Visiting Pagodas in Yangon

My Australian cousin Clare was traveling around Asia and she
decided to come and visit us in Singapore. She had done a lot of
traveling around the world and wanted to visit somewhere new, so we choose Yangon Myanmar, a place that neither of us had been before.
I arrived at Yangon airport surrounded by huddles of men and taxis. My friends Jess and Anthony were also on the same plane as me so
we made our way to the front of the airport. Luckily I had pre-booked
a taxi and I dropped them off at their hotel next to the airport before
driving into the city. The drive took about an hour and I passed the
famous Shwedagon pagoda on my way. It stood on top of a hill
gleaming in the light. My cousin had arrived before me so when I
got to our hotel the Grand Hotel United - 21st Downtown she was
already sat on the rooftop terrace drinking a beer. The hotel was basic
but well located right in the heart of Chinatown. After drinking a beer
on the rooftop terrace we went for dinner at the Monsoon restaurant.
The restaurant was set within a beautiful old building with high
ceilings and intricate decoration. The restaurant was full of tourists
and expats and served delicious local food.
The next day we hopped in a taxi and made our way to the main
attraction the Shwedagon pagoda. The pagoda had 4 main entrances
leading up to the main pagoda. Each entrance had a long covered
walkway decorated in gold and intricate design. The steps up to the
main entrance were long and there were multiple stalls selling local
products. We had to wear long trousers to cover our legs and take off our shoes. We followed our map to the right and walked in a circle.
The Shwedagon pagoda was a huge complex with hundreds of
small pagodas and one huge pagoda in the middle. Everything was in
gold and gleamed in the sun. Within the complex there were small
temples with different Buddha statues and scriptures. At the base of the main pagoda were 12 water stands representing each month of
the year. Depending on the month that you were born you went to
that water stand and followed a number of rituals including pouring
the water on your head as a blessing. The main Shwedagon pagoda
was huge and towered over everything else. Unfortunately it was covered in scaffolding but it still looked impressive. On the edge of
the complex was a holy tree where people were giving offerings and
incense. We spent hours inside the complex just taking in the
atmosphere as people from all parts of the world walked past us.
After leaving the pagoda was jumped into another taxi and headed towards a residential part of town that housed 2 of the largest

Buddha’s in Myanmar - Chauk Htat Gyi Buddha and the sitting
Buddha at Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda. We went to visit the Chauk Htat Gyi
Buddha first. We took our shoes off and entered a huge open
warehouse building. Inside was an enormous Buddha lying on
its side with its arm bent behind its head. The balls of his feet were
painted gold and a scripture "Sutras" was written on them. It really
was an impressive site. Across the road was another temple housing
another Buddha. After a hairy crossing trying not to get run over by the cars we climbed up the stairs to the temple. This time it was the
sitting Buddha at Nga Htat Gyi Pagoda. The Buddha was giant and
towered over us. We sat and watched while people prayed to the
Buddha. After visiting both Buddha's we got back into a taxi and
headed back into town to the bogyoke market. On our way we
grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local biryani restaurant. The restaurant was basic and the biryani was made inside huge metal pots on the side of the street. There were lots of different flavors to choose from. We had the chicken biryani and ate upstairs surrounded by
locals. The market was a short walk from the restaurant and was
huge and heaving with people. The market sold everything and
anything from spices, vegetables, meat, jewellery, clothes and wooden
carving. I bought a traditional gong and set of wicker place mats and
Clare bought a pearl salt spoon and trousers.
After the market we went back to our hotel to shower and relax before
going out for dinner. We had another beer on the roof terrace and
watched the sun set over the city. My cousin had been recommended
another restaurant called Shan Kan Restaurant. We jumped into a
taxi and headed across town. The restaurant was inside a traditional
wooden framed building. It served traditional local food which was a
combination of Chinese, Indian, Thai and Cambodian. The food was
delicious and we walked out full and satisfied. On our way back to the
hotel we stopped off at 19th Street which is famous for its street stalls
selling chicken satay. The street was filled with backpackers drinking
beer and eating chicken satay.
On our final day we visited the Sule pagoda. The pagoda was smaller
in size compared to the Shwedagon pagoda but just as impressive.
The pagoda was located in the middle of a roundabout with cars and buses whizzing past. The pagoda was raised above street level and
was surrounded by a ring of shops. There were 4 entrances leading up
to the pagoda which could either be reached by a bridge or steps. As
we walked up the steps we took off our shoes and entered the pagoda.
Around the pagoda where multiple temples and Buddha’s. The pagoda was much smaller in size but still magnificent to see as it shimmered gold in the sun. Next to the Sule pagoda were a number of old colonial building including the old town hall and a park with a large monument. We walked through the park and towards the river where we found The Strand hotel. The Strand Hotel was the famous colonial hotel but it lacked a certain grandeur and we decided to just have a look inside rather than stop for lunch. Instead we decided to try and find a local coffee shop and taste the local biscuits. After a lot of walking up and down the street we went into a street stall style coffee shop. The coffee was thick and rich and we soaked it up with some local biscuits. The trip was finished off with another trip to the bogyoke market in search for more clothes.