Yangon

We lost a day crossing the International Date Line, so there was no Saturday for us this week. We went to breakfast and met a number of people, but few who were on our tour. When it was time to load the bus for departure back to the airport, there were five others in the group: three siblings (two brothers and a sister) from Seattle, along with the spouse of the eldest brother and the partner of the sister. They are nice folks, but of course, since they all know one another, we are a bit the odd couple out. On the flight to Yangon (the city formerly known as Rangoon), the small Thai airline provided a second breakfast -- not something one would get on a flight of slightly more than one hour in the U.S.

We were met at the airport by our guide, "SuSu," a very energetic, pretty 26-year-old Yangon native with a degree in English and fluency in Spanish and Japanese, as well. As soon as she had us collected, she informed us that we would not be going immediately to the hotel for a day of rest to get over jet lag, as in the guidebook, but would have our luggage taken to the hotel ahead of us as we set out for an immediate day of sightseeing. This was necessary because most of the places we wished to see in Yangon are closed on Mondays.

Our first stop was the famous reclining Buddha, at a length of 70 meters, the fifth largest Buddha in the world. He's not all that old, dating back to 1902, but is quite impressive, especially the symbols carved on the bottoms of his feet. We had to get used to walking barefoot in the pagoda, which was easy inside, except for places that had just been hosed down, where the wet marble was extremely slippery. But walking barefoot across the parking lot was more challenging. We were expecting to be able to walk up to the entrance and remove our shoes in a particular place, as with the mosques in Egypt or Turkey, but no such facility here.

Next we visited the city plaza in the middle of downtown Yangon, where we saw the independence monument, city hall, and some other colonial architecture. There were several things we noted on the streets while driving: Traffic drives on the right side in Myanmar, but many, if not most, vehicles have the steering wheel on the right side, as if for left side traffic. Our guide offered several explanations. First, the British used left side traffic through the colonial period, and this had continued after independence (as in Thailand) until fairly recently. In about 2006 or '07, the military government (intent to do away with all things British) commanded a certain date on which traffic would reverse to right side driving (one can imagine the chaos -- however, our guide reminded us that at that time there were very few vehicles on the roads, and virtually no private cars. Second, since Myanmar's opening and the surge in the economy, most people still can't afford to buy a new car, so most cars sold come into the country used from Japan or Thailand, where people drive on the left side. Another thing we noticed were pick up trucks outfitted as "busses," something like those in Africa. These were often so crowded that there were many riders outside, hanging on for dear life!

We then went on to the Scott Market, which was much like other markets around the world, except much more tilted toward selling jewelry to tourists. Along the way, our guide showed us how Myanmar women, and many men, treat their faces with a stone-ground mixture of sandalwood and water that keeps the skin from weathering in the sun. We went on to lunch at a place very near to the home where "Our Lady," Ang Song Suu Kyi, was kept under house arrest by the government for many years. After a good meal (that left us feeling quite full after two breakfasts) we checked into the hotel. It was very nice, but has a great deal of renovation taking place and very flaky wi-fi.

After a bit of rest, we gathered again to visit the National Museum, which was more interesting than we had anticipated. We learned of the great animosity toward the British here for the theft of a number of national treasures. After a couple hours of museum time, we returned to the hotel to prepare for our welcome dinner at a nearby restaurant. It was good, but we were all still quite full from earlier meals.

It's wedding season in Myanmar. When we returned to the hotel we found two very large and extravagant wedding receptions in progress. One was in a ballroom, the other was a sit-down for 300+ people around the pool with a live band, full video crew, and lots of fancy outfits. The bride was a graduate of Yale with a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Penn State. The groom an MD working on a Ph.D. in neurology, also at Penn State. Given the political climate in recent years, we had to assume that both families had military connections, else they would not have been able to study outside the country. There was obviously money in the families, as well.

Again with the help of sleep medication, we managed to get a good night's sleep, even if it ended early.