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Published: January 28th 2013
22 January 2013
13 hours on the overnight bus from Inle Lake to Yangon. It wasn't the worst bus trip ever and someone was managing to sleep - the snoring was majestic! Thank apple for iPods!!
We arrived at the Mingalar bus station just north of Yangon at 06h30 in the morning so at least it was light already. We hadn't managed to secure lodgings in Yangon, so we asked our taxi driver to drop us at the furthest out hotel in the downtown area so that we could start walking towards the centre in search. On the very first corner I got shat on by a Yangon pigeon - lucky lucky!! But how we walked!
Maha Bandoola Rd runs through the centre of Yangon downtown, and is about 5km long if you are going straight, add to that the side roads between Merchant Rd and Anawratha Rd to find hotels and guest houses, and the walk becomes epic with a backpack on your shoulders. The pavements are in such a bad state of repair that you have to be really careful when negotiating the mass of small stalls and pavement eateries, not to fall through the cracks
into the sewage filled channels below. But the pigeon poo stood us in good stead and we avoided any accidents.
The temperature was about 30 degrees Celsius and climbing and we were shattered. To top it all Andrew was coming down with a bad cold. I was ready to give up about two hours later when we eventually sat down in a tea shop to refresh. " Let's just get a taxi to the Governor's Residence and pay the price for two nights". But we persevered and finally found a US$40 room at the new Aung Tha Pyay Hotel on 38th Street.
New is obviously a word which can be used quite loosely in Burma. The Aung Tha Pyay doesn't feel or look like it is new, except maybe for the melamine office filing cabinet in the corner, which is the wardrobe; and the white towels which leave you covered in white fluff. But, the young lady at the front desk gets our vote for efficiency every time, and it is very clean for a budget Yangon Hotel - trust me we saw a few nasties on the way to here!! There was also a room with a
window available, which is another luxury in budget Yangon hotels. We had to wait an hour before we could check in at 12h00, but once ensconced in our room with a window and hot water, we had a shower and fell into bed.
Andrew was feeling really horrible so I left him in bed to go out and find us some dinner. Yangon's streets are just full of food. From mixed grill fondues, to sweet or savoury pancakes, fruit, fried rice, noodles of all varieties, dumplings, deep fried fritters, samoosas, steamed buns, barfi, biscuits and biriani - you can't walk 2m without passing at least three food stalls, and that's just on the pavement. At night the stalls literally move onto the street as well. Imagine this: shops where you expect shops to be, in buildings flanking the pavement; then a double row of vendors packed shoulder to shoulder on the pavement which you walk between; then a double row of vendors in the first lane on the road, which you can also walk between - on both sides of the road. An outdoor food hall. Suddenly a four lane avenue becomes a narrow lane jammed with cars and
Thanaka
These are the branches used to make Thanakabusses. Fortunately no motorbikes, but that's another story.
I have a really bad habit of wanting to try everything so I was in my element despite not being able to communicate very well. It seems that english in Yangon is not as prevalent as elsewhere. Just about everything costs Kyat 200 per piece (15 pence) so it is cheap to taste everything; but the food does tend to be quite oily so expect your stomach to revolt eventually.
We were not really intending to stay in Yangon that long, but unfortunately, once we started looking at other places to go to, it became obvious that we just didn't have enough time. The nearest beaches are a 7 hr bus trip away. Maulamine is a 9 hour bus trip away etc. that would give us two days in Yangon, two days on buses and one day somewhere else, which didn't really seem worth the effort. So we decided to stay in Yangon and do a day trip or two to nearby towns.
First day in Yangon we spent walking. We covered the whole busy downtown area including little India and China Town. Then wandered into the slightly more
affluent areas north of the once beautiful station. We stopped to gawp at the government owned Kandawgyi Palace Hotel, which used to be the British Boat Club. A plaque in the gardens puts it quite nicely: "This was once the premises of the British Boat club. Only British members and their friends were allowed in and all Burmese people were excluded. Then it became the private club of the Burmese Government where they could entertain their friends. The park was later opened to the Burmese people as a paleontological garden". What is not included on the plaque is that the park is now owned by the Junta and one of the most expensive hotels in the city is operated from here. Excluding the Burmese people once more. I guess the new governments learned a lot from their colonial masters!
