I rarely visit a place I’ve never been to
without reading up about it. I usually do a little “research” so I’d know, more
or less, what I should be looking for. But, I didn’t have time to prepare, so I
went Zen on this one – rather than look for things, I’ll let things look for
me. I have no regrets; not knowing anything was actually refreshing.
We flew to Singapore, then to Yangon; the
combined flights took about 6 hours. Yangon, Myanmar’s capital city, was
previously known to the world as Rangoon. The Burmese have always called their
city, Yangon, but the British colonizers heard it as Rangoon, and called it
that for a century. (A similar case is Beijing. Foreigners heard it as Peking.)
Myanmar consists of many ethnic groups, which were frequently at war with each
other. The king who succeeded in unifying the groups settled here and called it
Yangon, which means “end of strife.” (Myanmar means “swift and strong.”)
Yangon has a new airport – spacious, clean,
and brightly-lit. Immigration officials process your entry without a fuss.
Filipinos do not need visas, which is great. Luggages are out on the carousel
in good time. Quite efficient, actually.
I immediately noticed the men wearing the
national attire, the longyi (pro nounced 'longji'), an ankle-length fabric
wrapped around the lower body like a long skirt. The fabric was tied with the
knot at the waist. Women wore them, too, but their longyi seemed more colorful,
the fabric design looked more elaborate. I didn’t see a knot in their longyi.
Seeing people in their national costume was very interesting to me. These days
people around the world are wearing the same (Western) attire more and more.
It’s especially true among the young people.
Yangon has its share of heavy traffic.
Because it used to be a British colony, driving used to be on the right side,
like Hong Kong & Singapore. The locals switched driving to the left side
years ago, but many of their cars still have steering wheels on the right. I
thought, “That’s dangerous!”, but our driver assured us the locals manage
somehow. (Our van had the steering wheel on the “right” place.) We passed a
sign that says, “Welcome to the Golden Land.” I asked why is it called Golden
Land. The lady with us said the pagodas, of which there are thousands, are all
painted with the gold color. I thought she meant gold paint. We learned later
the pagodas were covered with real gold!
The weather was warm and humid, with
scattered rain now and then. Time difference from Manila is an hour and a half.
That one is unique. I’ve known full hours or half an hour; I find hour and a
half a bit tricky. People didn’t appear to be in a hurry. They seemed to go
about their business in a relaxed manner.
The scenery reminded me you of our
provinces. Rice fields everywhere. (At some point, Myanmar was the world’s
biggest rice exporter.) Lots of coconut trees, mahogany, acacia, banyan. Old
buildings, dirt-stained and moss-covered, stood side by side with high rises.
Colonial structures, some of them abandoned, are dwarfed by newer ones. We
passed a neo-Gothic Anglican church, a football stadium, and the old railway
station on our way to the hotel.
I didn’t have high expectations about
hotels in Myanmar. Three years ago, a friend visited Myanmar for a week. She
wasn’t happy at all. She complained about the place where she stayed, the food,
the lack of amenities, and other things. Worst, she told us, she couldn’t get a
phone connection, much less an internet. I’m pleased to say what a major
difference three years have been!
We stayed at the Sule Shangri-La, and I can
hardly complain. The greeters wore ethnic costumes. They were all very
colourful. (We noticed they changed costumes everyday, to represent a different
ethnic group each time.) Like most Shangri-La hotels, the lobby was impressive.
I kept looking at the wooden panels – the carving was very intricate! You see
carvings everywhere – on screens, tables, chairs, walls, windows, pediments.
The Burmese, you quickly learn, are master carvers. You also see images of the
peacock, their national animal, on paintings and sculptures. The sculpture on
display is golden and studded with gems.
Our rooms offered a great view of the city
and the nearby Yangon River. And, hey, there’s WiFi! I brought only my iPad –
for writing mostly. I could have brought my laptop, but again, no regrets. We
unpacked, rested for a bit, and went out for dinner.
Dinner was at the popular Governor’s
Residence. We were told it really was the governor’s house during colonial
times. It has a lovely garden and a lagoon. Food was delicious – Indian and
Thai cuisine mostly. Mango salad, roti pratta, chicken, beef, lamb and pork
curry, tom yum soup, and fragrant rice. Grilled prawn, satay, fish, and squid.
Dessert was irresistible – all sorts of rice cakes, their version of halo halo
(but with lots of coconut milk), fresh fruit as well as fruit candies. Some of
the candies were like pure sugar! We finished off with green tea. It’s been a
long while since I ate that much. The chef came out to greet us. He said he
thought he heard Tagalog being spoken. He told us he has lots of Filipino
friends.
Read about our experience in touring the city in my Yangon Journal 9.
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