Burma is a topsy-turvy sort of place, where surprises lurk and suddenly jump out at you.
Prices for some goods are not just high, they are astronomical. Incredibly, a mobile phone SIM card costs $2,000, a 1990 Corolla costs $30,000 and a new Toyota Land Cruiser goes for $300,000. In Tokyo they practically give away mobile phones, nobody would pay even $1,000 for a 1990 Corolla, and a new Land Cruiser would cost less than $60,000. The fact that these goods are not uncommon and command such prices in a country with the lowest per-capita income in ASEAN is remarkable.
Meanwhile, in the markets around the country, foodstuffs are plentiful but the people are destitute; and in the monasteries, uniformed police still guard the entrances and camp inside, while the monks continue to go out and beg alms from the legions of faithful, their spirits unbowed, their anger unabated.