Burma Part I : Arrival and Yangon

So I’m off on my travels again, back to cover another country in Asia, this time Burma or as it’s currently and officially known – Myanmar. I’m going to call it Burma though. I’m flying direct to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific, who just recently started flying out of Dublin and from there it’s just over three hours to Yangon which used to be the capital but is now called the second capital (the official being Naypyidaw).

By way of introduction and general orientation…. Burma is in Southeast Asia and borders India and Bangladesh in the West, China in the North and Thailand and Laos in the East. Since 1989 It’s official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar but it is still called Burma by many people around the world and in the country itself and even by some other countries. It has had, and continues to have a lot of political instability. Currently there is a democratic government in place (hooray!).

So I arrive in Hong Kong and Suzanne has arrived from California and is waiting at the gate. We have a long layover and try to stay busy, and warm (although it’s about 25 degrees outside the airport is freezing!) by walking around the airport, finding a place to nap and of course eating. My two weeks of Asian cuisine gets off to a good start with a nice bowl of Ramen. Finally it’s time for the 3+ hour flight to Burma.

After the cold of the airport in HK the heat hits as soon as the plane lands in Yangon. We get through immigration which is easy and manned by very pleasant females. It’s about a thirty minute journey to the hotel and we arrive just in time for our welcome meeting. But there seems to be a problem… the lady at the reception desk has no booking for me. She has a list of nine people on the Intrepid “Cycle Myanmar” trip including Suzanne but not me! The guide appears to sort it out but even he has no record of me being on this trip… oh dear, this doesn’t bode well. Anyway we get on with meeting the rest of the group and our guide – Naing (pronounced like nigh) puts a call in to the Intrepid office to figure out what’s happened and hopefully book me into all the hotels and flights for the coming days, oh yeah and get me a bike!!!

So we are a group of ten (now that I’m here!) plus the guide. We have a couple from Canada, a couple from Austria, two ladies from Germany, a guy from Germany, and a lady from London. Everyone seems very nice and it doesn’t appear to be a group of hardcore professional cyclists (phew!), although I’m sure there’s a few among us! After the meeting and getting checked into our room (thankfully there was space for me), we head to a restaurant for some dinner. It’s a Thai restaurant and I order a spicy pork dish which is really tasty and really spicey. The Myanmar beer helps wash it down.

I’m absolutely shattered by the time we get back to the hotel and I fall into bed in need of sleep.

Day 2 : Arrival day is considered day one of our thirteen day cycle tour so we wake this morning ready to get started and see the city. We meet at 8am for a walking tour which takes us around the streets not far from our hotel. We see street vendors and stop to see a lady preparing betel nut to sell. This is the horrible red stuff that most local men chew. We saw a lot of people eat it in Bhutan and it seems to be as popular here. Those who chew it spit a lot which leaves red marks all over the ground… yuck! They also sell cigarettes very cheaply at these stalls, even single ones and there’s no legal age to buy (I feel a national campaign coming on!!!). The lady at the stall is lovely and she demonstrates how she makes the betel nut. She’s wearing a powder on her face that’s very popular here – it’s called thanakha and it’s both for beauty and sun protection.

We walk further and see lots of colonial buildings built by the British when they ruled here from 1824 to 1948.

We walk through the street market which is fascinating and see all different types of fruit and vegetables being sold.

Not sure I’d buy my chicken or fish from here… in the heat with flies landing on it.. no thanks!

Walking through the market there are children in monks robes and Ni tells us that sometimes these kids looking for money are fake monks. They don’t hassle us at all and they seem to be looked after by the locals but it seems funny that they might be “fake” monks. We see a lot of dilapidated buildings housing most of the inner city population, this was by no means the worst we saw:

We visit Mahabandula garden which is a memorial square with a monument at its centre:

From here we can see City Hall and the High Court.

We also pass Sule pagoda which is across the street from a mosque and our guide tells us how so many different religions live in peace together in Burma. Not quite the story we’re learning about of late.

