats, they have no choice but to wait out the coup until banks are back to full capacity and flights are cheap. In the meantime, there is a lot of tension and stress in the air. So, spending a few nights at a hotel relieve them of a lot of stress. I should also point out that many Burmese people are also hanging out at these hotels, as well, no it's not exclusively a foreigner thing.
Tags: staycation, calm, normal, travel