MyanMARVELOUS - Day 1 in Yangon

This past weekend we went on our last Southeast Asian adventure (for awhile, anyway), traveling to the final country we'd yet to visit in the region*: Myanmar (Burma)
*Not counting East Timor, we've hit every country in Southeast Asia!

We flew in Saturday night, following a brief stay in Kuala Lumpur, where Jacob performed a Baroque concert - but that is for another blog.

Our entrance to Myanmar could not have been more pleasant - we were sped through immigration by some giggling immigration officers (having already obtained visas in Singapore), found it quick and simple to exchange our US dollars (also obtained in Singapore) for Myanmar Kyat ("chyat"), and before we even cleared customs, a lady came up to us with our names on a sign and ushered us through, procured us a map, and connected us to our hotel taxi. It was a traveller's dream! We arrived at our cozy, clean downtown hotel - Beautyland Hotel II - and had a late dinner at Sky Bistro, overlooking the city. The city pretty much shuts down at 9:30pm though, so we called it an early night.

We started our Sunday with a relaxed hotel breakfast, then set of following Lonely Planet's walking tour of downtown. I'd recommend starting before 10am, as by then it was already crazy hot - definitely over 100 degrees. We first came upon Sule Paya, in the middle of the main downtown traffic circle. We were soon to learn that these golden payas are ubiquitous in the region.

Myanmar was colonized by the British and Portuguese, though Christianity never took hold - 90% of the population are Buddhist. Colonial architecture remains, and many building are being restored following the darker, closed-off years in Myanmar's history.
Jacob had his fortune read by a street-side palmistry expert (or so we believe) - we learned some useful stuff. Jacob is apparently going to be "so rich, so rich" and is going to have great luck this coming year. He'll have bad luck when he is 36 and 47, he is very intelligent but sometimes hotheaded, we're going to have two children, he's going to live past 90, and his good luck colors are yellow, green and black (red and blue are bad luck). Also, he is apparently getting married next year...what does THAT mean, Jacob?!

We stopped in for air-conditioning and iced coffees at the famous Strand Hotel, then checked out the ferry dock. We were approached by many kids, between 8-13, offering to sell us postcards and act as tour guides. Their English was very impressive, and though they were clearly following a script (Where are you from? USA? Obama!! Obama came here!), they also seemed able to understand and answer our questions on the fly - definitely some entrepreneurs, though it'd be better if they were in school. 8-year-olds should not have to be selling postcards and cigarettes.

While the city feels much more modern than I was expecting, you get the sense that it has changed rapidly and we saw many instances of traditional rural life mixed in with the modernity. Take, for instance, this CHICKEN BIKE! Kind of creepy and gross, no? I should mention that these chickens are all alive. For reals.

Chewing betel nuts and tobacco are popular among both men and women - as evidenced by the many splashes of red spit all over the ground. We saw many stalls like this one, where these practically gourmet packets were constructed. First, the guy would wash a bunch of leaves (in really filthy water, I might add), then he'd paint each one with a thin white liquid (edible glue?) then sprinkle them with tobacco, betel nuts, and several other ingredients we couldn't identify, including a green syrup (menthol?), before scrunching the whole thing into a packet. We watched this guy for awhile and then, to our surprise, he handed us two packets and insisted we try them (for free) - well, we couldn't say no to such generosity (even though I wanted to) so we popped them in. It was interesting. I spat mine out as soon as we were out of sight, but Jacob gave it a bit longer. Not a habit we'll be picking up though - betel nuts have the tendency to turn your teeth red and rotten - we saw plenty of evidence, unfortunately.

 The city is incredibly colorful, between the umbrellas (shade is essential), payas, and the beautiful clothing. About half the men still wear traditional sarongs wrapped into skirts, though tied differently from the women's sarongs. Diversity was also evident - we saws Buddhist payas, Hindu temples, Methodist churches and even a synagogue. There were also monks - everywhere! 




Unlike in Thailand and Laos, where monks tend to wear more orange and saffron colored robes, here monks wore robes that were either rust colored or, surprisingly, bubble gum pink! Many of them were out during the day, going from store to store chanting and collecting alms of rice and money.

After several hot hours, we ate and then made our way back to the hotel for a nap before catching a cab to the Shwedagon Pagoda, the HUGE paya that is the pride of Yangon. We spent a couple hours walking barefoot around the massive compound and people-watching as the sun set. And taking loads of pictures.

One of four grand entryways - lined with shops selling offerings and other trinkets.

Several times an hour we saw the Sweepers -
crew of men and women circling the paya with brooms,
brushing away the dust of a thousand bare feet.
We weren't sure if they were employees or worshippers -
probably a mix of both.

These women were singing a long chanting worship song. Look closely and you'll see that almost all of them have what looks like yellow face paint on their cheeks. Most children and adult women apply this powder, made from ground Thanka tree, which functions as sunscreen, perfume, and a cosmetic. It was really quite beautiful, and made everyone seem exotic. Also, note the monk using the video camera - based on his orange robes, I'm guessing he was as much a tourist as we were!

Worship.

Colorful offerings.

Sunset.

No wonder it is called the Golden Land!

Now I'm just playing with the camera...

We ended our day by first attempting to walk - and then catching a cab - to Feel Myanmar Food (Lonely Planet find), which offered up some excellent dishes - and some delicious Myanmar beer. We were a bit apprehensive about the food aspect of Myanmar, and after walking through some of the street markets, we really questioned some of the food safety. However, we were pleasantly surprised and not only did we not have a bad meal - we didn't get sick at all!

I was going to cover two days in this blog, but I've already babbled a lot, so I'll save the copious pictures from our day trip to Bago for the next one!