A different world
After Bangkok I flew to Burma or Myanmar as it is locally referred to. I arrived at 7am and it was clear that it wasn't just me that was tired as the immigration officer gave me a visa until 30.02 instead of 30.01, oh well, I'm not complaining. As I arrived to the hotel I was lucky enough to be checked in straight away so I took a nap before heading out on a tour of Yangon city.
My first stop was Sule Paya which is basically a temple in the middle of a busy roundabout, yes it really is as strange as it sounds. I paid 5000 kyat (32SEK/ €3.20) including the entrance fee and a bouquet of flowers as an offering.
I placed the flowers under a small alter where it said "Thursday", as I was born on a Thursday but maybe I should have put it under Saturday since that was the day I was there? I don't know but it was a nice experience.
I continued north from the pagoda to Bogyoke Aung San market which had everything from gems and jewellery to fabrics and food.
One of the things that fascinated me most was all the stalls along the road. There was so much fresh fruit available which was refreshing to see. There were also a lot of stalls selling books, I'm not quite sure why this surprised me but I clearly wasn't expecting that.
This place is completely different from anything else, it's loud, crazy traffic, dirty, lots of food stalls along the side of the road, it has buses that looks like they will break down any minute and everyone is wearing these fantastic colourful skirts.
During my first evening I headed out to one of the food stalls, sat down on a little plastic stool by the side of the road with the rest of the locals and enjoyed a bowl of non-spicy rice with some to me unknown crunchiness. It was served with a big kettle of herbal tea for the crazy price of 700 Kyat (4.50 SEK/ €0.45).
The next day I headed for a walk to the famous Shwe Dagon Pagoda. I paid 8000 Kyat (51 SEK/€5) in entrance fee plus I had to buy a bright orange sarong for 5000 Kyat (32 SEK/ €3.20) as what I was wearing wasn't covering my knees. It was really impressive but a bit weird since people were both eating and sleeping in there. They also had ATMs and money exchange counters plus a wifi corner. I suppose they are merging the old with the new!
A guy taught me how to get good luck for me and my family; first I poured 3 cups of water over the Buddha, one for Buddha, one for his teachings and one for his son (I think, he was a bit difficult to understand) and finally left a cup on the side. He then gave me two small leaves, one representing me and one my family, whilst having them pressed between my palms he showed me how to pay my respects and be blessed with good luck. He told me to keep these leaves for the rest of my life (let's see if I can get them through customs first). We then banged the gong three times to secure the good luck. So I guess 2016 is bound to be a good year!
With all that good luck I then got on a night bus to Bagan to explore the 4000 temples in the area.
My first stop was Sule Paya which is basically a temple in the middle of a busy roundabout, yes it really is as strange as it sounds. I paid 5000 kyat (32SEK/ €3.20) including the entrance fee and a bouquet of flowers as an offering.
I placed the flowers under a small alter where it said "Thursday", as I was born on a Thursday but maybe I should have put it under Saturday since that was the day I was there? I don't know but it was a nice experience.
I continued north from the pagoda to Bogyoke Aung San market which had everything from gems and jewellery to fabrics and food.
One of the things that fascinated me most was all the stalls along the road. There was so much fresh fruit available which was refreshing to see. There were also a lot of stalls selling books, I'm not quite sure why this surprised me but I clearly wasn't expecting that.
This place is completely different from anything else, it's loud, crazy traffic, dirty, lots of food stalls along the side of the road, it has buses that looks like they will break down any minute and everyone is wearing these fantastic colourful skirts.
During my first evening I headed out to one of the food stalls, sat down on a little plastic stool by the side of the road with the rest of the locals and enjoyed a bowl of non-spicy rice with some to me unknown crunchiness. It was served with a big kettle of herbal tea for the crazy price of 700 Kyat (4.50 SEK/ €0.45).
The next day I headed for a walk to the famous Shwe Dagon Pagoda. I paid 8000 Kyat (51 SEK/€5) in entrance fee plus I had to buy a bright orange sarong for 5000 Kyat (32 SEK/ €3.20) as what I was wearing wasn't covering my knees. It was really impressive but a bit weird since people were both eating and sleeping in there. They also had ATMs and money exchange counters plus a wifi corner. I suppose they are merging the old with the new!
A guy taught me how to get good luck for me and my family; first I poured 3 cups of water over the Buddha, one for Buddha, one for his teachings and one for his son (I think, he was a bit difficult to understand) and finally left a cup on the side. He then gave me two small leaves, one representing me and one my family, whilst having them pressed between my palms he showed me how to pay my respects and be blessed with good luck. He told me to keep these leaves for the rest of my life (let's see if I can get them through customs first). We then banged the gong three times to secure the good luck. So I guess 2016 is bound to be a good year!
With all that good luck I then got on a night bus to Bagan to explore the 4000 temples in the area.
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