For a map of my travels, click here.
I arrived in Yangon expecting a run-down airport and unsmiling government officials eying me suspiciously. What I encountered was a modern (3 years old) terminal, and friendly, smiling people at immigration and customs. So much for stereotypes.
At every city on my tour, after I collect my luggage (which I did not have, since it never showed up in Bangkok) and go through customs, there should be someone in the waiting area with a piece of paper with my name on it. My streak of luck continued, as I saw my name and met my guide. He took me to our car, which was a 1985 Toyota Camry. I soon discovered that all cars in Myanmar are 1985 Camrys.
The airport is about 5 miles from the center of Yangon, and the outskirts of Yangon are fairly modern, if not particularly well maintained. Traffic is light compared to most cities of similar size (about 4 million).
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| Traffic in suburban Yangon |
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| Street scene on the outskirts of Yangon |
Eventually, we got to the center of town, which was mostly built by the British during the early 1900's and hasn't been touched much since then (sort of a far-east Havana, with slightly newer cars). Our first stop was the
Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue, which serves all 20 of the remaining Jews in Yangon (which is 20 more than I had been aware of).
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Inside Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue |
After that, we headed for the Traders Hotel, my home in Yangon. The hotel is fairly new and pretty much inhabited by UN officials and businessmen visiting Yangon. The hotel and my room were very nice, almost embarrassingly so--I wouldn't call it an authentic Yangon experience. The rack rate for the room was about $100, but the same room in a big American city would easily be $300-$400.
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| Sule Pagoda Boulevard--Traders Hotel on left |
After not unpacking my nonexistent luggage, I headed out to explore the streets of Yangon on my own, since the afternoon itinerary for the tour was "relax at your hotel". Not long after I left the hotel, I saw the following:
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| Fashion in Yangon |
Clearly a fashion statement, but I don't know what he was trying to say. Guess they need to update the history curriculum in their schools.
I went about a block from the hotel to explore a local neighborhood, and I encountered the real danger of traveling to Southeast Asia--you are much less likely to become a victim of crime than to break your ankle walking down (what passes for) a sidewalk.
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| It's easier to walk in the street |
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You literally can't walk on the sidewalks in Yangon without constantly looking down, which makes it kind of hard to sight-see. Nevertheless, I managed to get a few shots of housing for inner-city Yangonians (Yangonese?)
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| Typical housing in central Yangon |
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I eventually negotiated the sidewalks down to
Sule Pagoda, which was about 3-4 blocks from my hotel. Technically, it's a
stupa, not a pagoda, and it sits in the middle of a traffic circle in the center of the city.
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| Sule Pagoda |
I spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening wandering around central Yangon. Almost all of the commerce (and life) takes place in the streets, with people selling various things on the sidewalk. Most "restaurants" in central Yangon (and in most of the cities I went to) consisted of a woman with a burner and a wok, with a bunch of small plastic stools around her. There are very few restaurants in buildings in central Yangon.
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| Street commerce. |
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| The restaurant scene |
I wasn't quite ready for the "lady with a wok" experience for dinner, and the Trader's Hotel was charging outrageous (American) prices for dinner, so I went to a small restaurant (in a building) near the hotel, that my guide had recommended. I had "Hong Kong Crispy Fried Chicken" and 2 beers for $5 (or about 6,000 Myanmar Kyats). Not a bad deal.
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| On the menu at the Takafuji Restaurant |
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| In the restaurant--note the Britney Spears poster |
After dinner, I walked by the Sule Pagoda for another shot, and then retired to my room to investigate Burmese TV.
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| Sule Pagoda at night |
A few observations from my day:
- If the Myanmar government was restricting access to the internet and outside information, I wasn't aware of it. I had free wi-fi access both in my hotel and at the airport, and there were no web sites that I couldn't access. All of the usual international channels (CNN, BBC, ESPN) were available on the hotel TV.
- Aung San Suu Kyi was in evidence everywhere, on magazine covers and the occasional poster.
- Other than the fear of a broken ankle from bad sidewalks, I never felt in any danger in Yangon, and felt perfectly safe walking around at night.
- Not surprisingly, there were very few Americans in Yangon (or anywhere else in Southeast Asia).
Here are a few more shots from Day 1 in Yangon:
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| More architecture in suburban Yangon |
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| Local transportation |
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| More housing in central Yangon--note the satellite dishes |
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| My room at the Traders Hotel |
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| Classic transportation in Yangon |
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| Streetwalkers |
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| Myanmar High Court Building |
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| Street vendor in Yangon |
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| Likely copyright violation |
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| Bogyoke Aun San Road, with the main market on the left and my hotel in the distance on the right. |
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Coming up next--
Day 2 in Yangon
