The Union of Myanmar, more widely known as Burma, was AMAZING. I can’t say enough about the place! WOW! Because there’s so much to say, we’re splitting it up into a series of blogs.

Welcome to Downtown Different

We started out in the major city, Yangon. Fresh from the airport and checked into our hotel, we hit the pavement looking for lunch and having no idea what to expect. We walked down the main avenue and saw locals shouting good deals for their goods, families strolling together, and friends arm-in-arm. Most of the people (male and female) were wearing a longhi, a traditional long tied skirt with anything from t-shirts to dress shirts with them. We thought it was pretty cool.

Our first reaction was to ask, “What happened to all of the foreigners?” Since we only went to major cities and tourist sites in heavily foreigner-visited Vietnam, it was a pleasant surprise. It sounds elitist, snobby, hypocritical, etc., but places are more magical and exciting when you’re the only foreigner around. Actually, it’s mainly better because people in heavily visited places are not only used to you, but have come up with clever ways to overcharge you. Not so in Burma. 99% of the time if someone looked at you they’d smile warmly and sometimes say hello. Other people just minded their own business as if you weren’t there. It was so great. It was almost never difficult to find a fair price for taxis, food, water, etc. If they inflated some of the prices a little, however, it’d be pretty hard to notice. We went to a restaurant three days in a row (lunch and dinner!) for their uberdelicious $1 all-you-can-eat Indian meals. $1! Incredible!

Shwedagon Pagoda

One of the shocks of Yangon is the unavoidable poverty. Most buildings are pretty dilapidated, the cars are ancient, and fabulous displays of wealth are few and far between. Unbelievably, the largest pagoda complex in the city is almost completely covered in gold and jewels!

Shwedagon Pagoda allegedly holds 8 hairs of Buddha inside, and is the most important Buddhist site in the country. Our guidebook lists 57 different things to see, ranging from holy bodhi trees to zodiac and planetary temples.

My jaw was wide open for about the entire two hours we walked around, and the place was definitely one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.