Yangon, a lively city!

Besides our delightful circular train ride around Yangon we also did our share of walking which is the best way to see and feel a city...

Yangon is a chaotic city with very poor infrastructure as you can see by the state of the bridge, yet it has wide boulevards...

With lots of traffic even though the government has a system of strict importation of vehicles making them very expensive to own and operate. There is however an underground economy where there are many cars on the road which have no license to be there.

By far most people take very crowded buses...

One evening we walked from our guest house to one of the main squares in the city called Independence Square with a large monument recognizing Burma's independence from Britain in 1948.

It is surrounded by a large park filled with families on this warm night, these girls and their Mom were dressed for picture taking...

Beautiful fountains...

 There were a number of churches surrounding the Square as well...

 Here also you can see Colonial buildings left over from the British occupation which occurred after the Anglo-Burmese wars from 1824-1885. In 1886 Britain made Burma a province of India which changed the county a lot as the Bamars were excluded from most jobs causing political unrest against colonialism. 

City Hall

In this Square there has also been a lot of bloodshed as the Burmese people have fought for their freedom from their own government starting in the 1980s into 2007. After Independence there was a struggle for power and the military took over, creating a Socialist government and cutting off the country from the rest of the world. This has been very difficult on the economy of Burma and has a result it is a very poor county.

More recently Aung San Shu Kyi has been released from house arrest and her party, The National League for Democary won a 80% majority,however she has a very difficult task to return this country to prosperity. But everyone we talk to who can speak English, which are not many they tell us, " their eyes and ears were shut off" by the military government. They have great hope that freedom will come, as one of our drivers said...before I would not be able to talk with you as I would be put in jail! They have a lot of hope for their future and we wish them well with the journey. 

Also near this area is the Sule Pagoda which is being renovated and so covered in bamboo scaffolding, but still beautiful at night...

Yangon has a very lively street life both day and night...

This guy is making sugar cane juice by grinding the fibre from the cane and extracting the juice.

This is a very popular street dish called grandmother grandfather muffin and is made by frying quail's eggs and then putting them together in a muffin tin. It is eaten for breakfast as well as a night snack.

Even though it is somewhat of a grimy city there is still lots of color...

These ladies looked great in their colorful outfits...

The little pink nuns...

The street merchants...

Speaking of which, I lost the screw out of my glasses and needed a repair so I approached a man selling sunglasses and his wife got out her screwdrivers and fixed them for free! They would not take any payment.

Interesting side streets...

We also peaked into one of the most expensive hotels here, the Shangri-la, way too expensive for our budget this trip...

Just outside the City Center are beautiful man made lakes and gardens called The Peoples Park...

A family taking pictures and the little boy would not cooperate!

Around this lake were benches filled with young lovers...

On the other side of the park there is another large lake with a wooden walkway which was in such disrepair we thought we might fall through, though the views were lovely.

There was also quite a large, ornate boat...

This is also the area of the city to find the number one attraction the Shwedagon Pagoda that sits upon a hill and can be entered by one of four stairways, one of which can be used by foreigners.

The entrance to the stairway...

The pagoda is very large at 110 meters and very old being there for 2,500 years! It is the largest and most important Buddhist shrine in Myanmar. It is covered in many layers of gold leaf and the stupa on top is encrusted with jewels including a 72 carot diamond.

There complex is huge with many types of temples and Buddhas...

 

There were many places to pray...

One guy praying, one guy on his phone and the other guy smiling at me!

Different Buddhas...

Some details...

There were also stations where people were washing the smaller ones...

There were many families there...

Lots of cute kids...

These ladies were freshening up the flower offerings...

We were here a couple of hours as there was so much to see, we sat under shaded areas and watched as people went about their business. A very amazing place to visit!

Overall, we both enjoyed our first stop in Myanmar and look forward to the rest!