Category Archives: Myanmar

Golden Rock

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Due to a lack of network connectivity (kind of a lack of connectivity in total) it’s been hard to post blog posts, so I decided I would write them offline and upload later, when I can add pictures.

I decided to go from Yangon (if you read my last blog post, I’m sure you knew I was ready to leave Myanmar city life) and go to golden rock.  Golden rock is a large rock that is balanced on the side of a cliff.  It’s a famous pilgrimage site for Burmese people and about 200km from Yangon.
I decided to take a local bus.  The Yangon bus station is actually 10km north of the airport, aka the middle of nowhere.  There is no station, just a parking lot with 5 bus companies trying to get your fare.
I chose a company that guaranteed “good air conditioning”.  This was indeed not a lie, the A/C worked very well.  Unfortunately, the windows were stuck open so you had 40 degree air blowing in while 20 degree air conditioning created a kind of fog by the windows.  5 hot hours later we arrived at the base of the mountain.
I was going to stay at the base and do the hike up the next morning, but I met a German guy that highly recommended staying on the top, even though the price of accommodation may be higher.
To get from the bottom to the top there are a series of dump trucks that have been retrofitted with seats in the back.  They pack as many people as possible in and then off you go on what I can only describe as a roller coaster ride without any safety features! It’s a pretty steep assent and you get to the top (slightly bruised) in about 40 minutes.
This was them loading the truck up before we left for the top.  The sign at the front lists prices, and says that the prices include life insurance!
The view from the top though is really good and highly recommended.  The hotels are a bit of a rip off though.  We managed to talk them down to $70 a night which is pretty much the highest price you would pay in the entire country.  I have to give them credit though, the service was amazing, you can expect 5 star service in Myanmar for this price.
Seeing the rock at sunset and sunrise was pretty awesome.  All the monks were leaving offerings, putting gold squares on the rock, or chanting and praying.  It was quite foggy in the evening which made the rock a surreal sight.
I recommend Golden Rock, but you must be prepared for a long bus ride from Yangon, it’s certainly not the most comfortable travel I have ever done, but the experience at the top is pretty cool.

Thoughts on Yangon

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I spent my second day in Yangon today.  There is enough to see here to justify 2 days, but I am starting to understand why people usually don’t bother.  The traffic is crazy, the streets are hard to walk with construction and holes in the pavement everywhere, and in touristy places foreigners seem to be seen mostly as ATM machines, which I was not expecting that much here.

Botahtaung Pagoda

Yangon has 3 main pagodas with this one bring the least touristy.  Admission here is $3 with no other fees, at least for me.
This one is interesting because you can go inside.  The whole inside is covered in gold leaf.
The statues of Bhudda are colourful here, usually with flashing lights behind the head.  It’s said the lights represent the supernatural power of the Bhudda.
It’s located on Strand road which also has the famous Strand hotel which is a very old colonial building.  It’s been through a colourful history, being owned by the government it became very ran down, but now that has been restored and is by far the most expensive hotel in Yangon.  You would easily pay $200 per night, about 10 times what I am paying.  Inside it’s a night and day difference from the street.  I didn’t get a picture of the strand, but I got a picture of surrounding buildings.
As you can see, these buildings need a little work.  And, by the way, that crosswalk is more like decoration for the road, drivers don’t actually obey it!  They also have trouble with stop signs, red lights, and traffic circles :). Saying that, I have yet to see an accident.
This is city hall, from inside the park across the road.  It’s a stunning building. The park is accessible from the side entrance with a security post. Everywhere else there is a fence around the park.  This is supposed to control who comes in and out.  It doesn’t seem to work since I couldn’t just sit down and look at a map, I was constantly harassed by people wanting to sell stuff or asking for money.
Tourists and money

I know burma has not really been open for tourism for very long, but people certainly seem to catch on quickly about how to rip off visitors.  I can only hope the problem is worse in Yangon than in other places.  A visit to a pagoda seems to involve a fee to enter, then a mandatory donation, and a fee to keep your shoes at the entrance (you can’t wear them inside).  Yesterday I was actually asked for a fee to exit the pagoda.  You can imagine how I answered that one.
They have also gone ATM mad.  Before I arrived I was told there was only a handful of cash machines. In Yangon there us one on every corner!  There were two inside the pagoda yesterday!  I’m not sure what Buddhist tradition says about cash machines in temples, but it seems to be an odd place to put them.
It’s a shame, because there are a lot of genuinely nice and helpful Burmese people.  But when everyone keeps asking you for money, you get more concered of “helpful” people approaching you.

Yangon

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Last night I arrived in Yangon with Air Asia.  Customs and immigration were easy as I already had a visa issued.  Apparently they are testing visa on arrival, but right now it is only avaliable if you fly in on the national airline, Myanmar Air International and they only have one scheduled flight from Kunming in China right now.

There is a mixture of old and new (or not quite as old) architecture in Yangon.  A lot of the buildings have great architecture but require a lot of maintenance.  Traffic is a serious problem both if you are in a taxi or if you are walking, as crossing the street requires some frogger like work!
Many streets are quite wide with many pagodas scattered throughout town.  The most famous one, and Yangon’s top attraction is Shwedagon pagoda.
Inside the stupa is said to contain 8 strands of Bhudda’s hair.  There is also a replica of a tooth from Bhudda inside as well.  The while thing is huge with many other images and statues of Bhudda throughout the grounds.
The weather is quite hot here, but it is the start of the wet season, so I did get a little rain this afternoon.  It was nice to break the humidity!