Yangon is of course the biggest city in Myanmar and still has its charm. Of course, big buildings and chain restaurants and hotels are going up everywhere (but what place will you not find these in the world).
Landing in Yangon, I noticed that they have a Pizza Hut and KFC which they did not have four years ago. The new airport terminal is beautiful and one of the cleanest airports I have seen.
Of course if you have never been to Yangon before, there is a couple day itinerary you can follow, however we wanted to see the sites rarely visited by tourists.
We decided to go to the local markets in which they sell everything from coconuts, bananas, and everything else you can think of by the bulk to local shop sellers. All of this stuff is brought from the countryside for people to sell and this market is not one to be missed at all as many tourists obviously do not frequent markets….
Of course, driving around you can see people going about their daily lives and even though this country is becoming more westernized, many people are still holding to their past traditions as in dress and small shops on the street…
We decided to take a city train for about an hour just to see the sites it passes along the way as this is a great way to see the less touristy parts. We sat down in the old train and passed by small sections of the city watching people along the way and seeing people get on and off at different stops…..
As we had already visited many pagodas last time, we decided the only one we wanted to see again was Swedagon Pagoda which is one of the world’s most spectacular monuments. It is a gleaming bell structure that dominates the city and it is said to have the hairs of the Buddha enshrined there. It is nice to take time to walk around there and see how the people pray and the different rituals they perform at the many small sites inside the pagoda
