It was reported in the news that thousands of monks marched in protest of the military.

Hope the army will show restraint.

Going home

We had a couple of hours left before we needed to head to the airport for our flight home.

We walked over to Scott market to check out some of the jade bangles on sale.

Yangon is one city in Asia that has not changed much in the 10 years since I last visited. Its still untouched by mass tourism

Day trip to Bago

Shwedagon Pagoda - Has been gilded with gold for centuries,this tradition was started in the 15th century by the Mon Queen Shin Sawbu who gave her weight in gold and continues to this day.The crown or umbrella (hti) is tipped with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. The very top, the diamond bud (sein bu) is tipped with a 76 carat (15 g) diamond.


We set off around 8am for the 2 hour drive to Bago to visit the pagodas.During British colonial times it was called Pegu

As it has been more than 10 years since I last visited Yangon I was curious to find out from our driver how life has been since then.

He was definitely not happy with the current situation. Prices have gone up. Everything from food to gas.

We arrived at the Four Face Buddha pagoda in no time. We had to purchase a US$10 pass that will allow us to enter the four major attractions in Bago. The Burmese version of the Four Face Buddha is quite different from that of the Thais. Here it is actually four different statues facing different directions. The one in Bangkok is one statue with four faces.

Next stop was the impressive sleeping Buddha that was claimed by the jungle but rediscovered by a British hunting in the area. There are panels in the hall where the story of the sleeping Buddha is explained. The souvenir shops here sell products made of the pleasant smelling sandalwood.

We left Bago and made our way back to Yangon to visit the massive Shwedagon Pagoda. If are travelling in Myanmar you will quickly realise that it involves visitng one pagoda after another. The pagoda is laid with tons of gold. The steeple is decorated with rubies and sapphires.

Off to Myanmar

Did not realise that September was not an ideal month to visit Yangon as it can be wet with scattered thunderstorms.

We had to circle over the airport for over half an hour before the captain deem it safe enough to land.

We cleared customs in no time as there were few foreigners on that plane and got a cab to take us to our hotel in downtown Yangon.

We made a deal with our cab driver to bring us to Bago to see the sleeping Buddha and visit some Pagodas. It would cost us US$55.

After checking in we wandered around town and tried to get some local food at the classy Strand Hotel but found out that they don't serve Burmese food during the off peak season. What they do have is some fancy French menu which did not interest us. We opted for snacks and drinks at the bar instead.

There is nothing much to do in Yangon on a rainy night after 9pm, so we figured we should have an early night since we were leaving for our excursion early next morning.

Myanmar Trip

Just got our visas from the Myanmar embassy today.
Cost us Sing$35 per pax. Our airtickets on Silkair cost Sing$353 per pax.
Room at Traders Hotel cost us Sing$120 per nite