Another Holiday.
on Mary In Cambodia (Cambodia), 14/Dec/2011 07:28, 34 days ago
The water festival in early November gave another excuse to travel. This time it was Rangoon in Burma. Yangon in Myanmar as it is now called. It is one of'those far away places with strange sounding names' that sounded so romantic to me in my younger days. It has signs of once being a beautiful place, but sadly now it is a shambles and the people we met desperately poor. it isn't on the regular tourist trail yet and we were quite a novelty. Within minutes of sitting in a public place people gathered in a circle looking at us and smiling. Young people were keen to try out their little bit of English on us. Children came and touched us.The most surprising thing for me was that there were no motorbikes, just hundreds of very old buses with no windows or doors and passengers squeezed in like sardines. Taxis were equally clapped out, inner lining gone, side windows missing. One we called had the back seat on the floor, so we couldn't see out. A train journey was yet another experience. No doors or windows and passengers hopped on and off at will. Traders also came and went selling all sorts.Mobile phones seem to be only available tothe rich. A student we met told us it costs $500 for a sim card. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. The only real problem was changing money. We were told to bring new US dollars, which we did. However we folded them and so banks would not accept them with the fold mark. Two hours walking and six refusals the choice was change them on the street or starve. We didn't starve.Schwedagon Pagoda,( said to have more gold than the Bank of England)Travel by trainOr Bicycle made for3?Or Bus.There was a pagoda on every corner claiming all kinds of personal connections with the Buddha.Dinner and traditional entertainment on this floating restaurant was very enjoyable.Local Male FashionBy the water front.Sunset.