Yangon - Further First Impressions of Myanmar - Burma

A continuation of my last post, Yangon - First Impressions of Myanmar - Burma. After our authentic Burmese meal at danuphyu daw saw Yee Myanma we visited Shwedagon Pagoda. The sheer beauty of the design of this place takes your breath away when you first see it perched on Singuttara Hill, built of brick but completely covered in gold it shines in the sunlight. The origins of this holy place are cloaked in mystery and there are many interesting legends which you can read about by visiting the link. Shwedagon Pagoda.

There are four stairway entrances to the Pagoda, South, West, North and East, all of which except the latter have either escalators or lifts as well as stairs. The entrance passageway most commonly used by visitors and the one we used is the Southern Stairway,(zaungdan) of 104 steps up to the main terrace is approached from the city centre direction on Shwedagon Pagoda Road. As you can see from my photo above the entrance is closely guarded by two enormous fearsome looking mythological creatures. Known as the chinthe, or leogryph this half lion, half griffin ogre is a man eating monster! 

On reaching the terrace the afternoon light on the many stupas was quite a spectacle as one emerged from the semi-darkness of the covered stairways. In the words of Somerset Maugham "At last we reached the great terrace. All about shrines and pagodas were jumbled pell-mell with the confusion with which trees grow in the jungle. They had been built without design or symmetry, but in the darkness, their gold and marble faintly gleaming they had a fantastic richness, And then emerging from among them like a great ship surrounded by lighters, rose dim, severe and splendid, the Shwe Dagon"

I will now let  my photos take you on a virtual tour of the complex, there was a lot going on as the Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred place in Burma for Buddhists and large numbers visit every day to make their offerings at the various shrines.

All around the pagoda are shrines with a Buddha image, one for each day of the week. Every shrine has a planet and an animal sign associated with it in accordance with Eastern astrology. Burmese people pray to the shrine belonging to their day of birth burning candles, offering flowers and pouring water over the image.

In Myanmar there is a long tradition of temporary ordination of Buddhist monks and married men can traditionally return to the monastery from time to time, provided they have their wives' permission. As can be seen in this next photo, with wife and daughter proudly walking along behind this monk.

 The photo above is of members of the East Timor Team who were in Myanmar competing in the South East Asian Games 2013

We would be returning to Yangon again at the end of our trip but for now our visit was coming to an end, we returned to our hotel where we freshened up before going out again for supper. A Thai restaurant Mai Thai where once again we ran into participants competing in the South East Asian Games 2013 

For local directions hit the blue Google button on the right

Directions

The Shwedagon Pagoda,officially titled Shwedagon Zedi Daw, also known in English

as the Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda. Wikipedia

Address: Dagon, Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)

Height: 105 m

Opened: 1372

Hours: Daily 4am to 9pm. No foreigners permitted before 6am.

Architect: Okkalapa of Burma

Map of Myanmar showing Tourist Destinations with thanks to Myanmar Travel Information 

With thanks to the following sites for the background information included in this post. The links will take you directly to the official websites if you are interested in learning more about Yangon and other places mentioned.

Yangon - Encyclopaedia Britannica   Wikitravel - Yangon Travel Guide   Trip Advisor - Mai Thai

Wikipedia - Yangon History etc.   Shwedagon Pagoda    Myanmar Travel Information
  
 danuphyu daw saw Yee Myanma - Trip Advisor     Facebook - Ilikemyanmar - Information Channel

                              All photos are my own unless otherwise stated taken in December 2013

More Yangon photos can be found on Flickr in My Album entitled Yangon, Myanmar, Burma

I would also like to point out that this entire trip was organised as independent travellers by my daughter. She planned and researched an itinerary, which we discussed, then she booked all the hotels and flights. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection

Yangon - First Impressions of Myanmar - Burma

What an amazing place Myanmar is and how lucky am I to have a daughter that suggested we spend a holiday there over the Christmas period, as a side trip during my last trip to stay with her in Hong Kong. Our first Christmas without David was always going to be difficult so we had decided to do something completely different. Well it was certainly that, a fabulous adventure to a fascinating country with awe inspiring sights that range from ancient treasures to stunning landscapes. It was understandably an emotional trip for me to undertake as it was my first life adventure without my husband and best friend at my side. However I was fortunate to have one of our daughters there as support and we had a truly wonderful holiday together. It has taken me awhile to gather my thoughts together and feel able to share on Travel Tales the wonderful places we visited. Why because it makes me feel so very sad that David never got to share the sights and sounds of this beautiful country with us.

