Hello

Yangon (Rangoon), Myanmar
March 10, 2009

People (mostly children) say "hello" to us everywhere we go. White tourists are definitely a novelty.

We were up late today because I did not sleep well. Bill sorted through our US money for rips and writing and set aside a lot of it. We are going to have to get a cash advance to get a hold of some newer currency. At the front desk we were directed to Sedona Hotel, but due to the Full Moon holiday, they are closed today. This posed a problem because we were planning on flying to Mandalay tomorrow morning and can only book a flight with cash.

Again, we walked around forever in the blazing sun. We are starting to get smarter and choose the most shaded side of the street. After taking a minor detour we found the Feel Myanmar Restaurant that the book suggested. It was near several embassies, so we think it should be good. The neat thing is that it is buffet and we can sample Myanmar cuisine.

We selected several dishes - curry beef, chicken, pork, creamed corn, eggplant and beef satays. It came with vegetarian soup and rice. It was all very good. Bill likes the food here better than Bangkok. He washed his lunch down with 2 beers that were equivalent to 3 pints. We also polished off 2 large bottles of water. After lunch they brought us a dessert that looked like soup. It was a cold coconut broth with green noodles and shredded coconut. I had a mug of green tea with it. It was all very good and only cost $12.

We had a nice long break there and planned our trip to Mandalay. We are going to stay an extra day in Yangon, get money tomorrow, catch up on the internet and take the overnight bus to Mandalay instead of a flight.

We walked around Shwedagon Paya on our way to the 2 Payas we did not see yesterday. We were lost again, so we took a cab. The cab driver took us to Traders Hotel instead. The staff there explained to him where we wanted to go. Thankfully we took a cab, as it was really far and we would have had a hard time finding the entrance (up a hill behind the street).

At Chaukhtatgyi Paya there is a shed that covers a giant reclining Buddha. The Buddha was 58 feet high and 216 feet long. The Buddha is white with a gold robe. On the forehead is a diamond, where wisdom comes out, and the beautiful glass eyes are made of glass (from China). We had a helpful gentleman show us around the Paya (for a small donation).

Across the street was Ngahtatgyi Paya. We went to see the large seated Buddha there. At the top of the stairs before entering the Paya several children greeted us and we took several pictures of them. They were thrilled. When we paid our entrance I wrote my name and country down on a receipt (as we have done before, wonder where this info goes?).

The Paya is fairly plain, the seated Buddha is very large and beautiful. There are a few other Buddha statues, but no other separate buildings. It is a quieter, smaller Paya. We did see 5 small female monks praying to one Buddhas. They are so cute!

We took a cab back to our inn. Again, this driver got lost too. But, we made it all in one piece.

I had a short nap and we headed to the internet cafe for a while before we went to bed. As we were going to sleep the kids above us were running around and I could hear another noise. Bill tried to convince me it was the kids, but I thought it was a mouse or rat. Since our room did not get cleaned today and I did not hear anything last night when I was awake, I convinced myself it must be a noise outside our room. The next day while packing we found mice poop on the table in our room. EWW!