Impressive Young Myanmar Entrepreneur At Work
A natural part of touring is encountering vendors along the way. When I was in Myanmar for the Balloons Over Bagan Hot Air Balloon Ride, I encountered this young entrepreneur. This postcard vendor was very charismatic and closed me almost instantly.
After the hot air balloon ride, I went to the local sites with my tour guide. I was looking for hot air balloon postcards to mail to friends and family. At the first few stops, the postcard vendors were trying to overcharge me so I didn’t purchase. I know I’m not going to purchase overpriced items just on principle. In that case, I just move on. This is typically in the first few days of a trip knowing I have more time to look elsewhere.
Pressure Comes When Time Is Running Out
Eventually, near the end of your trip or when you know time is limited because you’re about to leave or have other commitments, you start looking for any vendor with the product. You start reflecting on all the opportunities you passed up that you should have bought but you didn’t. It’s even worse when your travel companion is the one that is pissed off over your decision. At this point, you’ll pay any price!!
I have encountered this scenario several times throughout my travels but the picture above was taken at Nat Taung Kyaung Monastery in Bagan, Myanmar when this little entrepreneur greeted me. He was showing off his product and was ready to strike a deal. The adorable thing about this postcard vendor is his postcards are all handmade and they’re not anything that you would mail to somebody. He has them presented like professional postcards and he is aggressive like a professional postcard vendor. On top of all that, he’s dressed in authentic local attire and just charming as hell. It’s hard to say no.
Doing The Right Thing & Being A Good Ambassador
While I am buying his postcards, I am mostly giving him money for being outgoing and working hard at a young age. This reflects well on western tourists. It’s not that we’re suckers. It’s more because we are fortunate and generous. Expenses like this should be in your travel budget. The future for children in remote areas is pretty bleak. The best paying jobs are occupations that deal with tourists such as hotel work, tour guide, driver, etc. They are highly competitive and could all disappear overnight if there is a pandemic or a terrorism incident. So good on this young entrepreneur for getting a start in life dealing with foreigners and learning other languages. I was amazed by his courage and enthusiasm so I bought the handmade postcards for $1 even though I wasn’t sure if I’d use them.
Would you believe this picture is from my next stop? I was greeted by these young ladies after returning from a river tour. And you guessed it…they had the postcards I was looking for. I had a little fun bartering with the girls and the tour guide was a good spirit about it. I am pretty sure the tour guides know everyone and they are all working together. But these post cards were nice and exactly what I was looking for with great images of the balloons.
Most Importantly, I Ended Up With My Postcards
The moral of the story is that I ended up with more hot air balloon postcards than I wanted or needed for a relatively small price. I also ended up with a good story to share.
Other Resources:
Nat Taung Kyaung Monastery – Where it happened