Further on and to Shwedagon Pagoda. This is the holiest Buddhist site in Burma and there are some great tales surrounding it. The current incarnation dates back to 1769 and stands just under 100m high in all its golden glory. The platform is reached by one of four covered walkways with beautifully carved teak ceilings and columns, crowded with vendors
entrance stairway to Shwedagon Pagoda
the carved ceilings and columns are amazing selling all the paraphernalia of Buddhist Dana. The government charges foreigners US$5 for the pleasure of visiting, but you can, as we did, sneak in around the back to avoid this donation to the Junta. Just don't stay too long or someone will notice that you don't have a big round sticker on your person.
The pagoda is massively impressive and on the day we went it was really busy, but the walk ways around the perimeter at the lower level are picturesque and quiet. The bell, which has spent some time at the bottom of the Yangon river thanks firstly to a Portuguese pilferer who eventually found himself impaled for two days before dying; and secondly to the British who occupied the pagoda - insensitively as usual, for about 70 years during the Burmese wars; is back in its own pavilion.
Shwedagon has also seen its share of modern Burmese political action, from student riots in 1920 to Aung Sang Suu Kyi's 8888 address to the people, and then the 2007 uprisings. Lately there have been visits by Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. I wonder if they made them pay the entrance fee?
Round the back
the notorius bell
this bell spent some time in the river of the pagoda is a small and very pretty park which is, unusually, free to walk through. We wandered past the team of sleeping gardeners and a game of foot volleyball - they play with a small, hard, woven bamboo ball here. Must be agony for the toes! But then we've seen some rather special toes peaking out of flip flops since we've been here.
The national footwear in Burma, as in all of South East Asia is the flip flop. But the Burmese flip flop is no ordinary flip flop. It is a wonderfully crafted, usually black velvet ( but can be almost any colour velvet) upper on an intricately woven palm leaf sole. Manolo Blahnik would be proud! These flip flops are unisex, and everyone from toddlers to grannies and grandpas wear them. There are even versions for teenage girls with sparkles and fake gems sewn on. A true national heritage. But the feet do not always match the elegance of the flop.
The other fabulous fashion statement in Burma, since we've moved onto apparel , is the longyi. Both men and women wear these. It is basically a tube of fabric which is wrapped around
Shwedagon lower tier walkway
quiet and shady with pretty pavilions the body to make a skirt ( sorry you probably know this already). Men's longyis are almost always cotton and checked and are tied in front with a big knot hanging down like a sporran, while ladies' longyis are often embroidered or woven in geometric patterns, or florals, in cotton or silk and are wrapped and tucked tightly to emphasise shape. A very practical and easy to wear garment. Especially practical for squat toilets which can be tricky in trousers! Anyway, I digress....
To the west of Shwedagon Pagoda is the People's Park. A huge piece of open land with not much on it. You have to pay to walk across it. In one corner is the revolution square with enormousness red, blue and white gates guarded by military police. Not sure why, only grass on the other side....
Then, north of People's Park, all the way to University Avenue Road, is where the 0.1% reside. Burma's wealthy. They live up on the hill on winding roads, in massive houses with three tiers of razor wire crowning their 8ft high walls. A bit like Africa. Just a reminder though, in this part of Asia there is no real
crime to speak of, so I'm thinking that the ones behind the wire must have done something really bad to feel the need for this much protection!!
We kept going all the way to University Avenue Road, where we completed the pilgrimage to the house at no. 54 where Aung Sang Suu Kyi was kept under house arrest for close on 17 years in total. You can't see the house from this side, only the front wall and prison-like gate. The house is only visible from across the lake near the Sedona hotel. What a lady!! The more we read and hear the more amazing we think she is. The people of Burma practically worship her. Everyone holds so much hope for the coming 2015 elections. They all believe she will be their next leader. Let's hope so!! They deserve someone as special as her for a change. Someone seemingly as nice as themselves: " a singing bird in an open cage, who will only fly for freedom"-U2
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