chances are you haven't been to this place. chances are this is a place you've never seen. other than maybe blurry cell phone videos, old black-and-white newsreels from world war ii. chances are bad things were happening in the footage you saw. myanmar, after 50 years of nightmare, something unexpected

it happening here, and it's pretty incredible. ♪ i took a walk through this beautiful world ♪ ♪ felt the cool rain on my shoulder ♪ ♪ found something good in this beautiful world ♪ ♪ i felt the rain getting colder ♪ ♪ sha-la-la-la, sha-la-la-la-la-la ♪ in yangon, the capital city of myanmar, it's dark. blackouts are frequent, with the ancient power grid.

but sources of light there are in the street cast an eerie yellow-orange hue. for almost 100 years under british rule, this was rangoon. in 1948 after helping the british fight off the japanese, there was a new taste for self-determination, the country gained independence. after a decade of instability, however, the military consolidated power and never let go. elections? they came and went. the results ignored, opposition punished, or silenced entirely. burma, now myanmar, where orwell had once served as a colonial policeman, where he first had grown to despise the apparatus of a security state, became more orwellian than even he could have imagined, in a nation where even having an opinion could be dangerous.

>> i am very honored to be here at this university and to be the first president of the united states of america to visit your country. morning in yangon. to nearly everyone's surprise, there have been some huge changes in recent months. >> the most difficult time in transition is when we think that success is -- >> nobel prizewinning democracy champion, aung san suu kyi, for nearly 15 years under house arrest was released, and is now taking an active role in politics. just as the doors were open iin our crew is the first. meanwhile, this southeast asian country of 80 million people is collectively holding its breast, waiting to see what is next. and will this loosening of

government grip relax. . of course, morning in yangon has always been about tea.elax. . of course, morning in yangon has always been about telax. . of course, morning in yangon has always been about tea.. . of course, morning in yangon has always been about test. . of course, morning in yangon has always been about te . of course, morning in yangon has always been about te. of course, morning in yangon has always been about te of course, morning in yangon has always been about tea.? of course, morning in yangon has always been about tea. it's black indian-style tea, usually with a thick dollop of sweetened condensed milk. you want it sweet this less sweet? very sweet? strong? less strong? everybody's got a preference, everybody's got a preferred tea shop, where they know presumably how you like yours. >> i want only last week a bit strong. >> journalist and publisher utia saw. we meet at the seit taing kya tea shop. >> this place means a lot of things. not just a place to grab a snack. >> for 50 years of paranoia and repression, teahouses were also the main forum for guarded and not so guarded discussions of

the daily news, where you tried to piece together the real stories behind the ludicrously chopped and censored newspapers. carefully, of course, because informers and secret police were also heavily represented in these hotbeds of sedition and discontent. >> so given your profession, how have you managed to stay out of prison all these year? >> no, i was there. two times. >> two times. >> once they called me and said, u thiha saw, would you come into the office? we need to talk. >> right. >> so i went there, and -- i was there. 89 days in the prison. there was this very serious control that came with the first government. scrutiny and registration. >> that doesn't sound good. >> together and we look at everything. take this out, take that out or black that out, or just take the whole story. >> magazines that came into the

country, they would literally cut out the pieces? >> people under this kind of censorship, i think they become more creative. take a look. careful reading. there is something between the lines. >> something you were accused of, sending secret messages? in the back a cauldron of salty little fish bubble over hardwood coals. fingers work mountains of sweet bean, one of the fillings for the variety of pastries stuffed, shaped and put into an old wood stone oven. in another corner, the heartening slap of fresh bread pressed against the clay wall of a tan doori. and of course eggs bob and spins

in the broth of fish and herb. >> mohinga? this i must have. if there's a national dish, would it be this? >> yes, you look at the sometimes. this is indian. these are chinese, et cetera. but mohinga is a local thing. it's fish based with rice or noodles, sometimes we put in some crispies, like fried beans, and these are some coriander leaves. >> yeah. >> lime. >> sprinkle some in here. good textures. particularly in the light of obama's recent visit, these are interesting times. significant changes for the first time in 50 years. >> yes. one thing that's quite significant. you take a look around, all kinds of people, all age groups. a couple years ago, people would be talking about politics, you -- you toned down and you

whisper. nowadays people are more outspoken. the government is more open. they also are relaxing the rules about censorship. august 20th, we were called into the office, many publishers and editors, and the boss, okay, 40 years and 20 days of censorship is gone. that's it. >> feel good? >> yeah. that's what we've been waiting for for so many years. >> i love the answer. it's a careful yes. >> yes. first, people within the country, we have some doubt about it. is it real, the changes in the reforms? but now it's a couple years. now people start believing okay, maybe it's real. the process is still very young, but it's still possible. when the generals stop and say, okay, enough is enough. let's turn back or let's stop. i'm optimistic about the changes in the reforms, but still cautiously optimistic. >> in yangon, motor bikes are outlawed.

