Min-gala-ba from Myanmar

Arrived in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) on the 7th of March and could immediately tell that we were going to like this country. There is such a huge mix of ethnicities and everyone is extremely friendly. On more than one occasion, we have had complete strangers come up to us and ask, "Where are you from?", "How long have you been in Myanmar?" or "Where are you going?". More than any other place that we've been, locals really want to talk with us and welcome us to their country.

We spent 4 days in Yangon checking out the sights, meeting with travel agents to plan our next step, window shopping and just flat out relaxing (went to a hotel close by one day to use their gym/swimming pool facilities and then got a 1 hour massage for $7 - capped off the night by having cocktails at the Sakura Tower with views over the city and Shwedagon Pagoda followed by a movie (King Kong) for 800 kyat or 80 cents).

Like the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower, Yangon has the Shwedagon Pagoda. A 98 meter high stupa (bell shaped monument) at the heart of the city. We spent the day wandering the grounds and met a young monk eager to practice his English. Ottama (monk pictured with Shwedagon in the background) ended up giving us an in depth tour of the complex and then invited us back to his monastery for some soda and casual conversation. Just genuinely a very nice guy.


We walked around downtown the next day and had "high tea" at the up scale Strand Hotel. Lunch costs were similar to back home which is always a little shocking when you are used to paying 5000 kyat (1100 = $1 USD and is pronounced "chat") for a phat meal for 2. But we believe that it is nice (and necessary for us to survive) to mix it up every now and then vs. eating at food stalls every meal. After tea, we stopped at Mahabandoola Garden and played with these kids who were totally into me taking their pictures. After I said "O.K." they would run over so that they could look into the display to see their faces. Then they run back in front of me to pose again. The make-up on their faces is called Thanakha which serves as a skin moisturizer and helps to keep them cool. You see many kids and adults using it throughout the country. I'll try to get a better picture of the men in their "pa soe" or "longyi" which is also very common here (picture of a bicycle taxi driver wearing one and above - the guy next to Ottama - at the end of the day we would call it a skirt). Myanmar is one of the few countries in Southeast Asia where Western style clothing has not completely taken over. I guess that's why we like it. It's so different and culturally diverse with a wide array of looks and ethnic backgrounds and everyone (at least to us) has been nothing but smiles.

FMP