The Beginning Of A Wonderful Journey

Leaving home to start the biggest adventure of your life requires a good dose of courage and a desire to explore. Read my first impressions after a few days in the city of Yangon, Myanmar.

Welcome to my travel blog. If you are reading this post, it means that you are eager to travel and discover the world as much as I do. See?! We already have so many things in common! Whether you are planning the trip of your life, you are about to visit Southeast Asia or are just curious if I can survive Coronavirus in the next six months, keep reading my blog for weekly updates on adventures, tours, travel suggestions and everything you need to know about SEA.

"The greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time” Bill Bryson

Our journey starts in the immense Yangon, one of the major cities in the very South of Myanmar. As you fly above Yangon, you can immediately understand its vastness because your eyes can’t reach the edges of the city. Just to give you a rough idea of what I am talking about, Yangon covers an area of 576 km² and its population consists of around 5 million people (Milan only counts slightly more than 3 million). The weather is wonderfully hot and we can’t be happier: Europe is still in full winter-mode, so it’s nice to escape the vicious weather.

As we walk through the narrow streets, we are immediately mesmerised by the colours and the typical smell of Asian food, spices and ingredients sold in every corner of the city: street-long markets spring up everywhere just like mushrooms while vendors in tiny stands shout incomprehensible words at passers-by. They sell the weirdest things such as dried oddly-shaped fish, typical dishes, chewing spices, tobacco, tropical fruits and more (we learnt that coconuts and bananas are often bought and offered to the spirits that live in each Buddhist house - more details in another blog article!).

Our hotel is located in the Downtown area. I read this is the best place to stay if you want to live and breathe the authentic life of Yangon and boy, they were right! Downtown is the oldest part of the city, where buildings are still as they were originally and where there is no sign of modernity apart from a few computer shops and a hotel here and there. The architecture is fascinating pretty much everywhere: Myanmar was a British colony so signs of the British presence can still be seen in colonial-era buildings scattered around the city.

Each street is connected to main central roads that divide Downtown in upper, middle and lower blocks. You can get lost pretty quickly as one street is almost identical to another, but you get used to it after a day or two.

A colonial-era building in Downtown

Each block is covered in street markets (as well as shops in the background). Each food vendor has his own CHILD-SIZE plastic tables and chairs where people can “comfortably” sit and consume their food: customers don’t seem to mind at all and enjoy their meal with friends and family members. These stands are more popular than normal cafes and restaurants and it almost looks like everyone knows each other and enjoy everlasting breaks eating food and chatting in good company.

I am a vegetarian, so I have limited choice at these stands: they obviously serve great quantities of meat and fish, and most of the stock they use for soups is fish-based. Not too bad, though, there’s still plenty of food I can try!

Street markets on a street near Shwedagon Pagoda

Another thing you can’t help but notice is the traffic jam. Cars are everywhere, they speed along the streets following no rules and having zero consideration for pedestrians. Drivers seem to really like honking the horn for no specific reason, so you can imagine the constant noise that animates the streets!

Buses are extremely fun to watch! They are always packed with people and doors usually remain open during the ride, so you basically see these clapped-out old bangers roaming around the city with passengers holding on to the railings in an attempt of not falling off the bus. It’s also a fun thing to experience and a ride is ridiculously cheap ( 200 MMK - 0.15 $).

Taxis are also very popular and cheap: the cost of a ride around the city varies depending on the destination and the number of people but it’s usually around 3,000/4,000 MMK ( 2 or 3 $). We usually take taxis in the evening, after we walked the whole day and we’re too tired to walk back to the hotel. Poor feet!

Speaking of tired legs, foot spas are very popular and are great if you want to restore feet and claves after a long trek around the city. I had a massage and pedicure at a spa near my hotel for a ridiculous 10,000 MMK ( 7$!!!!). So worth it!

Night view of taxis and buses roaring by in Sule Pagoda Road

The thing I love the most is the people: the Burmese are a very friendly population and they tend to approach and interact with tourists most of the time. They like chatting and practicing their English, which is generally good and popular even amongst older people - basic vocabulary, of course. They are extremely kind but a bit too grovelling for my tastes, or maybe I am just not used to such politeness!

That’s how we randomly met Htoo Htoo (pronounced: two two), a young Burmese with a great English accent and a passion for tourism. He has started a small business and takes tourists on daily or longer trips around Yangon, to the countryside and to other main cities. He was extremely friendly so we decided to organise a small tour of his hometown for the 29th of February. Keep posted for more details of this tour!

Kids smiling and posing for the camera in Bado

I am so enjoying spending time in Yangon and I am looking forward to visiting more places and discovering the local culture. Stay tuned for new articles about sightseeing, food and tour suggestions coming up in the next articles!

Keep your curiosity alive!

Lella