why is a matter of much rumor and speculation, so it's the bus for me. something seems almost out of sync. not too long ago, even filming here officially as an open professional western film crew, would have been unthinkable. in 2007, a japanese journalist was shot point-blank and killed filming a street demonstration. be seen talking to anybody with a camera, and there would likely be a knock on your door in the middle of the night. yet so far confronted with our cameras, a few smiles, mostly indifference at worst, shocking considering how recently the government has started to relax its grip. >> we love to eat.

don't forget, for 50 years we were under two dictatorships, and especially under the socialists, there were not a lot of things to do. but you know cook and food. >> this is ma thanegi, a famous and very controversial figure in public life. >> myanmar or burma? >> myanmar, because that's the original name since the 13th century. >> ma thanegi, like u thiha saw, has also spent time in prison. but on emerging after three years, she became in the minds of many an apologist for the regime. fairly or not, i leave to others. >> sometimes outside just act as if, you know, it's only after the military junta went away that things happened. sort of a frozen state like snow white, dead. >> but her many well-known books on the culinary traditions of myanmar, make her a compelling advocate for burmese cuisine. >> you're very passionate about

the cooking and the cuisine here? >> just because i like to eat. and i eat like a pig. >> this is yangon's feel restaurant. >> i think the best of our food, i'm going to order a lot of salads. which you haven't had. it's good to be like sort of a tasting thing. >> there is pig head salad with kaffir lime leaves, long beans salad. with sesame and fish sauce. penny leaf salad, even this salad of indian-style samosa. everything is out there at the same time? >> yes. >> no first course or second course? >> no. if i'm invited to a friend's house, the table would be covered with dishes, covered. >> it's about the interaction between a lot of colors in one dish or -- >> or different. >> wow, i'm in love. that's good. >> yes. it is. >> and of course, there's the maddeningly delicious condiments and pickles of which to make each dish your own. >> you make a lot of different combinations with each mouthful. >> this is something confusing

in general in this part of the world. everyone eats differently to their own taste. >> anything goes. >> anything goes. >> every mouthful, you can make as different as you want. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is the story of the dusty basement at 1406 35th street the old dining table at 25th and hoffman. ...and the little room above the strip mall off roble avenue. ♪ this magic moment it is the story of where every great idea begins.

and of those who believed they had the power to do more. dell is honored to be part of some of the world's great stories. that began much the same way ours did. in a little dorm room -- 2713. ♪ this magic moment ♪

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♪ credit cards accepted almost nowhere. cash machines? huh-uh. wifi? internet? rare? if you need to exchange money here, only crisp, absolutely none $100 bills accepted. in myanmar, it's another older world. oh, and what's up with this? with all kissing sounds, smooching, kissing sound ear hearing all over the place? my wife would have been in like ten fights so far. sorry, who are you smooching at?

this is how you summon a waiter in myanmar. i know. i know. try that at hooters, and you would be rightly ejected. it takes some getting used to, for sure. this is a big, noisy seafood house where fish is prepared in the style of the coastal province to the west named for the people. one of over 135 distinct ethnic groups around here. now we're talking. it's one of the things we're told you have to eat here. prawns from the river with tomato curry. look at this. good sauce. oh, that's good. that's some good stuff, my friends. we shall know them by the number of their dead. early morning in yangon. among the crush of commuters, shoppers, people trying to make a living, rise up the last remnants of empire.

faded, often crumbling, but still there after all these years. these are the offices, businesses, and public buildings of the british colonials. this building was once one of the swankest department stores in rangoon. a century ago in kipling's poem mandalay, here you could buy fine egyptian cigarettes, french liqueurs. the floor tiles were shipped over from manchester. now people live here. a half century of a pariah state has left very few of these buildings in good repair. there are divergent views on whether to preserve them. for many a reminder of colonial subjugation, for others, a

vestige of a golden time. ♪ >> these days in myanmar in the streets, on the docks, it's all about moving forward. in an economy ripe to explode if things continue trending in their current direction, the busy bustle of yangon's busy port appears even busier today as workers prepare for the oncoming holiday. hey, chef. how are you doing? >> it figures, doesn't it? >> it does. welcome to myanmar. >> philip lajaunie, owner and proprietor of my old restaurant les halles. it seems only natural that you would be in burma, myanmar at the same time as me. back before i wrote the book that changed my life to whatever it is i am today, i had never been to asia until this guy sent me to japan, and got me hooked on a continent.

