We are still walking with our friend through downtown Yangon, If I remember correctly this is 29th Street. At first glance nothing changes, a street market, fresh vegetables being sold, the tea shop on the street with its low plastic chairs that looks more like it should belong in a kinderschool than on the street of a capital city.
But what is so very different to say 10 years ago, is the mobile telephone. Gone are the telephone shops and stalls that you used to see on almost every corner when to own a (landline) telephone cost a small fortune for the license. Telecommunication has skipped a generation, today a Chinese made smartphone is within most peoples reach and a few kyats will buy a few Gbs. And what do most people do with their smartphones, gather knowledge from the wealth of the internet, update themselves on current affairs, you may think so after living most of their lives under a restricted government. No, they WhatsApp, Facebook and play games.