Blogs from Yangon, Yangon Region, Burma, Asia - page 9

I was born in this city which was then known as Rangoon and lived there for 32 years. Since then I have lived abroad in several different countries, but still consider Rangoon to be my hometown. It is now officially known as Yangon, meaning "end of strife." Actually, Yangon is the original name in Burmese. When the country became a British colony the British rulers anglicized it to Rangoon, although the people always referred to it by its original name. When I was growing up in Rangoon, the population of the city was barely half a million. We were always proud to proclaim that Rangoon was a big city with a small town flavor. Now the population has grown to five million inhabitants, and unfortunately, the city has lost most of its old charm with daily ... read more

Yangon – Myanmar 11th – 13thFeb 2014 After three relaxing days at sea (flying fish – tick!) our first sight of Myanmar (or Burma) was the Irrawaddy Peninsula – quite flat, a lot of small fishing boats and small villages of a dozen or so bamboo huts, clustered around golden pagodas! We cruised up the river for an hour or so before docking 15.00pm at Myanmar International Terminals Thilawa (MITT), which was unfortunately about 30kms from Yangon (Rangoon) – we were told this was as far up the river as the cruise ship could go! We were one of the first cruise ships docking here, so it was all a bit of an unknown! It was also a National Holiday on the 12th Feb so we were advised that a lot of things would ... read more

Dang hotmail ... I miss having individual private email . I can't imagine how full my mailbox will be when I get home and get this code business sorted out . In the mean time Happy Belated Birthdays to Tim and to Ling . Thank you for the update Joylene and know that my heart is with Linda and Family . There has been no internet available for the last 4-5 days . We flew to Sittway last Thursday then took the government ferry to Mrauk U the next day . Again traveling 5 hours ( the current was with us that day ...it could have been a 7 hour trip}on a river is a fascinating thing . Looking at the fields and the gardens along the river and trying to understand the lives of the ... read more

Arriving in the early morning after a twelve hour overnight bus ride from Inle Lake, and catching an evening flight out the next day to Kuala Lumpur, we had very little time to spend in this city and get to understand or appreciate it. During our short time here, we happened to witness a dragon dance on the street, in celebration of the Chinese New Year, and made a point of visiting the Shwe Dagon temple at sunset, which was definitely worthwhile. We expected to see one massive temple covered in Gold Leaf which is particularly stellar when the setting sun and the night lights shine on it. We did not expect to see an array of smaller temples ornately decorated in gold and glass surrounding the large pagoda. So even though we were feeling somewhat ... read more

I had said to some of you that booking this Hotel was booking a soft landing...that has been true ...the location is good , the staff helpful and the breakfast is plentiful. it is overpriced but that is okay. i had such a great day yesterday. I took a ferry across the Yangon River to Dalah which is considered part of the Delta Region. Once there one books a trishaw for a tour of the villages and sites in the area . I was lucky enough to be 'picked up ' by a young man right on the ferry. He sat beside me and explained , in quite good english what he could offer me and how much it would cost .it felt right to go with him and I am so happy I did. He ... read more