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Roaminallover-Here, There and Everywhere
We are here in Myanmar. Only 3-4 years since the country opened its doors to foreigners they have agreed to let us in. They obviously don't share information between the countries we visit or they might not have been so keen to have two semi-aged backpackers meandering on their turf. For those old enough to remember the country was once known as Burma, and Yangon (where we made our first stop) was previously known as Rangoon. The country was a favourite haunt of many British writers including Conrad and Kipling. Many of the stories evoking tales of steamy jungles and wild animals. Our hotel in Yangon lived up to the stereotypes we had in our heads, being furnished in dark teak, and having wooden floors and walls. The sound of the crows added to the Colonial feel, although thankfully there was an absence of tigers and other wild animals. The town had wide streets, and a selection of vehicle types- cycle rickshaws, taxis, bicycles, small vans like the Philippine Songthaew - but no mopeds or motorbikes. The result seemed to be a much less polluted city, and much easier road crossings than we've been used to. Many areas of the city seemed to be undergoing redevelopment with new buildings being constructed amongst the existing concrete blocks. Much of the residential accommodation consisted of tenement blocks, with people often living without sunlight opposite their neighbours. There wasn't much evidence of shanty style living or homelessness. Although we soon discovered that this was because many of these were hidden away. Peeping down narrow streets often revealed groups of shelters on waste land, largely away from the public gaze. During our time in Yangon we took a couple of trips on the Circular train. A train available to both tourists and locals - which wends its way through the suburbs, before heading back to the city. I love train journeys. I always think of it as viewing the back gardens of a place as the track usually passes behind the houses. We were able to see the transition from town to country as the scenery changed so did the types of housing and conditions. As we travelled further from the city families were living in tarpaulin, or corrugated iron, covered shelters. The amount of discarded rubbish by the side of the track increased as the level of deprivation and poverty went up. Washing was strewn on the unused railway tracks to dry, and stray dogs roamed through the area. Despite all this people were constantly smiling and holding conversations with neighbours. Activity increased as we approached stations where there were vendors. At one stop there was an entire produce market occupying the platform. Women were buying large quantities of vegetables and carrying the sacks and baskets home on their heads. Some joined the train - pushing large bundles of leaves, and sacks of onions through the carriage door. As we made our way through the various stations the train was joined by vendors, who jumped on board to sell their wares to the passengers. Young boys selling boiled quails eggs, vendors with pears, tomatoes, tobacco, doughnuts. The list was as endless as the vendors who hopped on and off the train, spending their day trying to liquidise their assets. The areas furthest away from the city were divided into small sections of land, each with a crop of sugar cane, corn, or some other vegetable. Some had been transformed into floating gardens growing a variety of green salad vegetables. Presumably the watercress I had on my plate the other night was grown in such a place. I felt quite humble to see people wearing bamboo cone hats, and waist deep in water harvesting the green vegetation. One of the most famous sites in Myanmar Is the Shweddagon pagoda. It was indeed very impressive, although as all visitors have to remove shoes and socks a regular floor clean wouldn't go amiss. When you have seen as many pagodas and temples as we have now you start to get a little fatigued, and it becomes increasingly difficult to impress, especially when you find out anyone can construct a pagoda, and install their own mass produced Buddah. As much of Burma was destroyed by bombing during World war 2 many of the very old constructions have been destroyed, or severely damaged, so it's nice when you find a really old one. The Shweddagon pagoda is thought to date back over 2500 years. The pagoda is nearly 100m high- the top encrusted with 4531 diamonds, so it's very sparkly, and makes a good photo subject. We haven't figured out yet how the Buddah images fit into the religion as there seem to be many different styles, and positions . I'm sure it will all become clear by the time we leave. Some seem more popular than others when it comes to attracting devotees and worshippers, and others sit alone , like " Billy no mates". We also haven't worked out why some temples and pagodas are promoted to tourist books, when there are often nicer ones just down the road.....but hey ho....who are we to question. Leaving Yangon we decided to take the sleeper train. Reviews of the circular train often made reference to the very rocky ride. As we hadn't found this to be the case we assumed that similar reports about the longer distance trains were exaggerated. His wrong were we ! This is where you go to the next blog.....what are you waiting for ?
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