Yangon - 2010
In June-July 2010 I had a 17-day tour of Myanmar with PerigreneTravel.
I flew to Yangon via Singapore with Singapore Airlines.
Rangoon, now called Yangon was the capital of Burma.
Prior to the British establishing Rangoon, the capital was at Mandalay.
In 2006, the capital was transferred to Nay Pyi Taw, about 200 km away.
Shwedagon Pagoda dominates the Yangon skyline.
The Lonely Planet describes Yangon as a leafy Bangkok without Bangkok's bright neon lights.
That is a good description, although Bangkok has many, many more modern high rise buildings.
A view from the hotel roof.
Yangon Zoo
I arrived in Yangon at about 9am.
The zoo was near the hotel.
They had a very ordinary display of animals in poor quality cages.
I was subsequently told that a lot of the animals that were once here
have been moved to a new zoo in the new capital, Nay Pyi Taw.
Shwedagon Pagoda dominates the Yangon skyline.
The dome rises 98m above its base.
The most sacred Buddhist shrine in Myanmar, it houses 8 hairs of Buddha.
Over 600 years ago, Queen Shin Saw Ku donated her own weight in gold, 40kg, to gild part of the dome.
Always point your feet away from the Buddha.
A picture of the jewelled top-most section of the pagoda.
The British built some fine colonial buildings in Rangoon.
Interestingly there are no motorcycles on the roads in Yangon unlike the rest of the country.
Also while they drive on the right-hand side of the road (unlike us),
most of their vehicles are right-hand drive (like ours).
That makes it very hard to see on-coming vehicles when overtaking.
Up until 1970, they drove on the left-hand side like their neighbours, India and Thailand.
General Ne Win, who was in charge at the time did not like leftists
and decreed that in future they would drive on the right-hand side.
Buy your spectacles on the street.
Just find a pair that suits your eyes.
Bank security! - the door is tied up with twine.
As our guide Nyi Nyi said, there are no bank robberies in Myanmar, because there is no money in the banks.
Get you mobile phone fixed on the street.
A peek inside the Grand Hotel.
Most of their cars were at least 30 years old.
Nearly all the taxis were 35 year old Toyota Coronas and Corollas.
Karaweik Royal Barge is a reproduction which houses an upmarket restaurant where traditional
Burmese dance shows are performed. The concrete structure does not float.
Shwedagon towers over Kandawgyi Lake.
My Perigrene tour party of 7.
I was hanging out with an older crew than my past trips.
Chaukhtatgyi Reclining Buddha
55m long, the Buddha is resting on his right side,
toes together, in the classic dying position.
This is the position in which he attained enlightenment.
The glass of the eye lens are 1.5m in dianeter.
Taukkyan War Cemetry
A school bus.
Music in the foyer of our hotel.
In June-July 2010 I had a 17-day tour of Myanmar with PerigreneTravel.
I flew to Yangon via Singapore with Singapore Airlines.
Rangoon, now called Yangon was the capital of Burma.
Prior to the British establishing Rangoon, the capital was at Mandalay.
In 2006, the capital was transferred to Nay Pyi Taw, about 200 km away.
Shwedagon Pagoda dominates the Yangon skyline.
The Lonely Planet describes Yangon as a leafy Bangkok without Bangkok's bright neon lights.
That is a good description, although Bangkok has many, many more modern high rise buildings.
A view from the hotel roof.
Yangon Zoo
I arrived in Yangon at about 9am.
The zoo was near the hotel.
They had a very ordinary display of animals in poor quality cages.
I was subsequently told that a lot of the animals that were once here
have been moved to a new zoo in the new capital, Nay Pyi Taw.
Shwedagon Pagoda dominates the Yangon skyline.
The dome rises 98m above its base.
The most sacred Buddhist shrine in Myanmar, it houses 8 hairs of Buddha.
Over 600 years ago, Queen Shin Saw Ku donated her own weight in gold, 40kg, to gild part of the dome.
Always point your feet away from the Buddha.
A picture of the jewelled top-most section of the pagoda.
The British built some fine colonial buildings in Rangoon.
Interestingly there are no motorcycles on the roads in Yangon unlike the rest of the country.
Also while they drive on the right-hand side of the road (unlike us),
most of their vehicles are right-hand drive (like ours).
That makes it very hard to see on-coming vehicles when overtaking.
Up until 1970, they drove on the left-hand side like their neighbours, India and Thailand.
General Ne Win, who was in charge at the time did not like leftists
and decreed that in future they would drive on the right-hand side.
Buy your spectacles on the street.
Just find a pair that suits your eyes.
Bank security! - the door is tied up with twine.
As our guide Nyi Nyi said, there are no bank robberies in Myanmar, because there is no money in the banks.
Get you mobile phone fixed on the street.
A peek inside the Grand Hotel.
Most of their cars were at least 30 years old.
Nearly all the taxis were 35 year old Toyota Coronas and Corollas.
Karaweik Royal Barge is a reproduction which houses an upmarket restaurant where traditional
Burmese dance shows are performed. The concrete structure does not float.
Shwedagon towers over Kandawgyi Lake.
My Perigrene tour party of 7.
I was hanging out with an older crew than my past trips.
Chaukhtatgyi Reclining Buddha
55m long, the Buddha is resting on his right side,
toes together, in the classic dying position.
This is the position in which he attained enlightenment.
The glass of the eye lens are 1.5m in dianeter.
Taukkyan War Cemetry
A school bus.
Music in the foyer of our hotel.