Without any specific tour organised for our free day in Yangon, we decided to organise a car and driver from the hotel to take us around to the sights one must see for 4 - 5 hours, leaving the hotel at 9.30am.
First stop was the No. 1 attraction in Yangon, the Shwedagon Pagoda. It is an amazing place, and you cannot possibly picture how big the complex is from outside.
The Pagoda is 326 feet high and can be seen from much of the city
The original height of the pagoda was 66 feet and it was built to enshrine Buddhist relics including 8 hairs from a Buddha. From the v14th century onward various monarchs increased the height of the pagoda to its current height.
The complex is full of temples, stupas and other religious buildings with amazing architecture and decoration
After about 45 minutes exploring the pagoda grounds, we moved on to our next destination, the Bogyoke (Scott) market. this is a huge market, selling most goods, with outlets selling fabrics, jewellery, handicrafts, clothing etc. It is a permanent market (ie full of shops, not makeshift stalls), set in buildings surrounded by cobblestone streets.
We didn't buy anything, other than a cup of coffee at a cafe on the way out, but it was one of the better markets we have been to, and if you weee in the market for jewellery, probably had some bargains.
Next stop was the city centre where we saw some lovely old buildings and a number that are under renovation, or for which renovation is planned.
Town Hall
The Supreme Court
Independence Monument
Fire Dept
We then continued on to the river to see the port area, but first passed the Sule Pagoda, which dominates the downtown area.
Sule Pagoda
The dock area of the river was pretty small with modest container handling facilities, and some jetties where bagged cargo was unloaded by hand. Limited river cruises also operated from the same area.
A few ships were anchored in the river
Rice bags being unloaded by hand
Cruise boats look a bit rough
It was now lunch time so we had previously decided we would go to one of the restaurants surrounding Kandawgyi Lake. Our driver recommended the Signature Restaurant, which turned out to be an excellent choice.
Our last planned stop was the nearby Bogyoke Aung San Museum, a museum devoted to General Aung San, the founder of modern Myanmar. Unfortunately it was closed, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. It was no very hot and we just wanted to get back to the comfort of some air conditioning, which the best place to be in the afternoons in this climate.
At 6pm we attended a cocktail party in the grounds of the hotel, which gave us an opportunity to meet some fellow participants in the Road to Mandalay Tour which starts tomorrow, with a flight to Bagan to meet up with our ship for the cruise on the Irrawaddy River. The mystery of the lack of motor bikes on the road was also resolved by asking one of the locals, apparently the government have banned motor bikes from the city area.
It seems we will will have some like minded travellers on the tour, as only a 5 second talk on Australian politics quickly galvanised everyone as like minded, simply waiting for the nightmare to end in September.
We had a Burmese buffet in the hotel for dinner, which was very nice and had a strong Indian influence.
Foreign mobile phones do not work in Myanmar, and we do not expect to have wireless internet connections once we leave the hotel, so it may not be until Thursday 25th before the blog is updated., unless we have service on the ship.
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