>> there we go. oh, nice. chicken head, yeah. >> that is the perfect mood awakener. >> phillipe travels constantly. he has been bouncing around asia for decades. like all travelers, he is relentlessly curious and without fear or prejudice. >> fantastic. >> it makes perfect sense over cold brew and chicken necks, phillipe is the one joining me to explore this particular moment in myanmar. . >> the money tree. >> it is going to be a party. full moon party tonight. >> full moon party. >> what that means, we have no idea. >> we don't know. there's only one way to find out, i suppose. ♪

>> it sounds like a party. >> it gets crazy from now on. it's full moon day, a holiday marking the end of the rainy season. today marks the beginning of three days of break out the crazy. giant speakers compete for attention. everybody cheerfully oblivious to the distortion. cotton candy, trinkets, tube socks, just like a street fair, but infinitely better food. are these the little birds? >> yeah. these guys are really good. was flying just a bit earlier this morning. >> i tell you, it's the backbone of every street fair in the world, isn't it? deep fried food. >> that's right. and here they also have the little butter where they break a quail egg in it. one shot. it's really good. all right. this is so tasty.

much less greasy than i thought it would be. >> anytime you tell me crispy little bird, i'm all over it. >> good head. good beak too. >> good beak? >> crispy and tender. >> oh, and they have rides. check this out. okay. it's a ferris wheel, but the power source, not unusual for these parts, is not electric, it ain't gas. oh, man, are you kidding me? it's human power. >> yes. you have to see it to believe it. >> an absolutely insanely dangerous closely choreographed process of first getting the heavily laden wheel in motion and then getting it up to top speed and keeping it there. wow. look at this thing tilting out, too. >> then it goes the other way.

>> note to footwear, by the way. it's not just this one, every couple of blocks bigger and bigger ferris wheels, each one with its own troupe of acrobatic spinners. and sure, going for a ride is tempting, but -- cnn host implicated in the death of four underaged carneys. next thing it's rolling down the street and sending those kids flying. if i had any idea, i never would have taken the ride, says bourdain. no, i don't think so. >> the team climbs aboard and the circus begins again. >> good luck. may you return safely with all of your limbs intact. but not , you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill.

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car speakers, but also charitable good works in the hopes of jacking up your karma. money trees are paraded around pinned with cash donations for months. free banquets and feasts are held, and many moments of spiritual reflection. the majority of people here practice tera vata buddhism, the oldest most conservative form of the religion which, simply put, asserts that existence is pretty much a continuous cycle of suffering through birth, death and rebirth. >> noisy. >> very noisy. very noisy, yes. >> the morningstar teahouse where i've come, well, for a

couple of reasons. reason one, the must-have bone deep old school favorite around here, la pet tuk. the salad of fermented leaves, i know, it doesn't sound good, but you would be wrong to think that. take the fermented tea leaves, add cabbage, tomatoes and lots of crunchy bits like toasted peanut, season with lime and fish sauce. this is absolutely delicious. >> you like it? >> oh, yeah, it's fantastic. >> yes, yes, fantastic. >> simple, delicious, things not to be taken for granted if you've been out of joint like this guy, activist, astrologer, and three times convict. everyone i've met in this country so far has been to prison. >> this happens again and again for us in myanmar. >> almost six years? >> nearly six years. all the judgments are made by tsang kangaroo court, the army,

navy, and the three officers sitting together sitting together. they read off, this is your sentence. it happens only minutes, like that. >> what is life like inside prison. >> nice, nice, very nice. >> i have a hard time believing that. >> we can talk to each other, say manage, use a mirror to look at each other? >> books? >> no books, no writing things, no paper. no, nothing at all. a mat and a blanket and a plate and a bowl. >> right. >> only things are the things that we possess. >> how is the food in prison? >> soup. pea soup. only one meat meal for a week. that's on thursday. you know that in prison, all fish has no body, only the head and the tail. no middle part. >> so there is hope for this country, in your view. yes? >> yes, yes. the buddhists believe how to live in situations, dictators, political passion, or even discrimination, everything is

happening to us, but the buddhists say, okay, that's a about a past life. you do something good and the next life will be good. >> there's something pretty cool about meeting people who have been for so long unable to speak. now so unguarded about their hopes and their feelings. ♪ sizzling meat, the clink of beer glasses, ringing bicycle bells. this is yangon's 19th street. does yangon rock? can it rock? >> nine years, like a must-go place when you are in yangon.

