Markets, Buddha and Pagodas in Yangon, Myanmar

For years I have wanted to visit the faraway land of Myanmar. The borders opened in 2011 and tourism has grown little by little.  We checked off another country of my long bucket list when we landed in Yangon, Myanmar. Our guide, Zaw Zaw greeted us with a smile and took us to our hotel. For 9 days we are on a private tour. Yes, it’s a bit over our budget but not knowing what to expect we opted for a guide and driver. It was worth every penny!

We have seen so much and learned so many things about Myanmar culture. Here are some of the highlights from the first of the three cities we visited, Yangon.

The first thing we picked up on was that Myanmar is pronounced by the local people as Me-a-mar. They do not want to be referred to as Burma as that is the name the military used as well as the British that occupied their country. Now that they are “free” they only refer to the country as Myanmar. They are very proud to no longer be under military rule.

People are selling food everywhere; on the streets, in the trains, in markets big and small. Basically anywhere they can find a place, they just set up and start selling. Many sidewalks have makeshift restaurants that are set up every day.

The very first pagoda we went to in Myanmar is one of the most famous. Shwedagon Pagoda is thought to be 2,600 years old making it the oldest in the world but no official documentation can prove that. Most Buddhists from Myanmar will make a pilgrimage to Yangon at least once in their life to visit this pagoda. The main building is completely covered in 24k gold leaf. The top umbrella is decorated with over 7,000  diamonds, rubies, topaz and sapphires.

A short distance from Shwedagon Pagoda is Chaukhtatgyi or the Reclining Buddha Temple. It houses the one of the largest Buddha images in all of Myanmar. From head to toe is measures 66 meters long (217 feet).

 

 

 

 

Karaweik Hall Barge is a restaurant built to resemble a royal barge. It is floating on Kandawgui Lake. It is quite famous and offers nightly cultural shows with a dinner buffet. We did not partake but went to see this awesome structure. Many logos and signs in the country have a depiction of this “Royal Barge” on them, including Myanmar Beer.

Our visit to Yangon ended with an 18-hour overnight train ride to Bagan that left the station at 4:00pm. The train has three classes; Ordinary class, Second class and First Class with sleeper beds. None of the seats offered air conditioning. Our first class ticket cost approximately $13 per person. The train had one car for first class with three cabins. Each cabin was split into two sides with a private “toilet” for four people. We shared our cabin with a Myanmar couple that spoke very little English but we quite nice. The bottom was split into two chairs with a flip up table in the middle. The chairs pull out into a bed at night. The top had a bunk bed as well. A clean sheet, pillow and blanket were offered.

While the facilities were minimal (a tin can with a hole exposed to the tracks) and the dust was fierce,  we really enjoyed the experience. We were able to see the country side and how people live outside the city. As you can imagine the people have very little money and live in palm leaf huts. Many of the country people are farmers growing corn, rice and peanuts. Each town we went through the people lined the sides of the train waving at the passengers.

Our train arrived in Bagan just before 11:00am. We were greeted again by our guide, Oo. After short dusty and bumpy ride we arrived at our hotel.

Our next post will be of Bagan. A beautiful place that dreams really are made of.