Tuesday 29 July 2014

Yangon trip – 29 Jul 14

After waking up early in the morning for 3 consecutive days, we are able to catch more hours of sleep today.

We had dim sum at the cafe where we had our dinner last night. We ordered 12 plates of dim sum and each plate contains 2 pieces of dim sum which is quite pathetic but these are enough to fill up our empty stomach.
Dim sum


We hailed a cab from the street to Shwedagon Pagoda. The taxi driver quoted us K3,000 ~ S$4 which is fairly reasonable since Shwedagon is 10min from downtown.

Shwedagon is a "high tech" temple as there are security checks and lifts in the compound.
Security check point
Leave your shoes here


The Shwedagon admission fee is quite expensive at K8,000 ~S$10 each. 
Lift & admission counter
Map of Shwedagon Paya


What surprised me the most is that there is free WIFI in Shwedagon and this accompanied us while we are waiting for the rain to stop. Myanmar is not an extremely backward country since it can offers free WIFI at the airport and Shwedagon.
Free wifi
Bodhi tree


Shwedagon Pagoda has a history of over 2,600 years, making it the oldest historical pagoda in Myanmar and the world. According to tradition, brother Taphussa and Bhallika from Myanmar met Prince Siddhartha who had just attained Buddhahood in India. The Buddha gave eight strand of his hairs to the brothers for enshrinement in their native town of Okkalapa which is now Yangon. The brothers traveled back to their homeland in Burma and with the help of the local ruler, King Okkalapa of Burma, enshrined the eight hairs together with the relics of three previous Buddhas.
Shwedagon Paya in the background
Temples in the compound
Burmese bride taking wedding photo
Bathing the Buddha on the day which I was born
3D murals
Waiting for the rain to stop

We had lunch at Aung Minglabar (Add: 34 Bo Yar Nyunt Street). This shop is famous for the Shan noodles. 
Aung Mingalar
Menu

Avocado juice can be frequently seen on the menu here but depends on availability of the season. The avocado juice in Myanmar is not as sweet as the juice in Indonesia and is 100% authentic avocado juice as no chocolate syrup as added.
Avocado juice

Another famous dish of Aung Mingalar is dumplings which cost K3,000 ~ S$4. The dumplings are pan fried and served with a crispy layer at the top.
Dumpling

At first glance, the Shan noodles portion is not very filling but by the time we finished the bowl of noodle, we were extremely full. The shan noodles do not have the lye added to it hence it's not yellowish and do not have the lye taste, it tasted more like ban mian but it's softer.
Shan noodle

After having our lunch, we strolled to Bogyoke Aung San Market which is 5min down the roads. We crossed an overhead bridge with railway track below and this is the circular train track. We skipped the circular train as we do not have sufficient time in Yangon.
Railway track
View of  Bo Gyoke street
Bogyoke Aung San Market
Map of Bogyoke Aung San Market


Bogyoke market is full of jewellery stalls selling jades and precious stones. I wonder how do the stalls survived when everyone is selling the same thing? I bought a jade bracelet for my mum and a jade pendant for hubby. Well, these cost me US$40 as it's not those top quality jade.
Stalls inside Bogyoke Aung San Market
Giving alms


We walked back to the hotel and collected our luggage before boarding a cab to Inya lake spa.
Hindu temple
Holy Trinity Anglican Church
Maha Wizaya Pagoda


The taxi driver do not know the exact location and Inya spa do not have prominent signage at the roadside and we almost missed the location.

The 2 guys had hot stone massage while the 2 ladies had Thai massage. My masseur skill is not bad but still not as good as Ruen Thai. However the rest of them commented that their massage were average. We have asked the receptionist to help us hailed a taxi beforehand hence the taxi is already waiting for us by the time we finished our massage.
Inya lake spa


At Yangon departure hall, we have to show our e-ticket before we can proceed to check in at the airlines counter. 
Yangon airport departure hall
Long queue at Jetstar counter
Portrait of Kandawgyi lake
Souvenir stalls


The airport is relatively small as there are only 5 to 6 gates. There is only one cafe inside the transit hall and it's fully occupied hence we have to wait for a table. All of us had fried rice for dinner as there are limited choices at the cafe. We pay with a mixture of Kyat and USD as the Kyat are of no value outside Myanmar.
Fried rice for dinner
Limited shops inside the transit area


From the first day of plane fright (due to the numerous recent flight disasters) to the last day of plane immune, we landed safely at Singapore and this concludes the end of our Myanmar trip.

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