>> meet burmese punk rockers side effect, and lead singer darko. >> you can come here any time, there will be lots of people like here. >> so if you sit here long enough, you'll see every musician? in town? >> yeah, you can say that. >> the citywide curfews used to mean close your doors at 11:00 p.m. most restaurants close early still, but not here on 19th, where you can eat barbecue here late into the night. >> wow. what do we have here? grilled tofu? >> and pork tail. >> the barbecue is awesome. >> these young men show exactly how determined you've got to be to rock, especially in burma. >> i like to say my audience was nirvana. and then sex pistols and stuff like that. >> what american bands do you hate? >> um, creed. >> yes!

they are like the worst band in the history of, like, the world. so what's it like having an indie band in myanmar? is it difficult? >> for sure, for sure, yeah. before you record a song, like when you have the lyrics, you have to submit the lyrics, so they're going to censor it, they're going to check it. even sometimes they will, you know, suggest you some words you change. >> that must be funny. >> very funny, actually, you know. >> now, is that still the case? >> no, it's not like that any more. they're not going to censor you, but it's going to be kind of risky, because you don't know what's going to happen to you if you write and sing something wrong. >> so let me ask this. if all your dreams came true, where would you want to play? >> really? new york city. >> you want to go to new york city?

>> it's my dream. i just need to be strong. that's what i keep telling my band mates, come on, be strong have, faith. >> so i hope people reach out to you. because making rock 'n roll is hard enough. truly independent rock and roll is even harder. i'm guessing making it here is even harder still. so gentlemen, you deserve success. people should hear you. >> yes. when jake and i first set out on our own,

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so you heard the sleeping call of the whale? >> the what? >> the sleeping call of the whale. and the dining car. >> no, we lost the dining car, i hear. >> but even our car of the wheel. we just have to hope for the best. >> the night express to bagan. 600 kilometers of what will turn out to be kidney-softening travel by rail, but bagan, myanmar's ancient capital, i'm told, is a must see. >> the true old english experience. the engine is a french engine from the '70s. >> we've been told it's a somewhat uncomfortable ten-hour trip. so really the question on this end of the journey is come back on the train or flying coffin. >> mishaps on both burmese planes and trains are not, shall we say, unheard of.

the widowmaker express. >> that is the choice. so that may be the signal to depart at some point. >> yep. all abirthday. ♪ whoa, we're moving. here we go. >> here we go. that's it. we have reached our cruising speed. >> really? this is cruising speed. you could literally outrun this train. >> we could jog ahead, have a nice meal in some recommended restaurant. >> we could catch up with it. >> take a digestive walk. here we go. this is stop number 1 of 75.

♪ >> heading north, the scenery opens up. the space between things gets wider, more pastoral, more beautiful. looking around at my fellow passengers, it could be hard to distinguish between the 135-plus ethnic groups that make up the burmese population. the very name burma refers actually to only one of these groups. what they all seem to have in common, however, is a thanaka, a face paint and sun block made from tree bark that masks many of their faces. it's ubiquitous here. at first jarring to see, it quickly becomes something you get used to and take for granted.

yangon's gravitational pull broken, and with darkness falling, the train picks up speed. at times terrifyingly so. >> if this thing is going to be derail at some point. they have lost how many wheels yesterday on this one train? so truly it's about being in the right car, the one that keeps its wheels. >> derailments, or rail slips as they're referred to here, a somewhat more benign sounding

than rolling off into the rice paddies, which are not uncommon. and one can't help wondering what the engineer and conductor are thinking as the train speeds heedlessly on, faster and faster. >> i mean, it must be what, 40, 50 miles per hour at this point. >> i wonder if anyone has ever flown out of their seat out the window. >> sure. >> you don't want to be holding a lap dog. >> or baby or anything. >> try going to the bathroom and find yourself launched straight up into the ceiling, bringing to a rude conclusion which was already an omni directional experience. it's smooth now. it's very relaxing. >> what kind of beer do you have? i want the same. [ male announcer ] this is the story of the little room

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♪ 1,000? >> 1,000. >> done. now, this is breakfast. >> nearly 19 hours into our ten-hour trip in the night express to bagan lurches and bounces onward over old and poorly maintained track. >> could have flown back to new york for breaks. >> i haven't had time. >> what's yours? >> arrowroot. >> i have potato. >> how to make good food pretty, look at this. a bouquet of fish. indeed. so this is it, the plain of bagan. >> out the window, the modern world seems to fade away, then disappear all together, like the

last century never happened, or even the century before that. we're traveling across the largest mainland nation in southeast asia. but it should be pointed out that we are still within the confines of the tourist triangle. areas permissible for travel. whole sectors of this country, much of it in fact, are off-limits. simply put, there is stuff going on they do not want you to see. a low intensity conflict with the ethnic kachin tribe would be one of them. a wave of persecution and deaths in thu kine state. they're waging a desperate war to hang on to the status quo. needless to say, the status quo is not good.

