Stunning Pagoda in Crazy Yangon

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Geo: 16.7837, 96.1568


Ruby true Hotel is situated a little away from the town but it is oasis away from hassle and bustle of the old town, my room was nice, bed comfortable and the service was excellent. I loved the beautiful gardens before entering my room, the place was clean and the staff did their best to make me comfortable.

Breakfast was nice and hotel was good value for Bagan so I was happy in this hotel, I said good bye to all the staff and set off for the airport.
I had booked the flight from Bagan to Yangon online and paid by paypal but they had emailed me that the Asian wings flight was cancelled and they would put us on Yangon airlines which was fine. At the Bagan airport the currency for dollar was almost 1000kats and they also change pounds etc so things are changing and Myanmar is moving forward. I arrived at Yangon airport and I took a taxi, dropped my bag at Culver Centre hotel and headed straight for Shwedagon pagoda.


Shwedagon pagoda is the most famous symbol of Buddhism in Myanmar with a giant stupa of about 100m in height covered in 60 tons of gold. At nearly 321 feet, it's the most sacred of all Buddhist pagodas in Myanmar and it was built around between 6th and 10 century and rebuilt in 1769 Ad.The glare from the white tiled floors and the glittering gold made it absolutely blinding. The base of the stupa is made of gold-plated bricks and the bell-shaped stupa is made of gold plates. At the top is the umbrella with over 5448 diamonds, 2317 rubies and at the very top is a 76 carat diamond. On a clear day, the stupa's golden exterior catches the sun and blazes like a beacon over the city. There's a massive gold stupa in the middle with temples all around it, other countless Buddha statues are all inside under cover. People were praying in all the temples and getting blessed by monks with water. The grand scale of this stunning Pagoda amazed me; the heat in the middle of the day is diabolical and the marble floor was v hot so I decided to head to my hotel. A must see if you are in Myanmar.




My single room in Culver City hotel was extremely clean; the bed comfortable and shower was good, the hotel is in central Yangon so it was easy for me to walk and sight see. I took a walk to Bogyoke Aung San Market, formally called Scott's market, the vendors occupy the sidewalks along the roads and the Market is a major bazaar located in downtown Yangon. The market and the vendors on the street were interesting and then I walked to Sule Pagoda and I came across this lovely park with nice fountain so I decided to spend a little time here away from noisy traffic junction and crazy drivers. Nice picture opportunity here
Yangon is a sprawling city with high rise skylines and roads full of buses, cars with air and noise pollution to match.


Crossing the streets was very scary; I saw cars accelerating towards the junctions, jumping the red lights, honking all the time and many of them were very dangerous drivers. The buses looked old, dilapidated like they have seen better days, were chugging out thick black smoke and was over-crowded with people. There are no motorbikes in the city as they were banned in 2003 and the rumours are a person on a motorbike made a threatening gesture to a military general or a general's son was killed while riding a motorbike. I saw few Colonial buildings and I decided to have a bite to eat. I had dosa and puri at Ingyin restaurant which was more like a café, the food was tasty and very reasonable. The service was good and it was just 5 mins walk from the Culver centre hotel.
Next day I had a nice breakfast at the hotel and the staff made me nice vegetable stir fry and omelet which was nice. The staff were excellent and let me check in early so I said good bye to all of them. I was pleased with my choice of this hotel as it was very central. I had arranged with the taxi driver from airport to pick me up and take me sightseeing before dropping me to the airport, his name is Thwin Gyi, golden brothers taxi service.

Thwin Gyi arrived early to take me on a small tour of Yangon, this guy is really sweet and as my two of my dollar bills had a tear, he offered to take me sightseeing for free but I had plenty of Thai Bhats, pounds and I managed to find a one good dollar bill. He took me to Kandawgyi Lake which is surrounded by a green, tree-filled park and hosts the imposing Karaweik, a replica of a royal barge with a restaurant insideand Kandawgyi Palace Hotel which was originally opened by the British in 1934 as the Rangoon Rowing club, it served as a maternity hospital during the second world war; in the 1960's it became the National biological Museum but it now functions as a luxury hotel which is situated on the lake and gardens which have beautiful view of Shwedagon pagoda and the surroundings. While I was there a bus load of tourist arrived to take pictures.

Inya Lake is significant landmark in Yangon perhaps best known for Aung San Suu Kyi's house, where she spent lot of time under house arrest, is on University Avenue on the lake's southern shore. Many of Yangon's rich and powerful live in mansions surrounding the lake and Aung San Suu Kyi's old foe, the long-time dictator General Ne Win, lived across the water from her until his death in 2002. It is also meeting place for friends and young couples as the University is near the lake. You pass this lake while arriving from the airport by the left side; It has two garden, one at Pyay road side and another one at Kabar Aye road side which is near Micasa, Marina and Sedonna, the garden at Pyay road side is much better.

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