This gallery contains 20 photos.
I had my first hot air balloon ride back in Cappadocia a few years back. Back then I kind of fell in love with this rather special method of transport … floating in the air, no roaring motor and as … Continue reading
The group met again in the late afternoon. We had hired a small boat for a sunset cruise on the Irrawaddy river. A nice and relaxing way to finish a very active sightseeing day … nuts, chips, beers – and a slight issue with a sandbank.
This gallery contains 28 photos.
Today we had another temple day ahead of us. After yesterday’s bus based trip a more active approach was called for today – with bikes being our mean of transport for the day. The ride itself was fairly leisurely only … Continue reading
As it was getting closer to sunset, we only had a quick glance at the Dhammayan Gyi Pagoda, to be on the top of Taung Guni Temple (i.e. our sunset temple) in time to secure good spots to view the sunset.
There was still ample of time to kill once we had our spots taken. So – perfect timing to learn the Burmese alphabet and to get a lesson in advanced marketing by a souvenir vendor. @Kelly – just remember, you did not just buy a t-shirt, you also paid for the entertainment of everyone around you 😉
After sunset we made it back to the hotel to freshen up and then into town for some pre-dinner drinks. From here (after some convincing) we made it over to an open air restaurant, that featured a dance and music show over dinner.
This gallery contains 20 photos.
We had an early start today, to make it to the airport for our early morning flight to Nyaung U and the temples of Bagan. Airline of choice (i.e. the tour operator’s) for the 500km hop was Yangon Airways (“you’re … Continue reading
This gallery contains 19 photos.
From the lake we continued to the foot of Singuttara Hill and the building with the elevator, that eventually got us up to Shwedagon Pagoda. The pagoda is the biggest in town and a dominating part of the Yangon skyline; … Continue reading
In the afternoon we were meeting up again for more sightseeing. The main attraction on the list surely was Shwedagon Pagaoda. However before getting there, we had a stop at Chauk Htat Kyi Pagoda to see a very big Buddha – with a length of 66m one of the longest reclining Buddha images in Myanmar.
From the pagoda we made it over to Kandawgyi Lake to take in the sunset mood over the lake with the Shwedagon Pagaoda in the background.
The tour now had officially started. This morning Sai – our tour leader – was showing us around the city center, passing through some areas, I had already explored during the previous two days. This time though, additional information was available, Sai provided us with a summary of the city’s and the country’s history – all the way from pre-colonial times to the current political setup.
The tour ended in a local restaurant in the Muslim part of town for a late lunch. From here we made our own way back to the hotel – I ended up having a stop at and little wonder around Bogyoke Aung San Market.
This gallery contains 19 photos.
With the tour only starting this evening, I had a full day of further exploration in Yangon. I already had booked an excursion for the day, essentially doing the full loop on the Yangon Circular Railway with a number of … Continue reading
I have had Myanmar (or Burma) on my bucket list for quiet a while now. With the country having opened up gradually over the last couple of years, I was seeing this year finally as a good time for me to visit. So – as in previous years – I left gray and cold Europe in late November and made my way over to South East Asia.
I made it into Yangon (formerly known as Rangoon) in the afternoon coming in via Singapore. As usual I directly ventured out to explore the area around the hotel.
I made my way through the little alleys all the way to Maha Bandula Park to catch a first glimpse of Sule Pagoda (of course followed by a visit inside). I also made it to Botahtaung Pagoda and (just to change the religion) St Mary’s Cathedral.
Note: some of the blog entries on Myanmar will use the local script to remove ambiguity around naming of places. If those do not come through for you, you may want to install Myanmar character support. You can give it a try with this one: မင်္ဂလာပါ (mɪ̀ɴɡəlàbà = hello).