>> all right. bagan, here we come. ♪ >> a thousand years ago, bagan was the capital for a long line of kings. it's the sort of place where the old coexists with the even older. as elsewhere in this part of the world, in many of the buddhist temples here, far older animus spirit-based beliefs co-exist with more recent buddhism. and in myanmar, worship of the gnats is widespread. gnats, as i understand it, are more like greek gods, obvious

with human qualities and failings. dance performances pay homage to the individual gnats, performers claiming to actually channel them, bringing about one hopes a beneficial spiritual possession. but i'm not just here for a nat pue. i have a list. things to eat in myanmar. and this is one of them, chicken curry. and from roadside joints like this nestled among the temple ruins, you're more than likely to catch a very enticing whiff. just delicious. spicy, but not to the point you want to scream out for mercy, but some heat. slow-simmered curry served with a side of sour soup made from roselle leaves. with it you get fried ground chilies, pickled bean sprouts. you get the idea. these relishes, the dippy type of things, really interesting salad, but i'm not really a

salad guy. salads here are happening. spicy, sour salty, it's delicious. it's delicious. a plethora of textures and flavors. this is a culture that's thought a lot about their food, clearly like eating, like feeding people. think a lot about the balances of flavors, colors and textures. best restaurant in the country so far by the way. ♪ [ male announcer ] here's a question for you: is your tv powered by coal? natural gas? nuclear? or renewables like solar... and wind? let's find out.

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♪ you'd expect this, an ancient city of nearly unparalleled size and beauty to be overrun with tourists, snack bars, tours on tape. but no. >> this is stunning. >> you'll encounter western travellers at bagan's travel sites for sure, but generally speaking, they're a hearty bunch. even the bus tours here are not for the faint of heart or weak of spirit. but for the most part you are more likely to bump into a goat than a foreigner. >> this is so beautiful. so much like an ode to human

beliefs and adoration and worshipping. >> slave labor. >> and slave labor. >> i'm thinking you build this many temples, thousands of them in a relatively short period of time, the chances are somebody was working for less than minimum wage, let's put it that way. >> for sure. you could fly here. look at that. >> a millennia ago in a period of just under 250 years, over 4,000 structures like this were built here. they say that a king began this project after a conversion to thera vatta style buddhism. they started a new temple every 14 days. over 3,000 pagodas, temples, and monasteries remain today. inside almost every one of them, a buddha figure, each one of

different. >> and i like how integrated it is with the frieze, postures. >> actually, funny you mention that. people used to live here, but the government came along in the '80s and relocated them. it was a mass relocation project. any homes, anything, it was understood this is tourist bucks here. they relocated the entire population. we're in one of the first mass waves of tourists. european tourists have been coming here in relatively small numbers for a long time. but the floodgates have certainly opened. they are building hotels like crazy in this area called the tourist triangle. >> what is this here? this is a scarf. >> as myanmar begins its shift towards accommodating and

increasing tourism and the service economy to go with it, there will be adjustments. there will be, of course, a downside. >> how many you pick? >> what's that going to mean? how will burmese react to all of the good and evils that come with tourism? it's going to be mobility. it's going to mean prosperity for some. it will mean a lot of bad things too. it will mean prostitution. it will mean hustling. >> everybody tell it to you. you buy -- you don't buy -- that's no fair. >> i don't need a postcard. >> we're told kids are dropping out of school to do this, the double-edged sword of the service economy. >> you want to buy one for only $5. one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. >> what i'm amazed is how friendly and open people are with us.

it's very easy for me to sit here and say whatever i want about the government, right? me can go home. you know, our lives will go on. we don't pay the price for that show. everybody who helped us could very well pay that price. it should be pointed out that a lot of people did not. a lot of people were very nice to us but said look, i have already been in jail, you know. i really don't want to go back. it's a very real concern. what happens to the people we leave behind? one would think you can win freedom. they tasted freedom. well, you know, you can put the toothpaste back in the tube, you know. there's no doubt about that. but for the moment at least, things seem to be moving in the right direction, a country closed off to most for so long, sleeping, a 50-year nightmare for many of its citizens finally

maybe waking up. to what? time will tell. pity the salary man. tokyo's willing cog in an enormous machine requiring long hours, low pay, total dedication. and sometimes, what's called karoshi, death by overwork. here in a society of tight spaces and many expectations, the pressure is on to keep up appearances, to do what's expected, to not let the interior life become exterior. but