Myanmar was very similar to Laos in that I was there for a month, only cycled about 1,500 k and didn't buy a sim card for my Nokia They were also the only two countries where the police raided my campsite, took selfies with me, and then drove me kicking-and-screaming to the nearest town with a 'foreigner authorized' guesthouse. It happened 3 times in Myanmar, but only once in Laos. I attribute this to the fact that they have only recently opened their doors to foreign travelers, especially Myanmar which didn't permit tourism until the 1990s. Since then the few tourists who do come rarely have a chance to get off of the backpacker trail. Thus a foreigner stringing up a tent in rural areas will receive a lot of unwanted attention.
Back in Thailand I had to get a sim card as I knew Ý wanted to come visit; but Myanmar was another 30 days without ANY long-distance contact with anyone: no phone, and of course, no internet. Traveling like this is extremely interesting, to say the least. Take a moment and try to imagine yourself in that situation. You haven't been on the internet for the last 9 months; before crossing the border you call your partner and your parents because you're about to disappear for a month; you can't speak a word of Burmese and you have no google translate or google maps (luckily your Thai map strays far enough into Burma that you can find your way to Yangon, which will definitely have a bookshop).
Here are some of my thoughts about traveling completely off the grid:
-There is definitely a feeling of camaraderie with travelers in the past. Before telegraph cables everyone who traveled the world did it this way, except more so: if we really wanted to get online and contact someone we could whereas travelers in the past didn't have that assurance. The fact that we might find this kind of travel interesting or noteworthy really goes to show how much technology has domesticated our species.
-Without technology you are forced to communicate, find your way and learn to speak some of the language. I cycled for a couple days with 2 older guys and, as they had smartphones and internet, it was obvious how different our experiences and impressions of Myanmar were (it should be said that this isn't only because of technology, it also has a lot to do with traveling alone).
-Traveling off the grid gives the journey meaning and a sense of importance. When online, we are subliminally comparing our lives with those people we see on facebook or youtube or whatever. But offline all of those people cease to exist, not only in our conscious minds but - after a while - through all the strata of thought, including dreams; the present moment right here as we perceive it becomes, quite literally, the most important thing in the universe.
In general, Myanmar seemed to have more in common with Malaysia, Indonesia and India than with everywhere else I'd been in East/Southeast Asia - sarongs, paan, eating with hands, etc. Below is a map of my route and some clips from the video logs I made every few days.
