Lost in Yangon

 

 

Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar remains the main entree point for visitors.  A few quirks of the city one quickly notices, or subtly notices after a few hours stay in the city. First the glaringly obvious. The driving is all right handed side, and all roads are oriented in this configuration. However the majority of vehicles are second hand Japanese vehicle, or from neighboring Thailand, which are set up to drive on left handed oriented roads. This is also true of the city buses. A few of the busier parts of town have special islands for the bus passengers to exit from the bus without fear of being run over by drivers attempting to bypass the bus. Another quirk to those familiar with travel to most other large cities in South East Asia, the lack of motor bikes on the roads. This may change if it hasn’t already, but this was because they were long ago banned by the junta from the roads in Yangon. This can be a little unsettling but is also welcome in its own ways as one quickly tires of dodging motor bikes on the soi of Bangkok or Phnom Pehn.

The first stop on this tour was the reclining Buddha at Chukhtatgyi Paya, along Shwe Gone Daing Street. The reclining image of the Buddha is one of the largest in Myanmar, but is not as ancient as some of the other attractions, having been founded in 1907. The image though is much later, having been rebuilt in 1973, after having been demolished in the 1950’s. Apparently the original Buddha had some flaws, the tour guide was a little vague and pressing for more details only led to some further confusion. The image is 66 meters in length and is housed in a metal roofed framed enclosure. Not the most inviting environment, and perhaps a proper protective cover will cover it one day. The site was a little too modern for my personal aesthetics but I enjoyed the stop.

The next stop, which was to tour the complex, my second visit the next day was to pay pilgrimage to the site once I had some bearings to follow was the Shwedagon Pagoda. I am being facetious when I say you can’t miss it. It is literally the tallest pagoda in Yangon, and perhaps Myanmar. It is the national treasure of Myanmar and was also why I felt it needed more than one trip. English speaking guides can be hired on site, but I learned later there is an attempt to push out these guides as they often approach you to show you around and demand a tip afterwards. I was prepared for this and didn’t mind, but perhaps it was my questions of veneration and Burmese customs with the Buddha which thankfully were not much different from Thai practices that got me a reduced fee.

The pagoda is a towering 99 meters in height, and has a colored history. The first pagoda build on the site was likely first constructed by the Mon Kingdom which controlled the area sometime between the 6th and 10th centuries. This pagoda fell into disrepair and was rebuilt by King Binnya U, raising the stupa to a height of 18 meters in the 14th century. Sometime between 1453-1472, Queen Binnya Thau had the stupa further heightened to 40 meters during her restoration, which also brought the terraced hill to take the approximate shape we see today. The stupa took on its current height after an earthquake in 1768 toppled a portion of it. King Hsinbyushin of the Konbaung dynasty restored the great stupa, which brought it to its current Height. In 1871, Mindon Min, one of the last kings of Burma  donated a new diamond studded crown umbrella which was the last major addition to the stupa structure. A few other major restoration works have been done, but have not altered the shape of the pagoda.

On both of my visits there was a light rain, which while welcome in beating off the heat of the day, made exploring the pagoda grounds a little treacherous as my clumsy western feet haven’t mastered walking on wet marble. I should have mentioned that to explore the upper terrace of the pagoda you must remove your shoes. This is something I am well accustomed to, but for the British this was a pretext for a war which invaded the southern half of Burma until the final conquest by the British in 1885.Naturally it was more complex than that but it is now known to us as the boot incident. The volunteers were out that morning making their merit by sweeping away the dust and detritus, and my volunteer guide explained the other merit making activities of Buddhism, and helped me sit in the proper Burmese form, which for men was not dissimilar to Japanese style sitting, and definitely not Thai style which my hips welcomed.

The one detraction, and really this is my complaint for most of the pagodas in Yangon, is the addition of lights behind the Buddha or other figures of the Buddhist cosmology. It I felt it diminished its aura with the gaudiness it brought. It also reminded me of many Catholic shrines with the same tacky gaudy imagery from the highlighted halo or Christmas lights adorning the images. There is a lot of history tucked away into the Shwedagon pagoda, and I was pleased that I had decided to make sure I got as much time into exploring what I could and even now, I realize I missed a few things. The rain prevented me from pulling out my list of what I would like to have seen that day. At the worst I know have a reason to make another trip there someday.

