Yangon, Myanmar

This was our first stop on a 4 month journey across Asia. Not the easiest place to get to from Europe as it involves at least 2 flights but definitely worth it. Coming from Europe, Thai Airways offers probably the best connection. A flight to Bangkok is approx. 10 and half hours, you then get a pleasant 2 hour break at Bangkok airport followed by a short 1 hour flight to Yangon.

I have to say that the arrival at Yangon didn’t fill me with confidence after I had to visit the loo and discovered that it was a hole in the ground situation but of course it’s all part of the experience! (don’t worry, most other loos we encountered are as you imagine them to be).

Upon arrival, you need to get some currency. Burmese currency is not available to buy anywhere outside of the country so best to get it at the airport (apparently the rate is quite good too). We changed about $150 and we still have plenty of it left and we are on our third full day in Myanmar! Yes, things here are very cheap indeed. A 45 minute taxi ride from the airport was about $10, one of the most expensive bills we have had to pay so far.

We arrived after dark so couldn’t see much that evening and were also pretty tired so ended up staying within the walls of our hotel for the night. Since we are away for 4 months, we need to budget a bit more than we would normally so we have opted for a budget friendly Hotel 63 (costing about $25 per night). It’s a little out of the way on the far Eastern side of Downtown and you do have to take taxis everywhere but they only cost about $2 so it really doesn’t matter. The area around the hotel was quite industrial given the proximity to the port and there was nowhere to go so for that reason alone I would probably recommend to stay somewhere closer to the main action area, from 40th street onwards (we were in 63rd street). I will have an opportunity to test out 2 more hotels in Yangon as we will be back there twice in the next month so will update this if my opinion changes. In hindsight, Yangon can also get a bit oppressive in terms of traffic and sheer volume of people so if your budget can stretch to it, get a hotel with a swimming pool or a terrace where you can escape the crowds for a bit.

Right, so the next morning, we made a list of things we wanted to see and made our way to 41st and 42nd street where a previously grubby alleyway has been decorated with amazing wall art and graffiti (Yangon Walls). This was our first glimpse of Yangon and while you can appreciate how this was once perhaps a charming and bustling neighbourhood, even with the addition of wall art it felt rather dilapidated and neglected. It is a shame but it looks like perhaps people are starting to realize that and some efforts are being made to make it a bit edgy and trendy. Overall, I would recommend stopping there for an hour or so.

Then, we went to see the Karaweik palace by the lake. This is actually a fairly new addition to Yangon but has become a sort of a landmark and even features on Myanmar’s national beer label. The area around the park is actually really nice and a welcome break from the narrow streets of Downtown.

Our final attraction stop on that day was undoubtedly the biggest attraction of Yangon which is the Shwedagon Pagoda (entry $10). The entry is somewhat modern, via a lift, however the pagoda itself dates back to 588 BC and is truly spectacular. We spent quite a bit of time there taking photos but also being photographed! Very weird at first, then was sweet and then got a bit annoying. We asked someone about it after as there are foreigners in the city so and we couldn’t figure out for ages why people wanted to take photos with us. Apparently, visitors to such sites very often come from outside the city and where they come from foreigners are rarely seen – hence the attraction. It felt a little odd but we obliged most of the time and given how may selfies we took with strangers over the course of that weekend I’m surprised we weren’t trending on Yangon’s insta account!

If you are in the market for some food and entertainment then you should definitely visit 19th street. It’s in Chinatown but also happens to be the lively place to be of an evening. We sat in Ko San and had a very enjoyable night there, won 3 free beers and made some first Burmese friends. The drinks were an absolute steal, cocktails were around £1!

We were slightly unlucky with the time we visited as 4th of January also happens to be Myanmar’s independence day. While it’s great to be a part of a celebration, the reality was that some of the attractions we wanted to see were closed (National Museum, U Thant House). Because of this, we ended up in People’s Park which is a huge green area with lots of landscaped gardens, follies etc. It was super busy but we really enjoyed it, so if you have time it’s nice to take a stroll in there but perhaps avoid the weekends and holidays if you don’t want to end up in everyone’s selfie collection.

Final activity we did in Yangon was to attend the street food tour. While the tour itself was not exactly what we hoped for (it was really history focussed rather than food), we did get to eat some delicious street food like tea leaf salad and we also had a pretty amazing BBQ on the 19th street. Neither of the places gave us any stomach troubles so I imagine they must have tried and tested them beforehand which is good. The BBQ place was called Shwe Mingalar and I can really recommend it.