The former prosperous capital of the country, once known as Rangoon during British rule, fell into near ruin during the period of military rule staring in the 1960s. Today, Yangon gives off the vibe that change is definitely in the air and things are on an upswing.
the bus to yangon
After our Laos bus adventure a couple weeks back, we once again decided to test the bus gods and try something new by booking an overnight bus from Inle Lake to Yangon. Actually, the day bus was booked by the time we signed up so that made our decision rather limited. And even though we confirmed there’d be a toilet on board, of course there wasn’t. So we drank our liquids wisely along the way.
our lovely overnight bus to yangon
After a decently comfortable and no-break-down journey, we found ourselves outside of Yangon around 6:30am. Trying to go with the local flow we plopped on the local bus for a mere $.50 and got some funny local looks. Although the bus was seemingly on its last legs, with metal seats bolted to lovely, creaking wooden floor boards, it got everyone to their destination in one piece. Once dropped near the vicinity of our hotel, being too thrifty for our own good and disillusioned by the scale of our map, we schlepped ourselves and our bags about a mile to our accommodations. This is not recommended, especially during the hottest time of the year. Arriving at the hotel in shirt-soaked grossness they kindly let us check in early.
yangon walking tour
Since things are changing so rapidly in this city, we decided to get better acquainted with it by doing a walking tour – the “free” type where you pay at the end an amount you think is fair. We met our guide in the center of town under a green umbrella with a gathering of fellow itinerants and were on our way. Buildings in the heart of downtown, once used by the British when this was part of the Empire, were left for ruin in the years of military rule but are slowly coming back to life as new businesses. Foreign investors are making their way back and restoration is in progress. Our guide explained that even the Lonely Planet book can’t keep up as there’s been much change in the last couple of years.
The tour was a good mix of historical, political, and current events. We learned quite a bit about the buildings in the downtown core. Some of the highlights included:
Rowe & Co Department Store. Dubbed the “Harrods of the East”, this was once one of the fanciest stores in Asia. In recent years it was purchased, fully restored, and is now a bank.
what once was Rowe & CO dept store – the Harrods of the East
The Telegraph Building. At its peak in the 1950s, upwards of 200,000 international telegrams were sent a year. Our guide told us that during the Japanese occupation, locals were told to bring their radios here for tuning, which they did. Unfortunately, the Japanese had no intentions of giving them back.
telegraph office
Customs House. Built in 1915, this building still serves its original purpose. People bring paperwork here for the coordination of exports and imports of goods. A skinny corridor for customers and barred windows for the agents made this look more like a prison building, but interesting to watch the process nonetheless.
The place was bustling, staying open past normal hours. Burmese New Year was right around the corner and the country shuts down for several days. Much like Christmas time back home, people were trying to get their shipments in order before the holiday break.
Typists on the street. An office desk complete with a typewriter was setup on the street around the corner from the Customs House. This is to help with the input of forms for the exports/imports. Another reminder of how Myanmar is still catching up with the current age – no computers are used for this type of work.
paperwork being typed up for Custom’s House documents
The Strand hotel. This hotel, developed by the same brothers who built the famous Raffles hotel in Singapore, was a fancy getaway back in the day with the British colonizers occupied Burma, including the likes of George Orwell and Rudyard Kipling. It was left for ruin during the military junta but has since been renovated and is again one of the fancier accommodations in this city. If you can’t afford the rooms, at least check out the Friday night happy hour where drinks are half off!
The next few days we continued seeing the many sights of this city, opting to use the local bus as our means of transport as it was fairly easy to get around and nice and cheap. The bus driver from our first ride saw us one day and remembering us, shouted a greeting.
pagodas
Yes, even after all this we are still visiting pagodas. Despite the pagoda numbness, we picked a few more to check out.
Shwedegon Paya. One of the most sacred sites for Buddhist pilgrims in Burma, also of the biggest, sits on a hill in the western part of the city. The temple top, known as a zedi, is decorated with 27 metric tons of gold leaf, 4,531 diamonds, and various gems, with 8 of Buddha’s hairs apparently enshrined inside.
We visited the pagoda early in the a.m. as the sun was rising. We walked through the north entrance past vendors selling trinkets, flowers, and strings of jasmine used as offerings at the temple.
Once inside, we circled the temple a couple of times as the activities of the devout made for some fascinating observations. Monks doing morning chants were sitting around reflecting on the large structure, locals were paying their praying at their respective planetary posts (in Buddhism, there are stations for each day of the week and one is to pray at the station representing their birth day). There were a few processions of young boys surrounded by their families as is the standard send off to monk school, as well as a group of young girl nuns reciting chants.
Additionally, people packaging bags of rice were handing them out to passersby – K ended up on the receiving end of a very jolly man who handed her a bag exclaiming “Free! Welcome!” We later found a monk to give it to who carried it off happily.
Chaukhtatgyi Paya. Inside sits a large reclining Buddha. This giant, horizontally prone Buddha isn’t in the prettiest setting as it’s roofed by a gaudy metallic structure, but Buddha himself is impressive, spanning 215 feet (65m).
Ngantatgyi Paya. One of the largest sitting Buddhas in Myanmar, he is surrounded by intricate woodwork in a tall, dark temple. We weren’t sure we’d come across the right place but when a temple caretaker saw us wandering around he warmly welcomed us in. As did the 46-foot tall structure seated inside.
museums
Aung San Museum. This large, traditional-style house framed with teak balconies and pillars was the home to Aung San and his young family. They only lived here 2 years in the late 1940s before he was assassinated, but his family stayed here another 5 years before moving to another house on the edge of Inya lake. The Inya Lake residence is where Aung San Suu Kyi’s political future began, having come back here in the late 80’s to care for her then dying mother. It eventually became her prison while serving out her political house arrest, enforced by the military junta from the late 80s to 2010.
Aung San’s last residence
National Museum. This contained artifacts from ancient tribes up to current times, traditional musical instruments and marionettes. Some of the rooms with more valuable items had A/C – a nice reprieve – so we became much more interested in reading all about the gold jewelry dating back several centuries.
And now, it’s time for our exit of Myanmar. From locals wanting a 10-minute photo session with us, to K being handed a baby (we’re still not sure if we were supposed to take him with us) we felt very welcomed during our time here.
Given the country’s recent history, people are still struggling to make ends meet but don’t hesitate to give passersby a warm Mingalaba! with a smile on their faces. It was nice being in a place not overrun by cellphones and electronics and observing the slow pace of life when things are done by hand such as farming, the wash, and home cooked meals. This country has been a highlight on our SEA portion of our trip.
More Yangon snapshots here.
I loved the pictures. Your comments are educational. I am learning about places I did not know.
yay! glad you’re enjoying our adventure 🙂
I like the picture and your description of Yangon. You make we want to visit there some day. But no nine hour bus rides without a bathroom for me. I like the sound of the Strand!
tell us when, we want to go back. missed checking out the Aung San Suu Kyi house so that’s still on our list.