Back from Yangon

I am back! The trip to Yangon was indeed exotic. Never in my life have i been to such an unbelievable place. The place is still under martial law, pple are very careful of what they do and wat they say. There are many things that one have to observe, if not, one can get into trouble very easily. However, the pple are very warmth.

Let's begin with the first day when i arrived at Yangon International Airport. As expected, we have to alight the plane on the tarmac. A bus will fetch us to the terminal. Oh yes, i din take Myanmar Airlines, it was Jetstar Asia. ha... Both airlines codeshared, so it was Jetstar flight eventually. Strange enough, they serve free food onboard. I think that got to do with Myanmar Airlines. ha....

The airport is only served by a few airlines, mainly Thai Airways, Silkair, Dragon Air, Jetstar Asia and Myanmar Airlines. The traffic in the airport is not heavy at all. It's a small international airport, which is currently under upgrading. Weather is hot, i think slightly warmer than Singapore.

Now the interesting part, we are not allowed to wear shorts or sleeveless tshirt or even singlet in certain places. Why? Cos Myanmar is a buddhist country full of shrines and temples. If you ever visit any of these places, pls be in proper attire. If you are not visiting any of these places, then its fine.

However, i can tell you, the place has nothing much to see except shrines and temples. They have very exotic and beautiful temples, like Europeans who have wonderful catherals. There are not many shopping centres or even high rise buildings like in Bangkok. The highest building in Yangon is a hotel that have 22 storeys. That's it!

Come to shopping, shoppers can forget about coming to Yangon. There is nothing much to shop. It's unlike bangkok where u have tons of shopping places to go. There isnt much in Yangon. Anyway, even if there is, i guess you wont want to buy cos their stuff dun suit our taste. I can assure you.

Going to Myanmar, reminds me of sitting on a time machine, then travelling back to the early 50s to 60s Singapore. The roads are uneven, vehicles are in dilapidated state, public buses are like those olden days buses. Technology is not very advanced, with very little usage of computer or even internet.

With little entertainment, wat does the pple there do? They are very devoted buddhists. Everything revolves ard buddha. Lovers would hang out or "pak tor" at temples, sitting outside the temple and chatting thru the night. There is no starbucks coffee or coffee bean, they have their local version of coffee shop. Youngsters will be seen sitting in the coffee shop with friends chatting away.

For families, i usually see a group of them having picnic in the temple. Ha... Surprise right? They would bring along a mat, with lots of food, together with their children, parents etc and gather ard the temple. So after praying, they will sit somewhere near the temple and enjoy the tranquility of the place. ha... interesting.

The most memorable part of the trip was to visit the Golden Rock Pagoda. We had to take our bus to the foot of a mountain, then travel by a small lorry to mid hill, finally, it was by foot to reach the peak where the pagoda is. It was fun. The rock was magnificient. It has been featured on Travel and Adventure channel several times. I have finally seen it for myself. yeah...

When i reached home yesterday, i feel good. I have return from a primitive society to a modernize world. I really appreciate staying in Singapore. Everything is just so peaceful, so advanced and in order. It is always good to leave the country for a while, to see how other pple live in the other side of the world.