We have a quick stop at St Mary’s cathedral which has unusual colors inside and some really stained glass windows.

The tour ends and we are left to our own devices for the middle part of the day. There is so much to see in this city so we don’t hang around… I have a list of pagodas and Buddha’s that I’d like to see – we won’t get to them all so we pick the top two, negotiate a taxi and we’re on our way.

The first pagoda is called Kyauk Htat Gyi and has a huge reclining Buddha. Alas the Buddha is currently being “touched up” so he’s covered in scaffolding but it’s really cool to see:

The huge hall which is actually a giant tin shed has lots of other interesting statues and around the big Buddha there are forty small Buddha statues showing various mudras. [you might remember, although I doubt it, from the Bhutan trip that a mudra is the hand position of the buddha].

There’s a golden carriage (called a conveyor train) that we see glide across a line to an opening in the Buddha which we believe is for large donations made.. very bizarre looking!

There’s a number of other interesting statues around the place, presumably of famous monks but there’s not much English to tell us about them. Around the walls are the story of Guatum Buddha – the first Buddha. They’re beautifully painted and illustrated.

Next we visit Nga Htat Gyi pagoda where there is a large seated Buddha. It’s just up the street but we have to cross a busy road which is no mean feat but we manage it and we’re delighted with ourselves as this Buddha is beautiful.

On our way out a monk greets us and tells us we should take a look at an old monastery at the back of the pagoda. As we start to walk with him another old man joins us who has good English and starts to tell us some history of the place. There’s no one else around and they are guiding us up a back street with derelict looking buildings and I get a little uncomfortable thinking maybe this is where we get kidnapped or murdered, or maybe just robbed. I look to Suzanne, who doesn’t look too concerned, and mention that if things turn ugly I could definitely take the old guy!!! As it turns out, they really do just want to show a couple of foreigners the old monastery and grounds around the pagoda so they can get a small donation from us. There’s very little crime here and I don’t think there’s any risk of us being led up a dark alley to be murdered or robbed, the worst that can happen is to be asked for some money and honestly it feels like good karma to handover a few dollars which is literally all they’re looking for.

After that adventure we get back to the hotel for a short rest before meeting up with the rest of the group for the afternoon part of our tour. We start with a visit to Kandawgyi lake. Here we see the replica of the floating Karaweik palace which was built in the 70’s and resembles royal barges that the kings of Burma used to travel on the Ayayerwady river.

Next is the big draw… the shwedagon pagoda – this is on lots of “must see” lists and is being considered as a UNESCO world heritage site but hasn’t yet made it which I find hard to believe. It is insanely impressive and definitely the best complex of temples and Buddha’s I’ve ever seen. I’m thrilled. We walk around checking the various temples and admiring lots of Buddha statues.

There is a “corner” for each day of the week and a tradition of pouring water on the statue for the day of the week you were born. While pouring the water you are supposed to make a wish.

Unfortunately we happen to be here when the main pagoda is being cleaned. It only happens every five years so we are a little unlucky. It’s gold gilded and studded with diamonds and gems but today it’s covered in bamboo scaffolding. It is said to hold eight hairs of Buddha and that there is a secret entrance that has been blocked up for years.

We stay at the complex until the sun sets and it is even more beautiful in this light.

It’s hard to walk away from this beautiful site and I continue to take photos until the last possible chance. I would love to return here and spend more time walking around as it’s so big you couldn’t possibly see it all in the hour and a half that we spent. But for now it’s goodbye and on to dinner.

Ni takes us to an outdoor local restaurant where we are the only tourists. The food is a mixture of Thai, Chinese and Burmese. I go for another spicey dish called kanchin which is from northern Burma and it’s very tasty. On the way back to the hotel he breaks the news that we have a very early start tomorrow morning which will mean a 4:30 wake up call so it’s straight to bed for us!