Part I: Planning/Asiana Business Class (SEA-ICN)
Part II: Asiana Lounge ICN/Asiana Business Class (ICN-BKK)
Part III: Thai Airways Lounge BKK/Thai Airways Business Class (BKK-RGN)
Part IV: Myanmar/Traders Hotel
Part V: Malaysia Airlines (RGN-KUL-SIN)
Part VI: Singapore Airlines Private Room
Part VII: Singapore Airlines Suites Class (SIN-LHR)
Part VIII: SAS-Air Canada Lounge LHR/Singapore Airlines Lounge LHR/Air Canada (LHR-YUL)
Part IX: Montreal Marriott Airport
Part X: Encore Wynn Las Vegas
After landing in Yangon, I headed to passport control which was quick and easy. There was a ton of people in the airport touting cheap taxis and tours. I chose one taxi driver who spoke perfect English and we headed to the hotel. The 30 minute drive cost only $8. I think I could have taken the bus for about $0.50, but a taxi is way easier. The taxi driver was very friendly and pointed out all the interesting sites as we drove by them. He offered to take me on a tour of the whole city, but I declined.
Traders Hotel Yangon
We arrived at the Traders Hotel, which is part of the Shangri-La hotel chain, and is very nice.
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| View from the room |
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| Nice touch |
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| Fruit plate |
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| Turndown service |
Yangon
Since I only had a very short time in Yangon, I tried my best not to pass out from exhaustion on the comfortable hotel bed. I summoned some strength and headed out to explore. I started by walking over to Bogyoke Market which is a giant market selling all sorts of goods.
One interesting thing about Myanmar is that US dollars are widely accepted. I didn't even exchange my money the whole time I was there. The only thing is that the dollars must be in perfect condition. There can't be a single crease or tear. Luckily, I had read about this before I left, and had gotten some clean bills from the bank.
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| Bogyoke Market |
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| Bogyoke Market |
I then headed over to the Shwedagon Pagoda, a must-see for anyone visiting Myanmar. It is an extremely impressive structure. It is made up of about 60 tons of gold along with over 5,000 diamonds and rubies. It costs $5 to enter the pagoda and you have to take off your shoes and socks.
At one point, a long row of people started rushing at me with brooms. I guess this is how they clean the floors.
As I was walking around, a guy approached me who spoke pretty good English and started telling me some interesting facts about the pagoda. He offered to take me on an in-depth tour of the pagoda for $5 and I agreed. He was an extremely funny and informative tour guide. He said he did tours in both English and Japanese, but preferred doing tours for English-speaking Europeans and Americans. He said he does a lot of tours for Japanese businessmen, but doesn't like them because they're always in a hurry to get to meeting and never take the time to fully experience the pagoda. He also had his own catchphrase, "Holy Murray!" I'm not exactly sure if he was saying "Holy Murray" or "Holy Mary" or something else, but he used in the same sense someone would say "Holy Cow" and said it at least every 10 minutes.
If you're going to Myanmar, I'd highly recommend him. He'll take you on a tour of just about any part of Myanmar, not just the pagoda. If anyone is interested, e-mail me and I'll send you his contact information.
I know my pictures don't do it justice, but the pagoda is especially spectacular at night because the diamonds and rubies start to shimmer.
I was at the pagoda for about 4 hours, and the change in time zones was really catching up with me, so I headed back to the hotel and immediately fell right to sleep. The next day I woke up early and walked some more around town.
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| They don't have KFC here, but they do have TFC |
One really cool thing they have in Yangon that I wish we had in the US is timers on their stop lights. You can see exactly how long until the light is going to change.
I'm extremely glad I got to visit Myanmar, even if it was only for a very short time. It's very different from anywhere I've ever visited. It is a country that has been closed from foreign interests for many years so the culture has been isolated and therefore is quite different from many other places. There are no American chains and few people speak English. However, they are now opening up the country more and more and there is a lot of excitement and development going on, especially from Japanese and Chinese companies. For anybody who has not been, I'd highly recommend visiting Myanmar soon as I'm sure it will become a much different place in the coming years.
