Yangon - Burma/Myanmar

May 17th - 20th

Our first day in Yangon began with breakfast at the hostel....finally included breakfast!! Meaning that we didn't have to go without or spend ages looking for something before we could start our day. Fuelled up on fruit, toast, eggs and coffee (not real coffee, but 3-in-1 stuff!!) we set off into the busy streets for a long day of sightseeing, beginning with Sule Paya, a pagoda that forms the heart of downtown Yangon as a huge roundabout. With its 45m golden Stupa it is a landmark not easily missed and we came to use it as a guide back to the hostel over the days we were there. Once inside Sule Paya, the noise of the traffic magically fades away to a peaceful tranquillity, many people come here not only to worship and pray, but also to rest, relax, get away from the heat of the day and socialise with friends and family. The whole complex is made of white marble, which considering that you have to go in bare foot, gets super hot, so you dont see many people standing out of the shade for very long, the rosewood latticework forming various roofs and partitions is exquisite and everything else is gold, gold, gold! The smell of the incense drifting from various shrines finished the setting, leaving us with a sense that we had been somewhere special and authentic, not something just put on as a show for tourists, but a real part of everyday life.

Our walk around this area showed us many of Yangon's colonial era buildings such as the imposing City Hall, the still functioning High Court and one of its top places to stay, the Strand Hotel built in 1901. The next stop on our itinerary was Bogyoke Aung San Market, a vast assembly of stalls selling souvenirs, paintings, lacquerware, jade, gold and pearl jewellry, puppets and more fabric than I have ever seen anywhere in my life! I swear there is enough material here to clothe every person in the world, reams and reams of brightly coloured cloths and silks, gauzes and wools, all piled up and stacked upon one another, so that it is a task to get to one should you wish to buy any. We spent some time looking around at all the different goods and stalls, particularly at some of the old, second hand and antique places which had some very interesting bits and bobs, including traditional tattooing instruments, ornate masks, fabulous clocks and much more.

Feeling sticky and hot we decided to retire from the heat for a couple of hours and so didn't venture out again until after 4 when the sun wasn't quite so intense and we could walk along with out feeling like we were roasting in an oven. Our walk took us to Kandawgyi Lake where there is a long, wide board walk over the water from which you can see the famous Shwedagon Pagoda in the distance. Also along the board walk, which is in rather a sorry state of repair leaving you wondering if you're going to end up in the lake or with a broken ankle, is the Royal Barge, an enormous, gold covered beast that now houses a nightly fine dining experience. For some reason this hugely impressive vessel is not in any of the tourist literature to be found and so we can only assume that it once floated around the lake, though due to its vast size I can't imagine that would have taken very long, but now is moored permanently alongside the Karaweik complex amongst handicraft centres and many other restaurants. After taking many photos it was time to find a spot amongst the locals to sit and watch the sunset, which seems to be a popular activity given the number of people milling around. We were lucky to get a bench as a couple vacated and for the next hour or so watched as the light turned the giant stupa of Swedagon Paya from dazzling gold, to a dark silhouette against a crimson sky and finally to a glowing beacon on a backdrop of black velvet as the lights were slowly turned on one by one.

Deciding that now was as good a time as any, we left our sunset spot, walked gingerly along the dodgy board walk in the gathering gloom and eventually made our way to Shwedagon Paya at around 8pm. We paid our entrance fee and were transported to another world, Sule Paya was nothing in comparison to the grandiose spectacle of this vast complex, all 14 acres of it!! The next 2 hours were spent in awe of the wealth and grandeur of this place, the heart of Buddhism in Burma, many locals using it as a social event as well as a religious one and taking just as many photos as we were. Every corner turned opened up a whole new vista, different architecture, shrines, Buddha images everywhere you looked and all dwarfed by the ever present golden stupa in the middle of it all, lit up and radiant against the night sky.

Exhausted, we clambered into bed after walking for almost an hour to get back to the hostel and were grateful for the comfy mattresses and the aircon enabling us to get a good night's sleep.

In the morning we had a slightly later start and opted for a less energetic day, deciding to get on the circle line train and ride it's 3 hour loop around the outer suburbs of the city. This turned out to be a very pleasant way to spend the morning and early afternoon, especially as it started to rain half way round and we could enjoy the coolness without actually getting wet. Our journey took us out through small towns and villages, past bustling markets, through rice fields with people submerged up to their waists working in them, alongside factories and warehouses and past more golden stupas than I would ever have imagined possible in what I initially thought was going to be a very poor country. I am still surprised at how much more advanced and modern Burma is compared to the Philippines, I honestly thought it would be the other way around. But then I guess it's hard to predict what somewhere will be like when its been off the tourist trail for so many years! So the other great thing about our train ride, apart from it only costing about $1 each, was watching the people, so many different sorts getting on and off, carrying all kinds of things with them, produce to sell in the city, baskets filled with goodness knows what, bags full of leaves that they use to wrap some kind of chewing stuff in, you name it!

Getting off the train we made our way back to the huge market we visited the day before and found the food court where we were able to get some traditional noodle dishes for lunch and a Myanmar Beer each, (tasted a bit like a mild Fosters) all for about A$4, before returning to the hostel once more for a siesta.

The evening saw us venturing to Chinatown where we'd heard there was a street that had many BBQ restaurants where you choose what skewers you want and then they go off and cook them for you. This was the first place where we got an idea that we weren't the only tourists in the city, everywhere you turned there were white people, so I had a good idea we would get ripped off here! We settled on one of the many identical looking restaurants all in a row and as expected were given hugely inflated prices, so ended up ordering just a couple of skewers to try whereas the locals were getting great big platefuls! Watching the mobile street vendors wheel their carts by as we ate I was happy to finally see someone eat the bugs that we've seen being sold. We weren't sure if you were meant to peel them like prawns or just eat the lot, not that we have any inclination to try them ourselves, but it turns out that head, legs, body, shell, the lot goes down...eurgh!! Food has actually been hard to come by in Burma as very few places seem to have menus and as we don't speak or read the language it has been impossible to work out what is being sold and for how much. The other issue is the hygiene...cooked and uncooked foods left out in the sun where the flies can get at it, things plated up by hand, literally, that have just been cutting up meat or wiping down tables...just not sure we want to risk it really!

Our final day in Yangon and the rain that had started previously continued with a vengeance meaning that other than getting some bits from the shop for our journey that evening (night bus to Inle Lake) we pretty much hid in the hostel and got some bits organised for more of our trip using the free wifi. The highlight was the takeaway Biriyani that Andy went out to get for lunch just across the road, wish we'd found the place sooner, it was so delicious and there was so much of it that we were sure not to need much for the rest of the day! Eventually it was time to get a taxi to the bus station, some 20km outside of the city, which took the best part of an hour due to the crazy traffic, where we were to catch our overnighter . We were really impressed when we boarded, it is probably the most luxurious bus we've ever been on, more like being on a posh aeroplane, with huge reclining seats, a fold out table, individual tv screens and hostesses who dished out free drinks and snacks once we we're en route!