Next stop was Chinatown and the Bogyoke Aung San Market, which pretty much used up the rest of the day. We did get to do some night activities though, more on that later. If you missed your opportunity to get the lacquer ware from elsewhere you are in luck. the catch is now you will have to pay a lot more for it. Hope your haggling skills are up for the challenge. First off you should toss out the notion of local price. You will never achieve parity with the local rate, but hats off to you if you get it down to within 5000 Kyat. Actually if that is where you are happy with it you won’t be too disappointed, unless this was the cheap stuff to begin with. Sandalwood carvings are also available here in abundance and good for acquiring some additional Burmese themed kitsch for the home. As the government opens up, and more upscale shopping malls are built the higher end stuff available at Aung San market will likely diminish, though it will likely remain a good area for purchasing traditional hand crafted goods and lacquer ware.

Night life in the city is somewhat subdued by the standards of Bangkok, or Saigon. Thankfully my days of night clubs and dancing is well behind me. Our night started with the bar at our hotel, the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel. I am truly a peasant and the opulence of the Kandawgyi was sensually overwhelming for me. I am used to a cot and shower, however my friend was much more comfortable traveling in comfort and suggested we might as well up grade as we were making a once and a lifetime trip. The hotel sits along the Kandawgyi  Lake and is a luxury business class hotel. If you want splendor and then this might be your first choice.I am sure that there are nicer hotels in the world, however as his was one of my first experience with opulence I did appreciate the decor of the place. The bar was nice, set in the main gathering area past the bag boys, clean and had a staff fluent in English. The decor was a mix of tradition and English. Plenty of wood paneling with traditional motifs and teak carvings. The eaves all had the naga pattern decoration made familiar with my other experiences in South East Asia. The prices were what one would expect with a clientele who were there for government or business, but were not out of line with what I would expect back home. After a few gin and tonics we headed out to the Strand Hotel. Before leaving I made it a point to grab the hotel card, a handy tip I learned the hard way in Thailand.

Our taxi driver arrived, and the contrast from the opulence of our hotel to the realities of the general population were laid bare. Now, up to this point we have had a hired mini van, but we decided to head out into the night via taxi. The Taxi, a rescued 1980’s vintage Japanese car, with the sticky smell of fuel-oil, betel nut, and a thousand sweaty bodies which was of otherwise solid build, and took us to our destination. Our driver generously offered to take us some place with some female entertainment which we politely declined. I would live to avoid being found in a gutter in some Yangon slum with my vital organs removed thank you very much, and i am sure my travel companion was in agreement. Funny how this has really stuck in my mind.

Our destination, the Strand Hotel had a nice bar, and foods catering to the expat crowd. I have to admit to be wildly disappointed with most of the Burmese food I ate. Not that it tasted bad, the taste was fine, but wasn’t making me excited to try more, and I try to have a wide sampling before i condemn a cultures food. Most of what I had was oily and dark. Very little in the way of any spice even when I attempted to seek out spice, I was told it wasn’t spicy. perhaps they were catering to the western visitor, but I made it abundantly clear that I was wanting it to be very spicy. So having a burger was at least welcoming but inwardly I was disappointed in myself. I guess this worked out best for my travel buddy as he wasn’t as adventurous with food as I was. The Stand Hotel had an old colonial feel to it. from its Victorian/Edwardian era architecture to its interior chandeliers  and ceiling fans. The walls were covered in an English themed wall paper, and dark wood finish on the corners and paneling. Aside from the tab being paid in Kyat, there was little to remind one that we were in Yangon. And it is this thought that I left the place, how otherworldly and cloistered the expats were to have built this watering hole.

I will attempt to add more, mostly a walk of the old town, but my memory may need some refreshing of the events.