Day 228 - People

Today, I got the chance to meet Daniel and go with him to one of the slums in Yangon to see the work he is doing there.

But before I continue let me first say thanks to Daniel, for his help and support of the people you see in this post (and more), and the friends at My Place, who made this possible by introducing me to Daniel.

Day 227 - Yangon and the Shwedagon Pagoda

Another day in Yangon and I decided to do some sightseeing today. After refusing to pay for the entrance to Kandawgyi Park, I managed to sneak in by going to the restaurants on the north side and from there to the park.

Day 226 - Back in Yangon

After a slightly uncomfortable night, trying to sleep on a chair, I arrived back in Yangon.

I didn't have anything planned or the day so decided to just take it easy, chill a bit and check out the market.

While it was fun, it didn't provide the photo opportunities I was looking for so I decided to walk around the city instead.

Yangon is a very nice city and has character so it's nice to walk around and take photos or just take in the atmosphere.

Tomorrow will be another day in Yangon but this time I will try and go do some more sightseeing and visit the Shwedagon Pagoda.

Day 216 - Yangon to Mandalay

Despite having a great time in Yangon yesterday, I figured it made sense to take the night train to Mandalay today. I will have more time in Yangon at the end of my Myanmar trip so figured it is good to see the north of the country first after having a great introduction in Yangon.

Since the train didn't leave till late in the day, it gave me enough time to walk around Yangon and take more photos and enjoy the city life.

I think the best way to explore a city is to just wander and see what you see. Sure, you might not see all the sights but a city is rarely it's sights and always the people living and working there.

So without a clear aim, I just walked around and took photos of people and the city. Well, I actually had an aim and this was to find a nice coffee place with free wifi but this does not exist, unless you are prepared to pay western prices at the few tourist coffee places.

Once it was time to head to the train station, I made sure I got there a bit earlier to have time for some photos on the platform and the station before the train departed.

Often when I meet other travelers, they take buses or fly because it's cheaper and faster most of the time. In my opinion there is no better way to meet locals and see people than by taking a train. It's the best and most comfortable way to travel. In Asia you can also open the windows in the trains, something I miss a lot in Europe and something that makes train travel so much nicer.

Sure, in Myanmar it's very expensive, very bumpy and very slow but I would have never met and been invited by some locals for a drink in a plane or bus and there is no restaurant car where you can chill, hang out and meet even more people.

Unfortunately I also met the wrong kind of travelers on this journey, a couple sharing my compartment but not wanting to interact with the locals and being unfriendly to them (and me, too) and generally just locking themselves in. If you don't want to mingle and interact with the locals then just fly is my recommendation.

Tomorrow morning, I will arrive in Mandalay where I will be staying a day or two before heading to Bagan.

Day 215 - A Day in Yangon

After hearing only good things about Myanmar and having a very good first impression when I arrived yesterday, I was looking forward to see and experience more of Yangon.

The first thing you notice is how busy the city is with a lot of traffic, it's loud and there are people everywhere. After spending that much time travelling around Asia, a lot of the bigger cities can feel similar but Yangon feels quite different.
One thing that was definitely different was that there were no motorbikes and very few bicycles on the streets, this seemed odd as motorbikes seem to be part of every city in Asia. This of course meant there were way too many cars and buses on the streets so the traffic was almost as bad as in Bangkok.

While I've never been to India, I think Myanmar kind of has a similar feel in some ways but it's quite distinct in other ways.
The people are very friendly as I noticed at the airport and during my brief walk in the evening but despite all the hustle and bustle, people are always smiling or saying hi and are happy to help you out with directions if you need.

The city itself seems like a mishmash of different architecture styles (and states of decay), of different religions with pagodas, mosques and churches but it also feels quite modern with electronics, computer and mobile phone shops everywhere. You can feel that a lot has changed here in a short period of time thanks to the country opening up more.

At first I planned to visit some of the pagodas but the entry charge of $3 per pagoda, $2 to enter a park and so on meant I gave most of them a miss. It seems the government is keen on making as much money on tourists as possible but this is just way too much money to spend to see yet another pagoda. Like me, you're probably better off to get your temple and pagoda fix in Thailand for fee before coning here and only going to see one or two of the most important pagodas.

I did manage to sneak in to the Kandawgyi Park for free and it was quite nice, especially just before sunset. Although I was happy I didn't have to pay as $2 seemed too much for this.

While I had planned to visit the Shwedagon Pagoda in the evening, I decided to leave this for my return to Yangon and instead take some more photos of the night life in the city.

The evening has people eating at small street food stalls, hanging out and watching movies at beer stations, socializing in one of the many restaurants and kids playing in the streets under neon lights.

It was a very interesting day in Yangon and I can already say that Myanmar will be one of the most memorable places on my trip and one I will want to come back to, despite only arriving yesterday.