A Ghetto city with a pagoda shaped heart of Gold.
Captains Log Day 3 – 26/12/16 8:26 am. AirAsia Flight AK505.
The final chapter of 2016 opened and amongst its last few pages there was a story of adventure similar to one undertaken 12 months ago with the same faces present.
The Captain and his faithful companion, Admiral Akbar, had returned to set off for yet another mission to delight, intrigue and at times project the sheer stupidity of the human kind.
The sun rose, the Captain and sidekick had commenced vessel boarding procedures when they saw a friendly face. The face of which was Comrade Kris. The Comrade was off on his own quest, also embarking on the same first leg of the journey to KL, we would be together on the flight. Tradition soon led the three of us to the closest bar where 6:00 am was an acceptable time for a sangria and a few beers paired with a serving of fruit toast.
A cocktail of beer, sangria, lack of sleep and fruit toast intoxicating our minds, we boarded out flight for the first leg of our journey to the mysterious land of Myanmar. Lucky for us our illuminati flight did not disappear and we landed in KL without any serious inflictions and satisfied with our on flight meal of grandma’s chicken pie.
Coordinating plans for NYE and bidding farewell to our short-lived companion, the time had come for our descent into the unknown – a land explored. Yangon. Myanmar (previously known as Burma)
Driving through Yangon to the hotel, the first thoughts that hit our minds were that of intrigue and wonder. Aside from the food hygiene standards, what we were seeing was an un developed country like neither the captain nor admiral had ever seen in previous travels. The city resembled old Vietnam, as it appeared in school textbooks, an untouched rough and simple, city. The other thing that hit us was the smiles on the faces of everyone walking around. At this point I think the true beauty of the pearl started to shine through a very muddy shell.
Our hotel, The Grand United Downtown – was nothing like the pictures, in fact the Captain had to question the driver several times until being reassured that this was the place. With friendly bellboys escorting us to a much nicer looking lift inside we checked into our room, which fortunately for us was like the online pictures and not bad at all. Satisfactory on all means including a devilish air-conditioner, a must for any Myanmar traveler.
Bags dumped, and adventure calling 1300 Captain – we were off to explore the streets of Chinatown Yangon. First up 19th street, a local and internationally famous street in which everything goes. With our food Hygiene radar blipping off the charts the Admiral and Captain found a seat in the local eatery. The food stand had a few raw meats on display, the captain was able to point at a few to order and indicate the large signal for the local brew. The Admiral was also breaking personal protocol (mostly because she didn’t want to get blinded by the local spirits) and having a Myanmar Beer. Here we were shocked by the kindness and hospitality shown by the locals, ensuring that everyone, both locals and foreigners were looked after. The mystery meats arrived, munching and swigging we realised that we had finished a few liters of beer between us. The bill came to a mighty $3. Let me pause here for another interesting fact: 1 AUD = 1000 MYK
Rolling with a good buzz we headed to a bar around the corner, here the cocktails, shisha, and various song requests pursued. Long island Ice Teas going at $5 it was not long (or was it a while) before both the Admiral and Captain were seeing double. Soon the lights at the bar switched on indicating to its last remaining guest AKA us that it was time to leave. 7 cocktails, a beer, a shisha later the bill came to less than what a good meal would cost back home. We thanked the lovely DJ who had been blasting our obnoxious requests without breaking a sweat all night and left the bar. As an act of rebellion, the Daptain broke away from the Admiral to go and grab a Paan (beetle nut leaf). The admiral didn’t have to worry much as it was all going to come up very shortly anyway. This was not the end of the shenanigans as the Admiral ended the night by walking into a door and bruising her forehead. It looked like Yangon was winning this round
The sun soon lit up the sky and indications that it was time to get up shone through the open blinds (purposely opened by the Admiral) – seems we had missed breakfast… Oops.
Today was the start to Pagoda life – what is a Pagoda? Well Wikipedia defines it as “a Buddhist temple or sacred building, typically a many-tiered tower”. What is Pagoda life – Captain defines this as “when an idiot explores Myanmar”
We set off exploring – first off to the Famous Sule Pagoda, a temple made in a roundabout, famous as a meeting spot for locals. For something that sounds so simple, this was a fascinating and blindingly beautiful structure. Made of gold and housed in the middle of a busy intersection, the Sule Pagoda was a delight to walk around in, even with the scorching heat that was BBQing the soles of our feet. We said a little prayer and left.
Next we visited the central park of Yangon and observed the ‘interesting’ phallic shapes of the hedges that were manicured around the place. Next on the list was a synagogue in the city, we reached it and although it appeared to be shut, both the Admiral and Captain made a sneaky move and broke in to explore inside. Leaving the synagogue exposed us to the burning midday sun, we quickly hiked to the Trinity Church and cooled down in its halls.
