Day 27 - Nyaung Shwe to Yangon

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We had arranged a car to take us to Heho Airport for our flight to Yangon 15,000 kyats but when it came to pick us up we found there was another passenger so we only had to pay for two thirds of it. The drive was very uneventful. When we turned off onto the airport road at Heho we saw the wreckage of the Air Bagan plane that had crashed at Heho three days earlier. From the ground there didn’t seem to be much left of the aircraft. It was amazing that only one passenger and one person on the ground had been killed. The aircraft looked like it had misjudged where the airport was and landed too early. From the sky the amount of wreckage was more obvious and pieces of it were strewn for quite a distance.

Passing through immigration was relative slow as there was only one person randomly taking information from passports. It is not only foreign nationals that have to pass through immigration but local travellers too. Customs was quicker although they were scanning everyone for what seemed like explosives. The departure lounge of the airport soon became very crowded with passengers waiting to catch one of about seven flights. The number of people waiting swelled past the maximum holding capacity of the departure and eventually after it became depressingly hot the doors to the outside were opened. The airport staff provided as much seating outside as they could but many people had to stand for quite a while. Our flight was late as were the other 5 or so flights due to leave early in the morning. Finally a drone was heard and an Air Bagan landed. Then following in quick succession at least 5 other planes landed. Perhaps as the morning had been foggy they were taking no chances after the previous crash and waited for the fog to lift before letting the planes land. The planes are unloaded of passengers and baggage and reloaded with new passengers and baggage in about 15 minutes. So within about 15 minutes of landing our Yangon Airways flight was back in the air on the way to Yangon. The fight was uneventful and unlike Air Bagan, small refreshments were served.

Landing at Yangon International airport we were met by a bus that was enough to carry all the passengers on the plane. Our flight had been half empty maybe due to the previous crash changing people’s minds about flying. Having seen the terrible road conditions and the state of many vehicles I don’t know whether road transport was much of a safer option. Luggage collection and immigration registration were very quick. There is a prepaid taxi counter before exiting into the arrivals lounge. Within 10 minutes of disembarking from our plane we were on the road for an hour long trip into Yangon. The airport is a fair distance from the centre of town but the traffic in Yangon is pretty horrendous. Nonetheless we made it to our hotel around lunch time. On the way we passed close by the Schwedagon Pagoda. It could be seen or a long time and looked very impressive. There was no opportunity to get a good photo so we hope to get back to it before we have to leave Myanmar on the 5^th of January.

We had pre-booked and paid for the May Shan Hotel near the Sule Pagoda. It had mixed reviews but it was central and close to restaurants etc. The hotel turned out to be very comfortable, even though the rooms are quite small. Like most of the rooms we had no window but at night the window at the end of the corridor has a great view of the Sule Pagoda all lit up. We quickly headed off to explore and arrived to see the local Muslim men pouring out of the mosque that is quite close by. It was quite a sight. The area we were in was very close to both Chinatown and the Indian part of town. This gave us great choices in restaurants and we found a Biriyani place not far from the hotel. The food was delicious and I am sure the OH was pleased it was not spicy.

We took the hotel owners advice and caught a taxi to pick-up our bus tickets for tomorrow from a local travel agent. It was a good way to orientate ourselves to the area and was not expensive. The taxi prices in Yangon are more reasonable than Mandalay although we were told that the prices were dearer at night. On the walk back there was a building that occupied an entire block that was fenced off with a huge spiked fence and another fence of chain wire and razor wire. It was an old colonial building that was now derelict except for a few caretaker tenants perhaps. We have yet to find out what the building was previously used for.

The Sule Pagoda is a beautiful building when it is lit up at night and can be seen for quite a few blocks. Even though we leave for Mawlymyine tomorrow night we intend exploring Yangon further. We had seen many reviews that it was just another big city but from what I have seen it is worth at least two or three days to explore, if for no other reason that the traffic is horrendous and it takes ages to get anywhere.

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