Sunday in Yangon

Sept. 4, 2005

It is so warm and humid here! Being out in the daytime is a real trial. Both days I've gone out about 10:00 and returned around noon as rain clouds started developing. I'll go back out later when the rain has passed and the heat has lessened some.

For breakfast today, I chose the Myanmar selection--coconut noodle soup. I was asked if I wanted it spicy or sweet, and I chose spicy. I wonder how people eat it here. It was a dark broth with ramen noodles, various bits of vegetables, and an egg pouched in the broth. The fruit they had today was bananas, so I ate 2 of them. I ordered tea again; it's so black it looks like coffee. I had a little condensed milk in mine. I think the local people add a lot of sugar.

It's mostly Myanmar people staying at my hotel. I've seen only one western couple, and they were met by a local man this morning. If the others aren't from Myanmar, they are from other Asian countries.

I bought a bus ticket for Mandalay for tomorrow night. It's like Brazil here, with express buses traveling during the night. I'll be tired and uncomfortable, but I will save a hotel bill for one night. It will be a 13-14 hour trip!!!

I also got my shoulder bag repaired. The small leather loops where the strap attaches were too thin and narrow and were beginning to tear. The young man removed the brads and loops, made new wider loops, re-sewed it, and put new brads on. I hope it will last through the remainder of my trip now. I could take my suitcase down there and get a new zipper put on it, but I will wait until India to try doing that, I think. I can completely unpack there and can leave the bag if necessary.

I went by a famous pagoda downtown, but I didn't go inside. The best view was from the outside, and I didn't want the hassle of going inside. I tried to enter a park across the street, but they wanted an admission fee. I walked by the massive city hall that looks like a theater building with sculptures of dragons and a peacock on the roofline. Then the sprinkles started and I turned back toward the hotel.
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I went back out around 2 p.m. Like yesterday, the threat of rain had passed by then. I made a long walking tour. I passed a corner where men were getting manicures and pedicures. Almost all men wear flipflop sandals here, so their feet are dry and dirty. I was surprised to see them getting foot care.

I walked across the railraod tracks and beyond the main station to Kandawgyi Lake Park. It's a beautiful, peaceful area, but westerners are required to pay to enter. I had seen most of the park through the fence as I walked around it, so I saw no reason to pay $3 to enter.

I walked furtehr to the biggest tourist site in Yangon, the Shwedagon Pagoda. I didn't want to enter eyt, because it is supposed to be best viewed at sunset. As I walked around it a young student, 23 years old, started talking to me. His is in his last year of law school and has a scholarship to study English at an American Institute here. He has two American teachers.

I left the student to walked beyond the pagoda to the Aung Thuka Restaurant, recommended as serving the best Bamar (Myanmar) food in the capital. From the selections along the side board, I ordered venison curry and a combination of stir fried mixed vegetabes and yellow beans. With that, I was served a bowl of soup (broth with vegetables); rice; a crispy mixture of beans, lentils and sesame seeds; a mushy greens product; and a plate of raw vegetables--green beans, okara, carrage and a leafy herb. There was also a small dish of hot sauce. The venison was delicious, especially with the hot sauce added. I drank a bottle of Myanmar beer with the meal. Afterwards, they brought a bowl of very sweet sweets--something like dulce con leche from Mexico.

I returned to the Shwedagon Pagoda and entered around 4:45 p.m. It's an amazing place with a huge central octagonal stupta covered in gold leaf. But there are golden colored smaller towers everywhere around it. The whole place is paved in white marble, and there are many special buildings for worshiping clustered around the stupta. I just walked and looked and took photos. Eventually, I sat to relax and enjoy the view as the jewels stringing from the top on golden chains and the gold of the dome glittered from the setting sun.

Two men approached me and started visiting. Both were Myanmar citizens of Indean descent. One was 53 and the other 19. It was an uncle and his nephew. The young one spke English very well. He said he speaks it every day with his grandfather and that he reads English novels to improve his vocabulary. They were both handsome and nice men. They are here for the weekend to check on the older one's sister/the younger one's mother. who has been being treated for heart disease for three months. They seemed to enjoy visiting with me as much as I enjoyed visiting with them. As the sun set, the three of us walked back to the center of town together. They are staying with an "aunty" just a few blocks from my hotel.

Bus ticket to Mandalay 9000 kyat
Bag Repair 500
Dinner 2200
Pagoda Admission $5
Total: $16.06