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Published: March 29th 2006
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Just another day at the office
We saw this guy whilst exploring down a little alley in search of some food. Makes you realise the luxury of your little cubicle doesn't it? "Picturesque Dishevelment" is how the Lonely Planet has described Yangon, and for once, it has absolutely got it right. We're sitting outside Motherland Inn 2 as rickety old Chinese buses, circa 1947, pass by in the dark, half falling apart but jammed full of people (see the pics if you don’t believe me). A man in his longhi (the standard attire for all here - like a sarong but made as a complete skirt that is stepped into and creatively tied into a knot at the front) has spat his betel nut juice from his mouth onto the pavement - a common site as the red betel nut spray can be seen sporadically all over Yangon's roads. Betel Nut is a mild stimulant that is wrapped in a small heart-shaped green leaf and then placed between the left row of teeth and the cheek. More so seen used by men, though some older women use it too, it is used in varying degrees that can be determined by the redness of one's teeth. You really need to watch your step around Yangon as if you're not stepping in betel nut goo, the pavement is so ramshackle and decrepit, you're likely to
Sule Paya
Sule Paya is a 2,200 year old roundabout in the middle of Yangon fall over if not watching where you walk. It is dark right now because there is only 6-12 hours of government provided power in Myanmar each day. There are no set times for this power so at any time the population can be cast into darkness. However, most small businesses and guesthouses have their own generators so soon the night is filled with the hum of generators along the city streets. There doesn't appear to be any reaction to the power situation, just a general acceptance and getting-on-with-it attitude that we have seen throughout the city.
Today we did a lot of walking around the city. We saw some amazing buildings that must have been magnificent in their day. Many were truly grand old colonial buildings that had fallen into great disrepair but now appear to be used as various government buildings, such as the City Hall, Immigration Dept and the High Court Building. One building that had no identifying name was set on about 100 or so acres of land. It was a large red brick building that reminded me of a larger version of Corinthian Avenue, my Dad's primary school in Liverpool which I believe was a
I'll have ummm........
This shot was taken from an overhead walkway of one of the street food venders we saw all over Yangon. The deal was yuo picked out the sticks of mystery meat you wanted and dipped them in the cooking gravy middle and then counted up the number of sticks at the end to work out your cost. Victorian building. This one in Yangon has barbed wire surrounding it, but still has a gateway guarded by police. Despite broken windows, some aspect of it is still in use, however we couldn't figure out what for. Perhaps it was the old parliament building before it was moved up-country. Or maybe it was a university before it was closed down. So far, we have hardly seen any police in this military state. Where are they all?
In the heart of the city is the Sule Paya, a 2,200 yr old stupa that is much revered throughout Myanmar. However, it is also used as a roundabout; one of the many paradoxes we are seeing in Myanmar. Before we entered the stupa to admire the buddhas, Steve bought a rather nice longhi so that he would be appropriately dressed (when entering a temple, one must wear clothes that cover the knees and shoulders - this is also, in fact, standard general attire for walking around in public in Myanmar. I can not therefore wear my denim shorts or Bonds spaghetti tops for the next two weeks - long skirts and baggy tops for this girl from now on!!). Steve received many
"You very wealthy man"
The ladies in the shop were very helpfull in finding me a nice Longhi to wear around town. My Burmese is a little iffy but i'm pretty sure she recomended this one as it matched my eyes ;-) compliments on his "beautiful" longhi which he has now decided to keep for Sunday-best 😉.
Whilst walking around, when not being asked if we wanted to change money, various older Burmese gents would stop just to have a chat. One in particular, was a Myanmar born Indian man, I suppose in his sixties, who was very excited that we had come to visit his country. Had we admired the beautiful buildings? How long were we here for? Did we enjoy his speaking in English? He told us how he had once gone to live in India to go to university but had returned because he "didn't like the Indians - they're not very nice people, you know?" - this said with a rather strong Punjabi accent.......
When we arrived back at the guesthouse in early evening to enjoy the wonderful "Myanma Beer", we were advised that today was the Full Moon Festival and that we must visit the Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset. So we duly set off again to admire the spectacular of the golden stupas at sunset. "Shwe" in Myanmar means "Gold", and "Dagon" is the ancient name for Yangon I believe, which means "no enemies". This
Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset
An absolutely stunning sight, the picture dosn't do it justice we learnt from an old professor who attached himself to us as our guide around the stupa. He took us to our respective birthday "stations" where we poured water over the head of our birthday Buddha to protect us in our journey and to look after the health of our families. It was very nice really. However, the crowds were a little too much for us in the end so after sunset Stephen and I decided it was time to find some Bamar (traditional) food and took a rather scenic route (yes, we got lost) to Kandawgyi Lake. The food was interesting - a little like the smelly tofu we are both familiar with from Hong Kong and China. The best food we have had so far has been Shan food which is from the north eastern part of Myanmar. We have found a great little restaurant called "999 Shan Noodle Shop" behind the City Hall - a very pleasant place to spend the dry, hot hours of midday in Yangon.
It has been a long, hot and dry day. Tomorrow we will go to the Ang Sang Stadium to buy our bus tickets to Mandalay. It is about
Tea time!
This was our standard rest and refreshent fare. Every hour or two we would get out of the sun and have some strong tea along with lots of the free green tea as chasers to cool down. 500km, but the journey will take about 13 hours, overnight. We could fly but that will cost US$80 each, opposed to US$10 each. Anyway, it'll be fun!
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Kate Hildebrand
Kate Hildebrand
I saw your note at the Motherland 2
Glad you guys had a great time in Burma