And on to Myanmar through Yangon

Jan 30 2014

We left our laptop in Thailand and had planned to use the tablet to post the blog. Unfortunately we were unable to post so I am writing these entries in Thailand on February 20^th. There will be numerous postings consequently.

We arrived in Yangon around noon and Jeff, a friend from our days in the Rep of Georgia met us at the airport. Jeff now works for the US Embassy in Yangon. We spent the afternoon catching up with each other. Ann and Jeff have a fabulous apartment conveniently located. Jeff can walk to work and Ann’s work is a short bike or taxi ride away. Ann got home around 6:00 and we walked down the street and had a great meal at an outdoor café with great people watching.

Jan 31

We had breakfast in the apartment, met with a rep from the tourist agency and paid the balance of our bill in cash. Did I mention that Myanmar is an all cash society? Just this year ATM’s have arrived in the big cities only but credit cards are scarce. So we brought US dollars which must be new bills with no creases, folds, tears, or marks of any kind.

We took a taxi to Scott’s Market, a rabbit warren of 1,000 shops. We asked at least four times where the Yo Ya May shop was. With great certainty we were given different directions each time. This is a shop that specializes in tribal textiles. Last year we bought a Naga tribe belt made of leather, decorated with cowry shells and horse hair. It also had a wooden sleeve for a knife. This year we settled on a Naga ‘hat’ complete with goat hair, horse hair and wild boar tusks. So we have a matching set of Naga accessories.

We walked to the Strand Hotel, a lovely old colonial building and had a cool sweetened lime juice, our favorite drink on  a hot day. We visited the large shop here then walked to Monsoon, an Asia restaurant featuring Myanmar, Thai and Vietnamese food. Yum! I had planned to visit the shop upstairs but we ran out of time. We went back to the apartment and rested until Ann got off work in the early afternoon. Around 5:00 we went to the Embassy and met Jeff at the Marine House happy hour. This is a regular event I think at embassies where the Marine who are charged with guarding/protecting the embassy invite those who work at the embassy for a no host bar on Friday evenings. It was fun and the embassy is in a beautiful setting.

Afterwards we headed for Chinatown as it is the Chinese New YearAsia shops. 

and festivities were happening all over town. We ate at an outdoor barbeque place and watched as throngs of people from all over the world passed by. We visited a Chinese temple that was filled with incense smoke. We passed by outdoor markets where everything was on sale from food to underwear. This is how Myanmarians shop

Feb 1

On Saturday Ann joined us on our return trip to the NGO (nonMyanmar specialty called fermented tea leaf salad. It was divine with tea leaves, ginger, crispy peanuts and beans. We relaxed in the afternoon and ate dinner at home. 

governmental organization) that supports people with various disabilities. So many wonderful items were available, all tastefully made. There were exquisite weavings from $350 to hand made cards for $3.00. We bought cards, a stuffed animal and a few other items that I can’t recall.  The three of us then went to a great restaurant called Feel Myanmar where you walk up to a counter where there are 40-50 prepared dishes and point to what you want. These items are then brought to your table by the wait staff. What a feast. We tried a We tried a Myanmar specialty called fermented tea leaf salad. It was divine with tea leaves, ginger, crispy peanuts and beans.

We relaxed in the afternoon and ate dinner at home enjoying the evening view of Shwedagon Paya from their apartment patio.