Spitting in Myanmar

Within a few hours of our arrival in Myanmar, we had already become accustomed to a sound that would follow us around the country: “Ptoo!” The Burmese spit all the time, and it takes some dexterity to avoid the results when walking down a crowded street.

Spit droplets all over a Myanmar street

While we had encountered a lot of spitting in Nepal and India, the biggest difference in Myanmar is that the spitting is almost entirely red juice as a result of the chewing of betel nuts. The chewing is done through a mixture of items within a green leaf, and such prepared mixtures are available a street side stands all over the country.

Betel nuts, ready to be served and chewed

A betel nut stand

We had no idea at first what was being chewed, but the red stains and the teeth decay are rapidly apparent.

A grandmother we met, her teeth decayed from chewing betel nuts.

The problem with such chewing has been covered extensively online, though I was unaware of it until I searched Google for an explanation as to what the hell was up with all the red spitting. See CNN and Wikipedia.

While hopefully Myanmar will be able to reduce its population’s dependence on the nuts, until then – watch where you step!