One Fine Burmese Day

After a sleepless night of travel from my honorary home Shanghai, I finally touched down in the city of Yangon. I was immediately greeted by the warmth of the air here, which was a far cry from chilly Shanghai in which I would curl myself up in layers of blankets while being blasted by a sickly heating unit. I was liking this place already. However, despite my positivity, there was a slight nagging in the back of my mind. This is due to the fact that, as an expat residing in Shanghai, I have become all too familiar with the immigration process when entering the People’s Republic of China. For one thing, it takes a diabolical amount of time and there are no pleasantries to be had between you and your visa stamper. A swift nod of the head is suffice to mean that you are accepted and to step lively over the immigration border.

However, I was to be very pleasantly surprised. The queue for immigration was essentially non-existent. I walked up to the friendly looking immigration officer, e-visa in hand and passed it straight to her. After a short perusal of the slightly now crumpled document, she stamped it and said with a smile, “Enjoy your time in Myanmar!”. The already warm feeling within me grew from a spark to a flame, I was definitely going to enjoy my time in Myanmar.

The first thing I sought to do was to exchange my very crisp (important!) dollars at one of the counters in the airport. The reason I place importance on the crispness of the bills, is because they will not exchange less than perfect notes and they also have to have been printed after 2006. I exchanged 300 USD and in return I received (at the time of exchange) the Midas amount of 245,000 Kyat (local currency), which I received entirely in 1000kyat notes. The bundle of cash was of such a ridiculous size that it had to be given to me in a not-so-subtle black plastic bag. I also bought a Burmese sim card equipped with credit and data for 12,000 kyat which, at the time of exchange was just about 10 USD. A necessary purchase in my opinion! For keeping in contact with people and more importantly, all of the Facebook statuses and all those other social media outlets considered to be integral to our lives! Think of the WeChat moment updates!  As a side note, for those of you folks not residing on the eastern side of the planet, WeChat is a vital social media platform we use in Asia, it is a marvel!

After this, I went outside to hail a taxi to my hostel and enjoyed a jovial chat with the driver while taking in the sights and sounds as they passed by. Around 35 minutes later we arrived at my hostel, located on a busy road and on the 9th floor of a building. The whole journey cost me 10,000 kyat which is less than 10 USD. It is customary in Myanmar to remove your shoes when you go inside a building, and this became apparent as soon as I stepped out of the lift to find many pairs of shoes outside the hostel door. I followed suit and removed my own footwear before entering my temporary Yangon abode.

When I booked this particular hostel, I was to stay in a 10 bed dorm which is a standard affair when staying in youth hostels. Upon entering, I came to find that the hostel itself was in fact the 10 bed dorm. I was surprised but pleasantly so, as it had a very warm and communal feel. The beds were fantastic wooden capsule-style beds equipped with an electrical socket and lamp, so there was definitely privacy to be had there. I settled in as quick as I could, eager to begin my first day exploring Yangon. I ventured out with great anticipation of the local wonders I would come across. I must add, that I was in fact wandering with a purpose, for I needed to find the bus ticketing agency I researched online, in order to book the buses around Myanmar in advance, so I would not have the hassle of booking them throughout the journey. I meandered in and out of Yangon’s streets, to find many a curiosity waiting for me at every corner. One particularly interesting sight that struck me, was the stretch of pavement lined with various aged books of countless titles and languages ranging from George Orwell’s Burmese Days, to more abstract titles of interest like Burmese Folk Tales. It was quite something to see how much the sellers cared for these books.After lingering a while to peruse the many book titles, I ventured onward towards my goal of locating the agency with no particular route to follow, allowing me to lap up the atmosphere in this vibrant city. I came across endless food streets, with vendors selling a rich variety of local foods such as tasty fried samosas and chickpea curries to name only a few. There was not a street that didn’t exude energy and noise. It was so invigorating for all the senses, that it was hard to focus on one singular sensation.I stopped many times to sample whatever local food took my fancy and had a feast of spring rolls, samosas and other delightful deep-fried mysteries. 

Eventually, I happened upon the street on which my destination was located. I gently pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by a cheery assistant. I explained my situation and he patiently took note of all the bus routes I listed. He went off to check the system and within 10 minutes I had successfully paid for the entirety of my internal journey around Myanmar. A bargain to behold! For a total of 5 buses of varying distances I paid a total of 82 USD, which in local currency is approximately 97,000 kyat at the time of exchange. I will follow up with a post on internal travel around Myanmar, as it is an experience in itself and definitely deserves a dedicated post.

After this task was completed, I meandered my way back through Yangon’s streets, following physical landmarks I had made note of on the way, I felt like a street-wise, modern day Gretel that had successfully found her way back to base. I stopped for a street-side curry of chickpeas served with a chopped up samosa and watched as the hubbub continued well into twilight. I remained at that same spot for well over an hour, trying to commit everything I was seeing to memory. It was the perfect end to a perfect first day in Myanmar.