Yangon is one of those fantastic cities that takes you by surprise. It of course helps when you go in having zero expectations, except as "that city we are flying into that will eventually get us to all the temples".

We initially flew into Yangon from Chiang Mai for a few days, left for the south, and returned before making our way up to the central plains. Upon arrival when leaving the airport, confused about the local airport bus, several people immediately jumped in to help us out, pointing out maps, explaining stops, and directing us to the right bus. Upon finding out that we did not have enough small bills for the fare, the woman behind us eagerly volunteered to make change for us from her own money. These are the kinds of gestures that when you are hot, hungry, and tired (and here you are always some combination of the 3), bring a small tear of gratitude to the eye. A great start to a new country.

Yangon (formerly Rangoon) was the capital city of Myanmar during the time of colonial rule, and this city still retains some of this British flavour. Like Mawlamyine, there are plenty of beautiful examples of colonial architecture, but interspersed with Buddhist temples, mosques, and modern commercial buildings. It is an ethnically and religiously diverse city, and even houses a synagogue; the only remaining one in Myanmar. Surprisingly, we immediately felt that the country bears more resemblance to India than Thailand, which is what we had envisioned. Even some of the smells brought us back to India - is it a particular incense being used? We found some great Indian food, twice visited the semi-posh Rangoon Tea House, and seriously enjoyed the mohinga - the local Burmese fish soup. Love the blend of influences!

The most famous temple in Myanmar, the Shwedagon Pagoda is an enormous, glittering gold site that is full of visitors and devotees all mesmerised by the gigantic central stupa. When the sun goes down, candles are slowly lit around the temple, the bells at the top of the stupa gently chime in the breeze, and the temple is filled with a magical hush. All around the stupa are small shrines that correspond with the days of the week, and you are encouraged to find the one that represents the day you were born, and pour water over its Buddha statue. The whole atmosphere is so enchanting that you feel like you could slowly wander, or sit and people watch for hours.

Filing under the category, "Normal local things that tourists find fascinating", we got on the Yangon Circle Train for an hour along with the commuters, and hung our head out of the window while taking in the sights, just like they do in the movies, right? Costing $0.35 CAD for tickets for both of us, we feel this definitely qualifies as a must-do attraction. And somehow the weather in Yangon was bearable enough for us to do quite a bit of walking around the city, including chancing upon a glorious sunset over Kandawgyi Lake and the Shwedagon Pagoda in the distance. Love this city. Looking forward to comparing it to big city #2, Mandalay, which apparently has a completely different personality! Also looking forward to never returning to the Yangon bus terminal, which is very far out of the city, takes forever to get to, and is a huge jumble of confusion and chaos. (Made bearable only by the same patience and sincerity from locals as referred to in the beginning of this post.)