World Travel with Bob: A Visit to Yangon, Myanmar -2016

Views of gleaming golden pagodas and intricate temples, learning about rural life along both the Ayeyarwaddy River and in developing urban centers, tasting new foods and becoming familiar with historical and cultural sites peaked our interest in a visit to Myanmar. Travelers to this part of the world will not be disappointed.

After about 20 hours of flying from San Francisco, we arrived in Yangon at 1am. Our schedule permitted us to have a two full days to tour Yangon before the start of our river boat cruise down the Ayeyarwaddy River. To help us navigate the streets and language differences, we engaged a tour guide and driver from Tour Mandalay. For my travel party of three, the daily cost of a full day of guide and driver assistance was about $80USD per person. Not inexpensive, but we were able to see much more with this assistance than we could have on our own. Plus, with a guide you are more able to pose both cultural and everyday life questions that cannot be easily answered by guidebooks.

Our Yangon homebase for three nights was the Sule Shangri-La Hotel, formerly Traders Hotel, This hotel is a five-star business hotel. Each morning, we started our day with a visit to the hotel buffet that served many Asian and western dishes. No reason for us to be hungry as we started our Yangon visit.

Our tour stops on the first day included the Botatuang Pagoda, overlooking the Yangon River; Strand Hotel and Post Office in the older downtown section; a walk along the wooden bridge in Kandawgyi Park; lunch at Padonmar Restaurant and a final stop at Shwedagon Pagoda. Our first pagoda visits were breathtaking. The towering golden stupas, gilted alters and many Buddha images quickly captured our attention and interest.

Shwedagon Pagoda easily dominates the skyline of Yangon. The gilded stupa rises 325 feet and can be seen from many city locations. This pagoda is said to be the most sacred Myanmar pagoda, containing the staff of Kakusandha Buddha, the water filter of Konagamana Buddha, a robe section of Kassapa Buddha and eight hair strands of Gautama Buddha.The base of the stupa is made from bricks and is covered with gold plates. The stupa crown is covered with diamonds and rubies. Atop the stupa is a 76 carat diamond.

A Terrific Curry Lunch at Padonmar Restaurant, Yangon
© 2016, R. Ono

Our second day tour focused on visiting Sule Pagoda, Independence Monument at Maha Bandula Park, Chauk Htat Gyi Temple, where the second largest reclining Buddha image in Yangon resides; the National Museum; a traditional Shan lunch at Shan Yoe Yar; and final stops at Bogyoke Aung San "Scott" Market and Yangon's Chinatown area. We capped our two full touring days with a dinner at Le Planteur, a restaurant along the banks of Inya Lake.

We took over 3,000 photographs during our visit to Myanmar and continuing on to Viet Nam. To prevent viewing overload, below are just a few image highlights from our Yangon city tours.

This Reclining Buddha Image is 217 feet long
and was completed in 1973
© 2016, R. Ono

Look Carefully and You Can See the Scale of Image Compared to a Visitor
© 2016, R. Ono

Just about any grocery item, clothing, jewelry or household item can be found at Bogyoke Aung San "Scott" Market. The produce and meat market areas are often busiest in the morning, as local residents shop for fresh items to prepare their daily meals. While at the market, we mostly "window shopped" though I did purchase a longyi to wear during our river cruise.

Entering Bogyoke Aung Sung Market
© 2016, R. Ono

Burmese yoke thé (marionette puppetry) performances originated
from royal patronage and later expanded to the public.
© 2016, R. Ono

In the above picture, a market visitor is getting thanaka applied. Thanaka is made from tree bark. It is used by Myanmar women as a sunscreen and has a cooling sensation when applied. Thanaka is typically applied to the face but sometimes is used on arms. It is believed that Thanaka has acne removal properties and promotes smooth skin. Sounds like a future cosmetic
© 2016, R. Ono