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Myanmar (previously known as Burma) only lifted its boycott on tourism 4-5 years ago. Until that point it was almost off limits. Along our travels we'd spoken to a few people that'd been and they'd reconfirmed our thoughts - that it's definitely the place to go before things change. However, with it being an expensive country to travel (compared with the rest of SEA), we were unsure if our budget would stretch. Fortunately, with our relatively well paid teaching jobs we were able to save a good amount of money. So it was decided, we bought our 28 day visa (acquired from the Myanmar embassy in Hanoi) and booked the flight to Yangon.
What a contrast it was going from Hanoi (possibly the most densely populated motorbike city in the world) to Yangon and seeing no motorbikes at all! Interestingly, Yangon has outlawed motorbikes! According to rumour, a well-placed individual in the military had once been in a motorbike related accident, then decided the city could just as well do without them. I am not sure if this is true, but it’s a good story, and I must admit it made a nice change from chaotic roads in Hanoi!
It was evening when we arrived (Myanmar's erratic timekeeping has their time set at a thirty minute differential, rather than the usual one hour increment) so we went straight to our pre-booked hostel from the airport in a clapped out ol' taxi. Due to cost taxis aren't usually our preferred choice, but there wasn't much option and it turned out taxis are actually very reasonably priced in the former capital - the city was stripped of its status as capital when the country's name was also changed (from Burma to Myanmar).
The relatively new tourism industry has a fair few problems to iron out, with its increasing trade. For example, there isn't much choice for accommodation. With not much competition comes poor standards and overpriced rates - steeper than we've seen elsewhere in SEA.
The hostel we'd booked had far from shining reviews (one review mentioned their tendency to overbook), but it was in a good location and looked clean. So we decided, with not much choice, to give them the benefit of the doubt. We shouldn't of.
The hostel ('20th Street Hostel') lived up to its reputation and had overbooked our room! Despite us calling earlier that day to reconfirm our booking and arrival time. They were quick to give a ridiculous excuse and offer a room in one of their partner hostels, but we weren't happy and they could tell. The man on reception grabbed his boss, who came out with a different even more lame excuse (apparently the water wasn't working). He then offered us a free bus ticket to anywhere in Myanmar and swift transfer to a 'much better' guesthouse. Feeling tired and out of options, we accepted.
The guesthouse we were taken to was brand new and barely open to the public, it was nice, but unfortunately its location was far from ideal. But by this point we were past caring, we decided to lay our heads for the night and sort out the problem in the morning.
We awoke early feeling refreshed and excited to explore a new place. Breakfast was meant to be included, but because the place was so new they didn't have the facilities to make anything. As we'd booked two nights at 20th Street Hostel, we arranged to be taken back later that morning to check in. In the meantime we grabbed some freshly cooked chicken biriani from a street food vendor and took a stroll to a nearby lake to eat our breakfast. The lake, called 'Inya Lake', was created by the British as a water reservoir and is the largest lake in Yangon.
By the time we returned to the guesthouse it was time to transfer back to the hostel. It's fair to say we didn't exactly feel happy about returning, but we'd already paid and it was in a far better location for sightseeing.
The room we checked into was quite small with no window, but it was actually very clean, comfortable and with aircon, so we were partially content.
Like Cambodia and Vietnam, USD is accepted, but it's generally better to utilise their own currency (called 'Kyat', pronounced chat), otherwise you can end up paying a rounded up price. Kyat is pretty much impossible to get hold of outside the country, so our first task was to hunt down a decent currency exchange shop. After finding the best rate, we noticed that the people of Myanmar are unbelievably particular about the condition of foreign currency (any note with the smallest imperfection will be rejected). Not only this, but they also have an illogical regard to the value of different notes - smaller bills like $5, $10, $20 hold a lower value than say a $50 bill?! For example, if one was to exchange five $20 bills you might get 1285Ks per dollar, but a $100 bill could fetch you 1300Ks per dollar. Very bizarre. Regrettably we had all of our earnings changed into $20 bills, so we were left with no option but to keep our opinions suppressed and settle for the slightly lower exchange rate.
With lots of places to see and restricted time in Myanmar we only had one full day in Yangon. We decided to see as many of the 'highlights' as possible using the Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor as reference.
When visiting a country with an over 80% Buddhist population, one has to accept that seeing a few more temples etc is unavoidable. Regardless of the fact we've seen a fair few temples, pagodas, stupas in the past year or so, we were still interested in exploring Myanmar's religious sites. Especially knowing they are likely to be dotted with a few burgundy robed monks too - in Myanmar, like other Buddhist nations, it's customary for a male to enter a monastery at some point in his life.
The first religious site we visited was called 'Sule Paya'. A two thousand year old golden temple used as a roundabout in central Yangon. With the midday heat stifling, we decided to leave the temple in search of some shade in 'Mahabandoola Park'.
The park was originally laid out by the British, but has recently been revamped to include an independence monument. It was a clean green park, but some young beggars soon put an end to our time relaxing time in the cool shade.
Amelia managed to find us a recommended restaurant called '999 Shan Noodle Shop' for a spot of lunch. We both tried the 'Shan' noodles. (Shan is the name of an ethnic group in Myanmar). The noodles were served in an oily broth which was tasty, but we weren't sure what to make of the greasy consistency.
The reclining Buddha in Bangkok left us in awe, so when we heard that Yangon had one of a similar size we decided to pay a visit. I don't like to compare or criticise because at the end of the day I much prefer looking around temples than at drab churches, however it wasn't quite as breathtaking. We were still stunned by its shear size, but the 'temple' containing the Buddha quite simply looked like a 'tarted-up' industrial warehouse. It's probably fair to say that Myanmar doesn't have the budget Thailand has to invest in these things though.
Just down the road from 'Chaukhtatgyi Paya' is 'Ngahtatgyi Paya', so after look around the horizontal Buddha we went to look at yet another Buddha, but this one was less 'relaxed' and sat in an upright position with unusual gold body 'armour'.
When a previous government decided to change everything 'British', that even included the side of the road people were used to driving on too! Because of this ridiculous law change (apparently implemented overnight) a lot of the vehicles on the road are still right hand drive. Consequently, when it comes to getting in and out of old buses or coaches things can get a little hairy, so to speak. Luckily, with taxis being so cheap in Yangon, we could mostly avoid the hazardous entry (and exit) of the door being on the wrong side!
The right-hand-drive taxi we caught from the seated Buddha, took us to one of the most iconic sites in Yangon. The 'Karaweik Royal Barge' (which features on the national beer's logo). Along the Kandawgyi lake, in which the barge floats in, is a long boardwalk (over 1km). Which is not exactly 'fit for purpose'. In fact if it was in the UK it would be cordoned off and plastered with black and yellow hazard tape! However, this isn't the UK, so all that marks a potential fall and/or broken ankle is a small painted white cross on the broken boards - I lost count of the hand painted crosses after about five yards! Managing to cross the boardwalk without injury was nothing short of a miracle.
The highlight of the day was watching sunset and the swarms of Buddhists congregate at 'Shwedagon Paya' - one of Buddhism's most sacred sights! They say it enshrines eight hairs of the 'Guatama Buddha'. The 325ft zedi which is almost visible from anywhere in Yangon, is adorned with over twenty seven tons of gold leaf and thousands of diamonds - one of which is 72 carat! It is quite a sight to behold.
The next day, instead of utilising the hostel's offer of a free bus ticket, we decided to catch a train. Something we can thank the British colonisation for. We bought 'ordinary class' tickets and boarded an on-time train to Bago..
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