A quick way to cool down was to be indoors, with our walking shoes we headed to the Yangon national museum. The national museum was fantastic, showing the history of the city and the history of Buddhism, with ancient relics including molars which thoroughly excited the Admiral. We hired a tour guide, we both were afraid that the guide may die of old age during the tour. He fortunately did not. He did however repeat himself a fair bit. Including repeatedly asking the question “Have you been to Bagan?” a record six times during our tour. We soon found this was a question every local had to ask, it was as common as hello, it seemed that Myanmar’s pride resided in Bagan. But this was a place unfortunately the Captain could not venture to as it resided 12 hours away.
Exhausted and still hungover we decided to grab something to eat, both the Admiral and captain were not feeling too well, we walked around and unfortunately all the food places were the same and contained no indoor kitchens. All meat and vegetable products alike were kept out in the sun and honestly the smells, the Captain cannot get over or describe. Not being able to stomach anything, lunch was to be 2 packets of chips and some popcorn, paired with a bottle of coke. This was devoured sitting in a park.
It was time for the Admiral and Captain to visit one of the most famous sites in Yangon, a site that Buddhists all around the world take pilgrimage for. The gigantic and spectacular Shwedegon Pagoda. This structure can be seen from all around the city, a towering relic with a height of 112 meters. The Pagoda is believed to contain relics of the four previous Buddhas of the present kalpa. These relics include the staff of Kakusandha, the water filter of Koṇāgamana, a piece of the robe of Kassapa, and eight strands of hair from the head of Gautama. Approaching the structure, we started to gasp at its scale. Huge. Words cannot describe the beauty. Golden with intricate details, the next 3 hours were spent admiring the structure. Finding a spot we watched as the sun played tricks and changed the appearance of the pagoda, the gold started shining differently. It was magnificent. It was one of the most peaceful places on earth. Surrounded by people meditating and praying, our souls felt at ease. We meditated and then had conversation with another old man, who had decided to spend his 73rd birthday at the Pagoda. He explained to us the significance and the feeling he got when he visited the place of prayer.
Souls refreshed and stomachs growling we set off once again to look for a place to eat. Our criteria had changed and all we were looking for was a restaurant that had refrigeration. We walked for miles before we came across a very fancy hotel with USD prices. We both bit the bullet and went in to eat. The hunger got the better of us and we enjoyed some Pasta, Pizza and Burgers cooked indoors. We then headed back and once again in an act of rebellion the Captain went and had some more Paan.
Christmas Day in Burma started with a big breakfast in the Hotel – this had to be cooked inside since the restaurant was on the roof. We ate grandly and headed out on adventure, first to the Aung Markets, then to the sitting and reclining Buddha, we decided despite the distance and the cheap costs we walked to all places in order to explore. We marveled at the sitting Buddha and upon descending the temple were approached by an old man – The Old men are becoming a theme in the story. This 74-year-old man with thick glasses resembled the stereotype of a grandfather. He first approached the Captain and asked him where he was from etc. and then signaled to him to follow him, he led us through a place with 66 monasteries’ and through his broken English explained Monk life. Often repeating himself and asking if we had been to Bagan, he showed us the Monks quarters, where they meditate etc. he insisted we take photos, the captain however felt uncomfortable photographing unsuspecting monks. But this man insisted it was fine. We finally visited the reclining Buddha with our escort, as he randomly asked for his tourist fees. We were both taken a back but knew something fishy was going on earlier, we paid him his hefty fee of 5 AUD and left.
It was on the way back that the Captain started to feel ill. He insisted that rather than walking a cab was in order, the Admiral was more than happy to comply. Upon reaching the hotel the Captain threw up. This was the first of what continued all-night. Ranging from 5 to 20 minutes the captain was in the toilet, at first regurgitating any matter that existed in his stomach, to just dry reaching. The vomiting continued till 11pm nonstop for 4 hours. This was an experience like no other for the Captain, it felt like his insides were trying to escape the country and they had their passports and visas all organized and all they had to do was run to the gate. The Admiral, stressing, was on the phone to various people trying to figure out how to cure this menace. In the end the Captain was sedated and giving strong anti-bacterial medicines. All night the Captain woke up every 20-30 minutes and sipped on water. This was the most excruciating 12 hours of the Captain’s life. As morning came, run down but keeping water down it was time to depart the city. Limping out of bed with energy levels hitting the negative spectrum, we departed the hotel and headed to the airport, having one last glance of the magnificent pagoda as the morning sun shone on its pretty spire, thus marking the end of Pagoda life
