After a short plane journey from Bangkok we arrived in Yangon, the commercial capital of Burma, in the evening. Burma changed its name to Myanmar around the time I was born but it goes by both names. I had to change the time on my clocks and my money once again (I currently have five different currencies in my purse). After missing a night's sleep whilst travelling to Thailand and having three consecutive late nights in Bangkok I was extremely tired and slept so deeply that night that when I woke up I had no idea where I was or even what country I was in!
The first thing I noticed about Burma is that they drive on the right hand side yet their drivers' seats are also on the right of the car and this causes some dubious driving, especially since road markings are a rarity here. Burma is not just in the middle of India and Thailand geographically - it seems to be a blend of the two countries when it comes to culture, level of conservatism in behaviour and dress as well as food and the way the cites and countryside looks.
Our first full day in Burma started with us getting stuck in an epic rainstorm so we sought refuge in a doorway and sat there for a hour watching the world go by. Since the military coup in 1962 tourism wasn't encouraged in Myanmar until recently so Westerners are scarce here - compared to tourist havens like Thailand - and the locals are understandably curious when they see us. We were getting a lot of stares whilst we sat in that doorway but the lovely thing was that they all had a big, friendly smile to offer us - Myanmar is the friendliest nation I have ever encountered. I often feel guilty that for me, being English, it is easy for me to travel because English tends to be the international language for communicaton. I make myself feel better by, at the very least, learning 'hello' and 'thank you' in the language of every country I go to because these two words can get you very far; I found out the Burmese word for 'thank you' straight away at the airport and this has turned out to be quite a crowd pleaser, the people here are delighted when they hear me speak Burmese and they often looked shocked or giggle, it's very sweet.
As Burma is still emerging in the tourist market it is difficult to find budget guesthouses and so we are having to spend a lot more money. To counteract this we have decided to stick to street food for our meals i.e. the myriad stalls and vendors that align almost every street and road. Here we can have an entire meal for under a dollar; the currency here is called kyat but it is only available inside the country so we had to bring crisp, new US dollars to exchange hence why my mind is working in dollars at the moment.
We had two whole days to explore Yangon and so we spent our time walking around with a map (money saving tip no.1347: walking is a great way to see a new place but also saves money that would be spent taxis and rickshaws!). Every country in Asia is full of temples and religious sights and each one has their own name for them, in Burma the temples are called Pagodas and they are large, golden, handbell shaped structures that can be found literally everywhere. We only went inside the free ones because they charge foreigners quite a lot to get into the big ones; they are cheap if not free for locals (imagine if Britain, the 'PC' capital of the world, did that? There'd be uproar!), but also once you've seen a few in each country you've seen them all....and I've seen A LOT!
Outside one of the Pagodas there were women with cages full of tiny birds, after much confusion - are they for eating?? are they pets? - we found out that if you pay 500 kyats (about 35p) you can buy one to set free for good luck! I felt sorry for the cramped little birds and so we decided to do it.
Hmm this is a real head scratcher...do I go for the person's nose or the feet salad?
The first thing I noticed about Burma is that they drive on the right hand side yet their drivers' seats are also on the right of the car and this causes some dubious driving, especially since road markings are a rarity here. Burma is not just in the middle of India and Thailand geographically - it seems to be a blend of the two countries when it comes to culture, level of conservatism in behaviour and dress as well as food and the way the cites and countryside looks.
This is a very common sight on the street here - a man will cut up intestines of animals and put little bits on cocktail sticks for people to come and eat with noodles.
Our first full day in Burma started with us getting stuck in an epic rainstorm so we sought refuge in a doorway and sat there for a hour watching the world go by. Since the military coup in 1962 tourism wasn't encouraged in Myanmar until recently so Westerners are scarce here - compared to tourist havens like Thailand - and the locals are understandably curious when they see us. We were getting a lot of stares whilst we sat in that doorway but the lovely thing was that they all had a big, friendly smile to offer us - Myanmar is the friendliest nation I have ever encountered. I often feel guilty that for me, being English, it is easy for me to travel because English tends to be the international language for communicaton. I make myself feel better by, at the very least, learning 'hello' and 'thank you' in the language of every country I go to because these two words can get you very far; I found out the Burmese word for 'thank you' straight away at the airport and this has turned out to be quite a crowd pleaser, the people here are delighted when they hear me speak Burmese and they often looked shocked or giggle, it's very sweet.
There are market stalls everywhere that sell fruit and flowers even at night.
As Burma is still emerging in the tourist market it is difficult to find budget guesthouses and so we are having to spend a lot more money. To counteract this we have decided to stick to street food for our meals i.e. the myriad stalls and vendors that align almost every street and road. Here we can have an entire meal for under a dollar; the currency here is called kyat but it is only available inside the country so we had to bring crisp, new US dollars to exchange hence why my mind is working in dollars at the moment.
I ate a deep fried locust. Cliché alert...it tasted like chicken (seriously).
We had tea on the street, they make their tea with condensed milk and so it's very rich. It was so hot we had to buy fans like the locals.
This is one of our many mystery eats! The lady selling it spoke no English and we couldn't work out what it was but it was amazingly tasty and cost around 10 cents (6p).
We had two whole days to explore Yangon and so we spent our time walking around with a map (money saving tip no.1347: walking is a great way to see a new place but also saves money that would be spent taxis and rickshaws!). Every country in Asia is full of temples and religious sights and each one has their own name for them, in Burma the temples are called Pagodas and they are large, golden, handbell shaped structures that can be found literally everywhere. We only went inside the free ones because they charge foreigners quite a lot to get into the big ones; they are cheap if not free for locals (imagine if Britain, the 'PC' capital of the world, did that? There'd be uproar!), but also once you've seen a few in each country you've seen them all....and I've seen A LOT!
The Pagodas are pretty impressive, especially when they are lit up at night.
Most of them are gold but we found this mirrored one that looked like a disco ball.
They contain relics of Buddha, this one contained one of Buddha's hairs!
This is a reclining Buddha, it is longer than the Statue of Liberty.
Outside one of the Pagodas there were women with cages full of tiny birds, after much confusion - are they for eating?? are they pets? - we found out that if you pay 500 kyats (about 35p) you can buy one to set free for good luck! I felt sorry for the cramped little birds and so we decided to do it.
I could almost feel that tiny bird wriggling in my hand for hours after it flew off!
I'm rich!!! (Actually, this is mine and Paula's money for the month and is equivalent to about $800)
Ha! wonder what the nose would have tasted like!...gorgeous temples and so colourful........don't think I could taste the locust though whether it tastes of chicken or not!!...just like eating a beastie that's been flying or crawling around minutes before ha!.....x
ReplyDeleteYou've got to eat it whole and pretend it's KFC!
Deletesome imagination then!...I like KFC and somehow might not see it the same anymore ha!
DeleteThat cookie thing looks like one of those peanut cookies you get here! The locusts look errrmm....yummy!!! I dread to think what the persons nose & feet salad was!! Looks amazing where you are,you look so tanned!xxx
ReplyDeleteYeh I thought it was a peanut cookie at first...but it was hot, fried and maybe partly potato, possibly with yellow split peas? I have no idea but I've been looking for more ever since!
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