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Ye Min
Talking with us on the bus on our way back to the Shangri-La.Day 24-Wednesday-February 3 Inle Lake-Yangon We had a 5:45 wake-up call and got the bags out in time. After breakfast, we boarded the buses at 7:00 for the ride to Heho Airport for our 9:30 flight to Yangon and back to the Sule Shangri-La Hotel after another long and traffic-congested ride. Traffic is bad here almost any time of day.
We got checked into the hotel and split an order of fish & chips. Doug went down to the Concierge and got the stuff that we stored there while in Inle Lake. We then rested for the afternoon. Doug worked on the blog. Later on we decided to order room service. Annette wanted that great grilled salmon that she had during our last stay. Doug had French onion soup and a big chicken Caesar salad. We had a tasty bottle of the house red wine. Doug worked on the blog some more and we went to bed about 10:00.
Day 25-Thursday-February 4 Yangon-Our Final Day in Myanmar! What were the lyrics of that song? What a wonderful trip it has been! Yes, it certainly has.
This morning we rose after a good
Yangon
Taken from our room on a nice clear day. night sleep. We walked over to the Scott Market and bought a couple things. We searched the aisles for a booth and then Annette found the Yangoods booth, the people that had the purse and tin can she purchased at the hotel. We got 2 nice pillow cases. Doug got a T-shirt that says “Minglabar”. We walked around the market for a while and decided to take a taxi to The Strand for lunch. It’s a nice old traditional hotel somewhat like Raffles, very British looking. We had a nice lunch, bought a small green jade healing Buddha and picked up a taxi back to our hotel. As we were walking through The Strand, Annette saw a necklace in one of the shops that she was sorry that she didn't buy. When we got back to the Shangri-La Annette called the shop to hold it and Doug walked back there to get it for her. We had arranged for a ½ day stay in our room so we wouldn’t have to check out and just hang-out in the lobby until our ride to the airport at 8:15.
About 6:30 we finished packing and went down to the bar and
No...this way
Looks like one guy is directing the others on how to make some street repairs. enjoyed a light dinner as we don’t get fed on the plane until breakfast. We caught the end of happy hour and Annette had Penne Arrabiata and Doug had Tea leaf salad and a glass of the red wine we had last night. We collected our bags, checked out and met Ye Min downstairs in the lobby. Our ride to the airport was there and we said our good-byes and off to the airport we went. We boarded our flight to Seoul at 11:55pm.
Day 26-Friday-February 5-Seoul, South Korea- Before we left the US, Annette had arranged for a ToursByLocals in Seoul for a tour of the city as we had about a 7 hour layover before our next flight to San Francisco. We arrived in Seoul at 7:45am and we were met by Jay Jung, our guide, as scheduled at 8:45. If our departure from San Francisco at the beginning of trip was any indication (delayed flight because of snow in Seoul), it was still REAL COLD. Unfortunately, we were not dressed for this kind of weather, having been in 80-90 degree temperatures for the last 3 weeks. It was in the high 30's. We got
A different temple
This looks like a Hindu temple in downtown Yangon. We've seen these temples in other countries. in his van and headed toward downtown...unfortunately, the airport was about 70 miles away and the traffic on the highway was pretty slow. It took us well over an hour to get to downtown. Jay gave us a lot of information about Seoul and South Korea as we drove. Our first stop was Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace, the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty. Built in 1395, it is located in northern Seoul, South Korea. The largest of the five grand palaces built by the Joseon dynasty, Gyeongbokgung served as the home of Kings of the Joseon dynasty, the Kings' households, as well as the government of Joseon.
Gyeongbokgung continued to serve as the main palace of the Joseon dynasty until the premises were destroyed by fire during the Imjin War and abandoned for two centuries. However, in the 19th century, all of the palace's 7,700 rooms were later restored under the leadership of Prince Regent Heungseon during the reign of King Gojong. Some 500 buildings were restored on a site of over 99 acres. The architectural principles of ancient Korea were incorporated into the tradition and appearance of the Joseon royal court.
In the early
Downtown Yangon
Lots of great sights in downtown Yangon like the wires. Reminds us of cities in Viet Nam. 20th century, much of the palace was systematically destroyed by Imperial Japan. Since then, the walled palace complex is gradually being reconstructed to its original form. Today, the palace is arguably regarded as being the most beautiful and grandest of all five palaces. It also houses the National Palace Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum within the premises of the complex.
Owing to its status as the symbol of national sovereignty, Gyeongbokgung was demolished during the Japanese occupation of the early 20th century. In 1911, ownership of land at the palace was transferred to the Japanese Governor-General. In 1915, on the pretext of holding an exhibition, more than 90% of the buildings were torn down. Following the exhibition the Japanese leveled whatever still remained and built their colonial headquarters, the Government General-Building (1916–26), on the site.
Restoration efforts have been ongoing since 1990. The Government-General Building was removed in 1996 and Heungnyemun Gate (2001) and Gwanghwamun Gate (2006-2010) were reconstructed in their original locations and forms. Reconstructions of the Inner Court and Crown Prince’s residence have also been completed.
After we walked around this massive complex for awhile, we were able to experience the changing
In case of fire!
Here we have all of the fire extinguishers lined up...not one of them is the same as another. of the guard ceremony. Following that, we walked through the museum that demonstrated life in old Korea and times in the Palace.
We then went back to the van and took a brief drive through a couple neighborhoods and then went to a restaurant for lunch. We had a Korean lunch that Jay recommended.
After lunch we got back in the van and took the long drive back to the airport. On the highway, we passed what looked like some kind of parking structure that was on fire. We got back to the airport in time to make our connection flight to San Francisco. We said goodbye to Jay and thanked him for our brief ToursByLocals of Seoul. Our flight arrived in plenty of time to connect with our shuttle back to Carmel, marking the end of an unbelievable trip. The end!
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