Beginning of an adventure in Myanmar

Above:  Dinner on kindy-chairs.

Due to natural light in my room being obscured partially by an external wall (and thick curtains), I didn’t wake up till around 9am.

I hadn’t slept well last few nights; I seemed to wake up a fair bit feeling sweaty. I put the disturbed sleep down to the pseudoephedrine which is clearing up my sinuses well.

I grabbed some coffee-milk plus rolls from the convenience store downstairs and slowly got ready for an 11am checkout. I walked to the airport terminal where time passed fairly quickly before checkin opened for my flight to Yangon.

Onboard, I sat next to a Myanmar man. As we made our final approach into Yangon, we flew past a couple of golden pagodas. He put his hands into prayer position as we passed each one. As I found out later, drivers do the same when they drive pass pagodas.

Everything went smoothly upon arrival at Yangon. While waiting at the visa-on-arrival queue, the officer beckoned me forward as he had recognised me from the photo on the documents he had in front of him, awaiting my arrival. I give him top marks!

After passport control, the travel agent who organised my visa was there to collect his fee and help me into a taxi (at less than the placarded rate). I had used this agent as I couldn’t make it to an embassy to apply for a real stick-on visa in my passport.

As I stepped out of the terminal building, I was pleasantly surprised by the cool dry air. On the way into Yangon central, the city seems a lot more modern and high-rise than I remember some 15 years ago.

After checking into the Mayshan Hotel next to the Sule Pagoda, I went for a walk and to find some dinner. The side walk eateries and stalls seem so lit up (relatively) compared to my first visit. I didn’t find much food that appealed to my first day nerves, but eventually settled on a simple shop (with kindy-height stools) which served me some noodles topped with pork with sides of pickles and soup. That set me back MMK700 (USD0.80) which I thought was quite pricey as that would buy something slightly better in a more developed country like Malaysia. Then two large gorgeous apples cost me MMK500 (USD0.60). I wonder if there’s an element of “first day tourist” pricing.

In general, Myanmar isn’t a value destination like say Vietnam or Thailand. There isn’t quite the same supply and demand … not many businesses competing for the tourist dollar. That goes for accommodation, food … the works.