Tuesday, October 26, 2010
I really can’t believe I’m in Myanmar. Wow. It has been a full on day and I’m totally spent. I had a poor night sleep due to Roslyn’s loud snoring, which she wasn’t sure she did until I informed her this morning. We were up at 3:45am, left the hotel at 4:30 and arrived at the airport for check-in before 5:30. By the time we got to the gate, I had less than 30 minutes to grab a Pretzel and coffee (the hotel breakfast box wasn’t very satisfying). The Air Asia flight departed basically on-time at 7:15am and we landed in Yangon at 8am. There’s an odd 30 minute time difference between Thailand and Myanmar. I wonder if they do it just to be different.
Our local guide was enthusiastically waving at us from the other side of passport control, as we queued to enter the country. No questions asked, just a scan of the passport and visa, a quick picture, stamp, and you’re in. When we were all finished, we boarded the mini-bus and headed to Panorama Hotel in the city center. On the bus Thanda (aka Tina) gave us welcome gifts, the ever popular traditional longyi, a sarong-like lower garment worn by men and women, and showed us how to wear them. Ros and my room, on the top floor, has an amazing view overlooking the city onto the Shewdagon Paya and Sule Paya. After a quick refresh, we hopped back on the bus for a full day exploring Yangon.
The driver of the bus was sitting on the right side, and we boarded on the left side, even though people drive on the right side of the road. Apparently, as a result of independence from the British, Myanmar changed from driving on the left to driving on the right. However, many buses and open-taxis are from colonial times and therefore still have wheels on the right-hand side. So we had to board the bus from the middle of the road. Interesting system, but I guess it works.
Even though it was not yet noon, our first stop was lunch at a sophisticated jungle-shack restaurant Feel Myanmar Food. It was basically a buffet with a huge selection of Myanmar curries and side dishes. Not knowing what Myanmar cuisine tasted like, I ordered the squid curry and a spicy eggplant salad (mashed up like baba ganoush). We were served rice and soup; I thoroughly enjoyed the cuisine, which is much less spicy than Thailand. J.P. treated us to lunch as a “welcome to Myanmar” gift. After filling our bellies, we stopped at Chaukhtatgyi Paya, housing a large reclining Buddha topped by a crown encrusted in diamonds and other precious stones. While the Buddha was photo worthy, some local children captured the lenses of our group.
On the bus, Tina informed us that the Myanmar flag was changed three days ago in preparation for a new beginning after the election. Once red (for bravery) with a navy square (for stability) in the corner with 14 stars (representing the 14 states and divisions) and a design in the middle representing the farmers and workers, the flag is now 3 stripes, yellow (for the various religions), green (for unity) and red (for bravery), with a white star (representing the people, or as some believe the military) in the center.
Next was Bogyoke Aung San Market (aka Scott market), a 70 year-old market with over 2000 shops. Tina showed us how to make thanakha, a yellow sandalwood-like paste worn by many Myanmar women on their faces as a combination of skin conditioner, sunblock and make-up, by rubbing the wood with water against a stone. In the 45 minutes we had to explore, I managed to purchase a necklace and earrings but refrained from buying anything else even though the locals were promoting their goods like crazy. The group was getting tired, especially from the heat, but agreed to go for a walk through the city center, passing the Theingyi Zei (the biggest market in Yangon) and many stalls along the street selling food and handicrafts. Our destination was, on my request, the Moseah Yeshua Synagogue (since I was shocked that there was a synagogue in Myanmar), founded more than a hundred years ago by Sephardic Jews whose population which was around 2500 until nationalism when people slowly started leaving; the remaining Jewish population is now about 25.
Gauging the exhaustion of the group, J.P. suggested an hour and a half break at the hotel, promising me that we wouldn’t miss seeing anything on the itinerary. I passed out for over an hour, fatigued from the heat and lack of sleep last night. Post nap time, we drove to the jetty to see the Yangon River and life on the port, before visiting the 2,500 year-old Shwedagon Paya, the most sacred of all Buddhist sites in Myanmar.
We took the lifts to the top of the 12-acre complex, 190 feet above sea level, and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the small zedi, statues, temples, shrines, images and tazaung (small pavilions) which surround the main, solid gold encrusted zedi (stupa). The top-most vane is gold- and silver-plated and studded with 1100 diamonds totaling 278 carats, in addition to 1383 other stones. At the very top of the vane rests the diamond orb – a hallow golden sphere studded with 4351 diamonds, weighing 1800 carats in total; the very top of the orb is tipped with a single 76-carat diamond. From a certain angle on the platform, you could see a bit of white light reflecting from the main diamond. Interesting to see so many jewels on a religious site when most of the people in this country are impoverished.
By the time we left, the sun had long past set and we journeyed to Kandawgyi Lake for views of Shwedagon Paya and Karaweik (an expensive government-financed project with a reinforced concrete reproduction of a royal barge, where tourists can enjoy dinner and traditional dance performances). We were headed for dinner elsewhere. Since ours is the first trip GAP adventures has run in Myanmar since 2007, J.P. is actively researching for future groups. He wanted to check out Monsoon restaurant, listed in Lonely Planet as possibly the best Southeast Asian restaurant in Yangon and housed in a classical colonial town house. I ordered a banana lassi and a chicken curry Tina recommended, while Tina ordered the butter fish curry that I’d been eyeing. I should have gone with my instinct and ordered the butter fish curry as it was delicious, but luckily Tina ate some of my dish and we shared. Jacek generously picked up the tab (keeping up with J.P. in setting a tradition that can’t be sustainable), which had to be expensive given that some people ordered drinks, but relatively cheap for a group of nine.
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| Me and Tina |
I’ve showered and am ready to pass out in bed. Putting ear plugs in tonight in hope of better sleep.
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