My flight from Borneo took me to Yangon in Myanmar or you
could also say I arrived in Rangoon, Burma! The old British names were
changed by the the military government several years ago without asking
the people - in fact they did pretty much everything without asking the
people!
The people here use the word Myanmar for their country as it is more inclusive The Burmese are only one of the many ethnic groups here - however interestingly the famous leader of the National League for Democracy Aung San Sui Kyi refers to the country as Burma and so does the British government!
Above the beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda. After a few days in this hectic city it was time to go rural...!
The people here use the word Myanmar for their country as it is more inclusive The Burmese are only one of the many ethnic groups here - however interestingly the famous leader of the National League for Democracy Aung San Sui Kyi refers to the country as Burma and so does the British government!
Above you can see a bamboo bike - a little heavy but bamboo is an incredibly strong material - they use it for scaffolding here! As you can see top left life is still a struggle for a lot of Myanmar people. Top right is a Pan seller - Pan is a mix of betel nuts, white lime paste (the mineral not the fruit ) and betel leaves packed into the mouth a chewed - all over Inidia and Burma it is commonly chwed - one of the most common sites it seeing men spit out the red liquid produced - you can see some on the pavement by her left elbow
Yangon really is a city in flux - reforms brought in since 2010 have opened this once closed off country to foreign investment and tourism but the archaic infrastructure is straining at the seams
My main interest here was the wonderful buildings of British Colonial Rangoon - there is a wonderful organisation here called the Yangon Heritage Trust who do their best to reign in the rampant redevelopment but with foreign businesses coming in and corruption every present it's an uphill struggle. See below - massive advertising hoardings hiding a beautiful building and a common sight - a beautiful colonial building and a crane!
A lot of the buildings have been bought by hotel chains which guarantees the building is saved but not how the restoration is done It was wonderful to walk round and see echoes if the past - the Scots had a big role here - starting businesses and Scottish architects designed many if the buildings - their influence can be seen in old names such as Montgomery Street and Dalhousie Square
But it wasn't all colonial stuff in Yangon - this is a Buddhist country & that means more temples & pagodas than I've seen anywhere else. Yangon's pride & joy being the Shwedagon with the world's biggest Stupa. Myanmar has female monks who dress in pink!
Yangon really is a city in flux - reforms brought in since 2010 have opened this once closed off country to foreign investment and tourism but the archaic infrastructure is straining at the seams
My main interest here was the wonderful buildings of British Colonial Rangoon - there is a wonderful organisation here called the Yangon Heritage Trust who do their best to reign in the rampant redevelopment but with foreign businesses coming in and corruption every present it's an uphill struggle. See below - massive advertising hoardings hiding a beautiful building and a common sight - a beautiful colonial building and a crane!
A lot of the buildings have been bought by hotel chains which guarantees the building is saved but not how the restoration is done It was wonderful to walk round and see echoes if the past - the Scots had a big role here - starting businesses and Scottish architects designed many if the buildings - their influence can be seen in old names such as Montgomery Street and Dalhousie Square
But it wasn't all colonial stuff in Yangon - this is a Buddhist country & that means more temples & pagodas than I've seen anywhere else. Yangon's pride & joy being the Shwedagon with the world's biggest Stupa. Myanmar has female monks who dress in pink!
Above the beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda. After a few days in this hectic city it was time to go rural...!
