Blazing New Trails

Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar
March 09, 2009

We woke up REALLY early today - 3:45. We were ready to go and in a cab by 4:35. We checked in with Air Asia and shared a bagel with bacon, egg and cheese. We were able to jump on the internet for 10 mins on the 2nd floor at CAT.

After we checked in we boarded a bus that took us to our plane. Bill and I both had window seats, so we had a nice view of the city as we departed. We were even able to pick out our favourite park - Pee Pee Park, from the sky. Shortly thereafter, we were able to see some mountains and then I took a nap 

The flight should have been less than an hour, but due to fog, we circled for more than an hour. I was awakened when we were hundreds of meters from the ground and our pilot pulled up and circled one more time. I was awake after that! We finally landed, an hour or more, late.

It is going to be between 32 and 37 degrees and sunny in Yangon all week. It does cool down at night into the 20's, so that is good.

I was getting hungry and decided to grab a bun with chicken at the airport. I did not have the local currency yet, so I tried to use some US singles. The cashier carefully scrutinized the money and even gave some back to me. This may become a problem for us. I became even more alarmed when the kid who helped put our bags in the trunk of the cab pulled a face and said "dirty money" when I gave him a $1 USD 

Mr Zew hooked us up with a cab and was trying to sell us his travel services on the way to our hotel. It would have cost us $850 CDN to have a car and driver for the places we want to go in Myanmar. We pulled up to the location of the hotel we selected - Haven Inn and Mr Zew pointed to a gutted building that is being renovated. He said that our hotel is not open and tried to direct us to another hotel. Bill selected another one from our book and we were reluctantly taken there. Mr Zew was not pleased that we are not going to use his travel service, but went on his way.

We stayed at the Ocean Pearl Inn. There is no ocean near by and it is not a pearl, but what can you expect for $15? Our room was relatively clean, has a/c and a private bath. We had to look past the mould though....

We walked to the downtown area and chose a restaurant for lunch . Bill loved the garlic and black pepper pork.

We toured the temple (Paya) that was downtown, Sule Paya. Girls and ladies were trying to sell us sparrows (you release them for luck) and a man was trying to sell us postcards. Entrance for foreigners was $4 USD. The girls at the entrance watched our shoes for a donation.

This golden Paya is 2000 years old. The Zedi (same as a Thai Chedi) contains the hair of the Buddha. The chedi is 46 meters high and is surrounded by small buildings along the perimeter. It appears that this Paya is a place to pray, socialize or nap. We saw lots of monks in the Paya, both male and female.

We began walking to two other Payas that the book had recommended. There are lots of people in the street selling goods and food. The men here wear skirts instead of pants (longyi). They are formed like a sleeping bag without a bottom. They step into them, bring the outer folds in and tie them at the waist. They do not wear them for religious reasons, they simply wear them because it is cooler. I think that they should try shorts instead. The women and children have white or gold paint on their faces (mainly their cheeks) for sunscreen.

We walked on the boardwalk over the natural lake through Kandawgyi park (for a fee of $4 USD). It would seem that a boardwalk would be cooler, but it was not. The dark wood was holding in the heat. We have decided that the parks are a place for young couples to meet. At the end of the lake there was a floating shrine on giant swans - Shin Upagot Shrine.

We took a break after the park at Romantic Restaurant. I did not find the ants on the table very romantic, but our fried rice was pretty good and it was nice to get out of the sun. We were both getting burns today. The staff was nicely dressed in white shirts, black pants and bow ties. While we were there I noticed that I was getting a heat rash on my arm.

On the other side of the park I had a hard time navigating us to the Payas. There are street names on the map, but not on the streets in all cases. So, we ended up at the enormous Paya - Shwedagon. It is very beautiful and takes up a large amount of real estate. It is believed to be 2500 years old (others argue it was built between the 6th and 10th centuries). This is the one place that all people aspire to come to at least once in their lives. It was particularly busy because tomorrow is the festival of the full moon. There were monks and families everywhere.

Unfortunately, due to a recent cyclone, the Zedi was under construction and had bamboo scaffolding around it. Before we entered, we had to remove our shoes and socks and I had to put on my new sarong.

We saw several Buddhas, including a small reclining Buddha when a young man and a monk approached us. The man had recently left the monkhood to teach English and was visiting his friend, the monk. He showed us the Friday statue (Bill and I were both born on Friday) where we made a wish and had to pour water three times over the guinea pig (our animal), poured water 7 times over Buddha and 9 times over a female goddess.

Next we saw Buddha's footprint and had to pour water over the statue 9 times and make a wish for family. Then we touched our head three times - Buddha, dharma and his teachings.

Bill had a second group of girls following him by this point. He took their picture and then showed it to them. They are so delighted. The smiles and giggles are priceless!

Our guide bought two roses for us to present to the demon statue. This time we had to make a wish for a family need.

We also saw some Buddhas that were made out of teak wood and adorned with jewels. We also saw many smaller shrines that were places for prayer and meditation.

We saw the procession of monks. People follow behind them with large grain sacs to accept donations from the people gathered.

We thanked our guide and the monk and gave the monk a donation for buying a new robe.

We bought some peanuts from a vendor on our way back to the inn. It was much cooler now that the sun was going down. Lights were going out and generators were coming on.

We were not sure if our power was going to go out that night, so we made sure that the room was cool - no windows to open. Unfortunately it was so cool, that I did not sleep well and the power stayed on all night.