Yangon is my last destination in Myanmar and I will be here for 5 days so I can explore the big city with no rush. I felt Yangon was different from the rest of Myanmar. Maybe it’s due to the fact that it is a big city so I wasn’t feeling the same calmness and peaceful vibe than in the other places I have been. Because of the low contact I had with Burmese in Yangon, this was the place I liked the less in Myanmar.
Other travelers I have been meeting in Myanmar were telling me the same about Yangon, but I couldn’t understand very well, how this place could be so different. Only when I get there I understood the other travelers’ opinions. It’s not that Yangon isn’t cool, but I now realize that I prefer small places than big cities. You feel just like another one there and in the smallest places, you don’t feel quite that way.
Still, Yangon is the biggest city in Myanmar and it’s a nice place to discover. The city is big so the distance between interesting spots is quite a walk. I would love to ride a bicycle in here either but I haven’t seen any place dedicated to tourism with that option. Maybe I didn’t search well… I also believe that I haven’t stayed in the most exciting area of the city. In fact, I didn’t like the hostel where I stayed so maybe this contributes to my idea about Yangon. The Hostel was like a giant bedroom and everyone sleeps there. I don’t know how many beds were there, but there were a lot. Breakfast and reception are in this same room. I didn’t like this concept much…
On this day I walked the full day with some pauses, so it was tiring. I crossed Sule pagoda but didn’t visit inside as it wasn’t free and I thought I will have the sight of the best pagoda in town: Shwedagon. Next to Sule Pagoda is Maha Bandula Park that is a really cool place to chill with a lot of shadows. I went every day to this place as it is a 15 min walk from my hostel. I believe this is a very important place in the city as one of the days there was a party there with some Burmese singers.
I walked until the margin of the Yangon river where I sit for a while just having some rest and appreciating the Burmese life. I even saw Myanmar TV shooting some news.
On this day I was basically exploring the city by walking without a destination in mind. Just walking around…
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