Welcome to Myanmar, the golden land

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Welcome to Myanmar, the golden land.

The anxiety and excitement leading up to this adventure has been overwhelming, in both not knowing what to expect and finally seeing our plans come through after so much hard work and preparation.

We begin in Yangon, which holds the largest population and was the former capital city of Myanmar. It takes a 45-minute flight from Bangkok to travel back 40 years in time; no ATMs, no 7-11s, no place to buy milk and cookies.

Among the great number of intriguing aspects upon arriving in Yangon the first thing I notice after landing was the sincere display of kindness, warmth and welcoming, a characteristic I expected, but not to such a degree.

The next thing I notice is the vast diversity—a demographic consisting of over 130 different ethnicities, religions and cultures—something I’m not familiar with back in Thailand.

The city itself has a unique character; its colonial past has left behind its beautiful dilapidated buildings. Curry restaurants serve bowls of chicken or duck, condiments never seem to end; small dishes of crushed pepper and spices, vinegar, and fish sauce surround you. In the evenings, I eat tea-leaf salad, a local favorite.

Liam and I want to know more about the people and how they live in Myanmar. We take the circle line train around Yangon, engage with the local commuters. The train itself is old and rickety, moving at low speeds. It has no doors which allow us to stand half way out the train and watch the daily life of Yangon roll by. The slow moving train gave us the opportunity to observe the outskirts of Yangon in great detail; shacks of tin and wood, rusted and worn; dirt roads, the railway lined with wooden sleepers.

Yangon as a whole is an unconventional functioning organism, which allows for travelers to really gain a brand new experience, and allows for some genuine inner city adventure. Its not difficult or intimidating for one to find there way back to their accommodation via taxi, which means you can explore the city without fear of getting completely lost. It’s great to be able to hop off the circle line train at any platform and just walk in whichever direction you feel like exploring.

It’s been a fascinating adventure so far, and if this is any indication of what the rest of the journey holds, it’s sure to be memorable. Throughout our time here we want to find out what these people are all about and what they as a country have to offer.

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Photos

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Yangon is dominated by high rise buildings and colonial architecture.

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One of the stations along the circle line train route. The train travels at jogging pace, circling the city.

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One of the kids we met on the train. A friendly character with a great smile.

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The train journey provided us the opportunity to interact with the local people.

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A peek down a backstreet of the outskirts of Yangon.

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A view over a section of a township.

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One of the backstreets of central Yangon. These vibrant back alleys are filled with interesting sites and goods.

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Tables with antiques like this are found throughout downtown Yangon. A lot of antiques left behind from colonial days can be found here.

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Looking down the never-ending backstreets of Yangon.

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A betel merchant, chewing on the nut himself. These guys can be seen all over the country.

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Tyler humbled by the presence of one of the worlds most famous religious monuments.

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Liam in the shadow of the Shwedagon pagoda, covered in gold.

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One of the other large pagodas within the Shwedagon complex in the process of being re-gilded in gold.

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XploreAsia recording the moment.

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Liam, always ready with the camera

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A beautiful lady wearing traditional thanaka paint, used both cosmetically and as a sunscreen.

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A kid at a public pool we stumbled upon in Yangon.

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Taxis are they main way of getting around in Yangon, although this taxi found itself trying to navigate the crowded and busy backstreets.