Followers of my blogs will know that he encouraged me to carry on blogging when I was ready to give it all up, so for him I continue to chronicle our life adventures, of which I still have plenty to share from the last trip we took together which was to Istanbul, but I digress as for the foreseeable future my posts will be all about Myanmar starting with our first impressions of the country when we arrived in Yangon.

We left Hong Kong in the early evening on 18th December 2013, a good start to the trip was an upgrade to Business Class for our flight. Such a treat and a first for me, if only all flights could be like this! Arriving in Yangon at 11.30pm we were met personally by the lady owner of the hotel, Classique Inn. My review can be found on My Trip Advisor Profile for further information.  

The next morning after having breakfast in the courtyard we took a taxi into the centre of Yangon, as the Classique Inn was in the residential and Foreign Embassy area of the city about a fifteen minute drive and peaceful away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  With just a day to explore the city, although we would be returning at the end of our trip we packed a lot into our few hours and I took so many photos that this post just covers the morning when we explored Yangon's Old Heritage District, also know as Yangon Downtown.  More photos taken by me in Yangon can be viewed my visiting My Flickr Album entitled Yangon, Myanmar, Burma. Meanwhile I hope the ones I have chosen to share with you will give you an impression of the sights and sounds of the city, which since the 17C has been a cosmopolitan mix of many races.  The area is compact enough to explore on foot and although the traffic is busy, it is much quieter than many Asian cities due to the banning of motorbikes and scooters in this area. We started our walking tour at the 2,000 year old golden temple of Sule Paya, surrounded by government buildings and commercial businesses, it is in the middle of a traffic roundabout!

Three photos above are of  Sule Paya - Sule Pagoda

There was certainly plenty to see as we threaded our way along the busy footpaths, where every other person seemed to have something to sell, from oranges to books, phone calls to various cooked foods.

The next photo is of the 46 metre obelisk Independence Monument which stands in the centre of  Maha Bandoola Park. 

The car number plates were not easy to decipher and it was very confusing as although the traffic now all drives on the right, the majority of the cars are still right hand drive! Left over from the colonial influences I guess but an odd experience as a passenger, just like taking a British car over to Europe!

As for the rubbish bins, they were a surprise identical to the ones we have where I live in Wales!

This machine is used to press the juice out of sugar cane

These barefoot young women are Nuns.

Puppies for Sale

Yangon was formerly known as Rangoon when it was the old capital city of the country from 1948 until 2006 when the government declared the new city of  Nay Pyi Taw (Naypyidaw) as the capital. The city now covers over 350 sq km and has a population of over 5 million.  Although no longer the capital the city is still the main point of arrival for tourists to Myanamar. It is a busy bustling place but it has also earned the name of 'Garden City of the East' with its parks and lakes, which I will cover in later posts when we returned to Yangon at the end of our trip.  There are a number of links at the end of the post for those of you interested in reading more. 

Finally we stopped for lunch at danuphyu daw saw Yee Myanma

Having taken you on a virtual tour of Downtown Yangon and our first lunch in Myanmar I will be back soon to share where we spent the afternoon.  I do hope my photos have managed to give you a little idea of the atmosphere.  The following link will take you to Trip Advisor reviews for the restaurant.
Burma, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, adopted a new state flag on 21 October 2010. To learn more of the history of the country's flag visit the link Myanmar Flag

With thanks to the following sites for the background information included in this post. The links will take you directly to the official websites if you are interested in learning more about Yangon and other places mentioned.

Classique Inn - Trip Advisor   Yangon - Encyclopaedia Britannica   Wikitravel - Yangon Travel Guide

Wikipedia - Yangon History etc.   Myanmar Flag    Wikipedia - Downtown Yangon     Sule Pagoda

Maha Bandoola Park     danuphyu daw saw Yee Myanma - Trip Advisor

                              All photos are my own unless otherwise stated taken in December 2013

More Yangon photos can be found on Flickr in My Album entitled Yangon, Myanmar, Burma

I would also like to point out that this entire trip was organised as independent travellers by my daughter. She planned and researched an itinerary, which we discussed, then she booked all the hotels and flights. 

  All rights reserved by LindyLouMac Photo Collection