Burma was one of those countries on our travel list that on one hand fired up our imagination and inspired awe while on the other sounded a bit frightening and brought doubts. As you can see, our imagination won – amazing pictures of golden stupas towering over Rangoon and the ones popping up like mushrooms on Bagan plain convinced us. The other thing that convinced was the fact that Burma reportedly looks like Thailand 50 years ago… and we love travelling back in time 😉 On each of our trips we worry about the world slipping away and changing, making it impossible to see everything in the right moment.
We booked the ticket from Bangkok to Rangoon – main changing point for most people coming to Burma – a while ago. Soon enough to hear our share of stories about mosquitoes, malaria, miserable roads, diseases, accommodation problems and other dangers. Generally it was the same story we always listen to before travelling to country that’s different than our civilised states. Last year we overthrew a bunch of stereotypes about Cambodia . Is it the time for Burma? Will it be amazing too?
We arrived in Rangoon (Yangon) Wednesday evening. A flight from Bangkok via Air Asia – airlines that work best in this region, which we flew with on many occasions. Just don’t think about the bad things. Check-in in Bangkok was fast, they didn’t weigh our cabin baggage (phew!!!), we departed on time and the flight was alright, no turbulences or any other problems. Rangoon airport looked rather empty, the customs went fast, visa (which we obtained online – I’ll write about that later on), a bit of a haggle with the taxi driver and here we go! From the first sight, Burma looks a bit like India.. At least much more than like Thailand or Cambodia. We already got surrounded by a bunch of drivers offering us their services at the airport. They wouldn’t leave us alone which was exactly like India!
We spent the first day looking around the city and visiting the most important monument – Shwedagon Pagoda.
Rangoon is a huge city – 5 million people! Between 1886 and 2005 it was the capital of the country – I have to admit that before we came here, I thought Rangoon was still the capital! Wrong: since 2005 Naypyidaw is the capital. Since 1947, Rangoon was the capital of Myanmar, a state colonised by Great Britain. We saw some colonial buildings – the remains the British left behind them. They also left the name of the city – Rangoon.
First impressions may be a bit puzzling: on one hand you see wide alleys with lots of trees, on the other, the neighbourhood where we’re staying (downtown) is dominated by street trade, honking cars and mess on the streets. After first contact, we don’t consider Rangoon a place we’d like to stay in for long – it’s too loud and too tiring. There’s a bit of street food in the streets, but in most cases it does not look as tasty as in Bangkok. Contrary to the opinions that Burma is being invaded by tourists, you don’t see too many western white visitors around and the sudden appearance of people with our complexion is still an unusual event. Especially with us having a blonde mascot… I guess that not many tourists come here with children 😉 Somebody always wants to touch Maks, tease him; people smile in his direction, caress him and take pictures of him unless he scares them with a wry face after saying ‘I’m sick of these countries!’. So if you don’t like people being interested in your child too much, don’t take it to Burma with you!!
Botahtaung Pagoda by the Yangon river was the first thing we decided to see. Unfortunately the walk through Rangoon’s city centre tiny alleys with a naughty 3-year-old who’s irritated with people constantly teasing him and wants either his father to give him piggyback or his mother to hold him in her hands, is not the easiest thing to do. It’s not too comfortable either – cars, dust, general mess which looks a bit like India as we walk the path to Botahtaung by the river bank. I guess we’re starting to get sick of it because we decide to take a rickshaw when we hear that there’s still 3 km to the pagoda. No sidewalk, right next to cars, with a child in your hands. Te rickshaw is kind of weird – with only two seats, one facing the front and one facing the back. For a dollar it takes us 3 to the pagoda.
Each of us pays 3 dollars entrance fee, we’re also obliged to leave our shoes before the entrance. The terrain around the pagoda is not vast but it gradually fills up with praying Burmans. There’s not many tourists – it’s peaceful and quiet, you can comfortably see everything, but on the other hand, the pagoda does not look particularly stunning. If you’re staying in Rangoon for just one day I would suggest skipping it. If you have more time, give it a try. We like places that aren’t swarming with tourists.
After seeing Botahtaung Pagoda, we catch a taxi and 2 dollars later we’re in a restaurant we have previously chosen to have lunch in. We found a useful app called Xplorer Guide Yangon which covers most of the sights, information and restaurants and has a ‘show the taxi driver’ option which displays the address in Burmese and makes it easy to get anywhere. First lunch is far from perfect so for now I’ll keep it to myself – we’ll see how it goes 😉
After lunch, we leave for Buddhist Shwedagon Pagoda.
That’s definitely the most stunning place in Rangoon! An absolute wonder, full of gold, Buddha statues, mysterious figures and golden stupas. Just magnificent! And obviously swarming with tourists! Here, we pay 8 dollars entry fee per person, but Shwedagon is worth much more! The place is astonishing! They say the temple was built 2500 years ago and right now it’s one of the three holiest places in Burma. The place is huge and the overall weight of gold in here may exceed 9 tonnes. A giant golden stupa towers over the area (over 100 m high). Shwedagon is like a fairytale. Even Maks who was bored after Rangoon, gets energetic here! 🙂
Stupa was expanded and renovated many times, it also resisted numerous earthquakes. Looks like a genuinely magical place! I won’t write anything more, let the pictures speak for temselves.
We’re leaving Rangoon in the evening today and relocate to Mandalay. From several transportation options (bus, plane, train), we decided to take the bus. We read some negative opinions about the night trains and the bus is supposed to be modern and comfy. We leave at 9 pm and we’ll be in Mandalay at 6 in the morning. Keep your fingers crossed! 🙂
PS1. Contrary to circulating opinions, we’ve got mobile network and roaming works (at least in Orange)
PS2. WIFI connection in hotels and some restaurants is really good! Our hotel (Grand United) had much better WIFI than the one in Bangkok 😉
PS3. you can pay in dollars or local currency
PS4. in some places, you have to pay 4% commission when paying with card
PS5. we’ll gather all the practical information and put them in a separate entry in the end:)
0 Comments