Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Yangon, a lively city!

Besides our delightful circular train ride around Yangon we also did our share of walking which is the best way to see and feel a city...


Yangon is a chaotic city with very poor infrastructure as you can see by the state of the bridge, yet it has wide boulevards...

With lots of traffic even though the government has a system of strict importation of vehicles making them very expensive to own and operate. There is however an underground economy where there are many cars on the road which have no license to be there.


By far most people take very crowded buses...




One evening we walked from our guest house to one of the main squares in the city called Independence Square with a large monument recognizing Burma's independence from Britain in 1948.


It is surrounded by a large park filled with families on this warm night, these girls and their Mom were dressed for picture taking...


Beautiful fountains...


 There were a number of churches surrounding the Square as well...


 Here also you can see Colonial buildings left over from the British occupation which occurred after the Anglo-Burmese wars from 1824-1885. In 1886 Britain made Burma a province of India which changed the county a lot as the Bamars were excluded from most jobs causing political unrest against colonialism. 

City Hall


In this Square there has also been a lot of bloodshed as the Burmese people have fought for their freedom from their own government starting in the 1980s into 2007. After Independence there was a struggle for power and the military took over, creating a Socialist government and cutting off the country from the rest of the world. This has been very difficult on the economy of Burma and has a result it is a very poor county.

More recently Aung San Shu Kyi has been released from house arrest and her party, The National League for Democary won a 80% majority,however she has a very difficult task to return this country to prosperity. But everyone we talk to who can speak English, which are not many they tell us, " their eyes and ears were shut off" by the military government. They have great hope that freedom will come, as one of our drivers said...before I would not be able to talk with you as I would be put in jail! They have a lot of hope for their future and we wish them well with the journey. 

Also near this area is the Sule Pagoda which is being renovated and so covered in bamboo scaffolding, but still beautiful at night...


Yangon has a very lively street life both day and night...

This guy is making sugar cane juice by grinding the fibre from the cane and extracting the juice.

This is a very popular street dish called grandmother grandfather muffin and is made by frying quail's eggs and then putting them together in a muffin tin. It is eaten for breakfast as well as a night snack.

Even though it is somewhat of a grimy city there is still lots of color...

These ladies looked great in their colorful outfits...


The little pink nuns...


The street merchants...


Speaking of which, I lost the screw out of my glasses and needed a repair so I approached a man selling sunglasses and his wife got out her screwdrivers and fixed them for free! They would not take any payment.

Interesting side streets...


We also peaked into one of the most expensive hotels here, the Shangri-la, way too expensive for our budget this trip...



Just outside the City Center are beautiful man made lakes and gardens called The Peoples Park...


A family taking pictures and the little boy would not cooperate!


Around this lake were benches filled with young lovers...

On the other side of the park there is another large lake with a wooden walkway which was in such disrepair we thought we might fall through, though the views were lovely.


There was also quite a large, ornate boat...


This is also the area of the city to find the number one attraction the Shwedagon Pagoda that sits upon a hill and can be entered by one of four stairways, one of which can be used by foreigners.


The entrance to the stairway...



The pagoda is very large at 110 meters and very old being there for 2,500 years! It is the largest and most important Buddhist shrine in Myanmar. It is covered in many layers of gold leaf and the stupa on top is encrusted with jewels including a 72 carot diamond.


There complex is huge with many types of temples and Buddhas...



 
There were many places to pray...


One guy praying, one guy on his phone and the other guy smiling at me!

Different Buddhas...





Some details...




There were also stations where people were washing the smaller ones...

There were many families there...


Lots of cute kids...


These ladies were freshening up the flower offerings...


We were here a couple of hours as there was so much to see, we sat under shaded areas and watched as people went about their business. A very amazing place to visit!

Overall, we both enjoyed our first stop in Myanmar and look forward to the rest!



Sunday, February 21, 2016

Yangon, Myanmar...Riding the train

We are now in our fifth county, Myanmar arriving here from Bangkok on a short flight on our favourite low cost carrier, Air Asia. Interestingly enough they did not warn us about drugs, the death penalty or stealing the life vests on this flight!



We are planning to stay in this country for about two weeks and needed to fly into Yangon Airport as one of the few entry point for foreigners. We had applied for our visas online,printed them off in Bangkok and were good to go!

Yangon is the former capital city of Mynamar with a population of over 5 million people making it the largest and most important city in the country and we have two days to see some of the sights.

We are fortunate to be staying right in the middle of the city so can walk to most places. We are staying in a eight story apartment building with no elevator and we are on the eighth floor. They have encouraging signs on each level as we are puffing our way up...




The guest house is owned by a family and is well run and clean. On the outside it looks quite old, even though it was only built 30 years ago, however these eight story buildings are quite common in downtown Yangon as they provide inexpensive housing for the residents.



As we got in late we rested for awhile and then headed out to find something to eat and drink. We ended up at a large sidewalk place and ordered our first Mynamar refreshment...


A large bottle cost 1.50 and it was tasty! 

Our first order of business the next morning was finding the train station and buying our ticket to our next destination. After walking around in the heat we finally found it...

Don buying our tickets, 16 dollars for two for a very long train ride...


By this time the heat was getting to us so we found a coffee shop for a cold drink. It was fancy for here as well as expensive, so the majority of customers were foreigners.


Though we had a great conversation with a young university student who was very interested in our lives and wanted us to know about the hope of his people that the new government of Aung San Suu Kyi will be able to establish a democracy. Accordingly to him the new government will officially take office on April 1, 2016 but the country's constitution will not allow her to become President as she married a non Burmese. However for the people of Mynamar she is definitely seen as their leader, more about the politics in another post.



 And after all that talk we have a new Facebook friend!





We had heard about the Yangon Circular Train that goes 50 Kms around the city and to the outlying areas that serves as a major transportation vehicle for the local population, such that over 150,000 people ride it every day. So we thought it would be a good way to see some of the local way of life and we were glad we did as it was quite entertaining...

The car we hopped on was filled with flower sellers taking their product to market...


We sat on long benches on the sides and the middle floor was filled with things to buy and sell.

And as the train stopped more people arrived with other products...

This guy sold cigarettes as so many people smoke here!


This guy was rolling up leaves with lime, tobacco and betel nuts in them which many of the people chew. They turn to red liquid and then they spit it everywhere...



A lot of people had bags of plastics that I think may be headed for recycling which is good to see given the amount of garbage everywhere...


Also lots of vegetables...


There was time to eat...


And chat as this older lady was giving the younger one lots of advice!

 
And a time to sleep...



Many of the people had their faces coated with thanaka, a creamy paste made from wood bark. Myanmarese women have been using this for over 2000 years. Besides being used for cosmetic beauty it also has a cooling sensation and protection from sunburn.




A couple of more pictures of the beautiful people inside the train...




 
As the train travelled outside the city we saw lots of small farms. Rice is the largest crop produced here in Mynamar with farming being a big part of the economy. 





The station stops had lots to see as well...

People selling lots of produce...



The houses along the way ranged from very poor...

Here they are drying their clothes in the ground near the track.

To very grand, with high fences and razor wire...


The train was quite old and operating on a narrow gauge track which made for a slow and pleasurable journey...


It also made for great people watching...

This nun was counting her money...

 
This monk was studying...


And this one asking for money...


Children were playing...


These guys looked to be playing marbles, a game I haven't seen since I was a child...


These boys were on the train with their mother but had sold all their wares and got off at this station with their empty container...


Taking a rest...

Keeping the sun away...


Keeping busy, these people never stop working...


So many images of a wonderful afternoon in a simple and peaceful country!