Waking up to the sunlight beaming through the curtains with the coolness of the air conditioning was most welcome. It made a significant difference from a loud buzzing fan throughout the night keeping you up. We both woke up and took advantage of the steaming hot shower. we had not not seen a steamed up bathroom in a long time! We headed down stairs to look forward to our traditional Myanmar breakfast. I had ordered steamed rice with peas covered in ground nut oil and Laura the 'Mohinga' which is a very popular dish of thin noodles in a fish broth. Before these were served you could help yourself to hot/cold drinks, breads and fruit. Oh how we have missed the old help yourself breakfasts in the morning, saves so much hassle. After a while the food came albeit a little lukewarm but the tastes more than made up for it. You would never of thought rice, peas (like chickpeas) and groundnut oil could be so tasty! We will defiantly try that combination at home. The fish broth in Laura's dish gave a nice saltiness to the dish which was lacking in last night meals. All in all the breakfasts were tasty and filled us up which you couldn't really ask a lot more. After we finished we applied the sun cream and headed out into the already quite intense heat of the morning.

Walking towards town you got an immediate smell of jasmine combined with incense which immediately gave a nostalgic feeling of India. It also had the somewhat haphazard pavements where without due care and attention to could find yourself falling into a sewer. There was rubbish in the hedges and side alleys but nothing on the scale of what we saw back in Delhi. As we entered the centre of Yangon the streets turned to a western style grid system but the traffic seemed calm and quiet but we couldn't figure out why. Laura explained that there were no motorbikes or mopeds at all to be seen. She had read once a high ranking military official was once hit in his car by a motorcyclist. After this the government outlawed all motorised two wheeled vehicles. Also there only car taxis, no tuk tuks which do make a considerable racket. Walking through the streets we got looks and glances from the locals who were sitting on their small stools at the street stalls. People were sticking to the shaded side of the pavements and those who weren't had umbrellas of all colours to protect from the sun's rays. Over the buildings to our right side two white spires were glittering which alluded us over. The building was St Mary's Catherdral which stands proud amongst quite derelict looking buildings. With the gates closed and quiet inside it looked closed but a very cheerful woman singing came over and let us in, even wished us a happy Easter. We headed inside the hugely impressive cathedral (one of the best we've seen on our travels). The collection of stained glass windows glowed the whole cathedral in a multi coloured spectrum including 6 windows down each side depicting each of the disciples. We donated a small amount and were wished our way by the singing woman and continued on into the centre of Yangon city centre.

We started our walking tour passing the golden supta of Sule Puya standing tall in the middle of a roundabout. There were shrines at its base but charged foreigners for entry which we felt was not worth it. We headed past the colonial buildings of the law court and city hall. It was bizarre seeing these obviously British design buildings looking either magnificent or barely still standing. Walking through the streets we were astounded at the about of monks both young and old. We headed around to The Strand Hotel which is the equivalent of The Ritz in London or Raffles in Singapore. Obviously it would be out of our price range but it had that unmistakable London hotel charm. Heading back up through town there were streets stalls selling books. When I mean books I mean thousands all piled up on the street. Over the past half century Myanmar has been blocked from outside literature and writings so people have obviously donated loads of books to them. Seems clear some of the people now feel they can make some money selling them on.

By now the heat of the day was really in full effect confirmed with the constant sweat on my brow. We decided to head somewhere with a solid wi-FI connection and one place recommended was the Traders Hotel. Walking into the hotel it was clear this place was a 5 star establishment with the marble flooring and pristine toilets. I would never come in here normally, I just told myself it was only for the Internet. We did learn you had spend a minimum of $3 dollars to use the connection which was the cost of one coke!! Christ alive!! I reluctantly paid it and we spent the next couple of hours uploading blogs and photos. We met an Irish chap who recommended a really nice guesthouse in Bagan (our next destination) which wasn't in lonely planet guidebooks! We thanked him whilst he tucked into his company expenses paid burger. It was red and juicy with a perfectly cooked egg and crispy bacon. Me and Laura both looked at such other salivating and must of looked really weird to the guy, haha! Laura doesn't even like burgers lol... It looked incredible but I pulled myself away being content with noodles and rice!

We now decided we would make the walk north through town towards the Shwedagon Paya, Yangon's showpiece attraction. As we headed towards the area on the map, above the trees was a striking view of glittering gold. We headed towards our target and the entrance guarded by two lions standing at least 20 feet tall. We paid the entrance fee and headed into the hallway leading up to the pagoda. It was lined its tall pillars, but to reach the actual top there were built in escalators! Looked completely ridiculous in such a wonderfully religious setting. It was amusing watching these poor Burmese people who have obviously never set foot on an escalator looking scared trying to step onto it. Makes you realise how technology advances have been cut off from this part of the world. As we rode up the escalator you were hit with gold light striking off the centre pagoda. The dome stands 322 feet tall and it absolutely stunning when the bright sun strikes the smooth, golden edges. It was built 700 years ago and was added to especially by monarchs who donated their weight in gold which surrounds the entire structure today. At the very top of the spire a 76 carat diamond which Laura took great interest in, as you would expect. Such is the religious significance of this temple that every Buddhist is expected to pilgrimage here once in their lifetime. The surrounding platform is circular and in Buddhist tradition you walk around clockwise but us two being us, we walked round the wrong way. There were monks casually strolling and laughing to each other as they admired the pagoda. Families and individuals praying at the various small temples around the circumference of the platform.... Each one associated with the day of the week in which you were born. We witnessed beautiful scenes of young monks and nuns having initiation ceremonies with colourful flowers in their hair alongside beaming, proud parents.

At this stage we decided to head outside to find food and were directed to a bunch of street stalls. After an obvious language barrier we ordered noodles which were bland but filling at least. Watching the local kids play football with a completely flat ball was humbling and just shows how little they have but have lots of fun.

We wandered back after our meal and then sat and waited for the sunset which suddenly turned the golden pagoda to a more crimson colour which did look striking. By now the crowds were increasing especially tour groups with their rather large cameras. As darkness descended, the flood lights took full effect lighting up the structure which would be seen for miles around. It is one of them things who have to see it to truly appreciate its beauty. After dark we left the area and headed back towards town trying to not fall down any sewers! We found a supermarket and bought some maggi sauce so we could add a bit of flavour to bland dishes!! Our feet were absolutely filthy (bare feet in the temples) and sore from a long days walk and we longed for a hot shower. It had been an epic day in Yangon and we both agreed the Shwedagon Paya was probably the most stunning monument to religion we had seen in South East Asia so far.