Sure Travel Journey Vol 3.3 Winter 2017 | Page 40

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Clockwise from right: While not
always comfortable, train rides
through Mynamar are often
spectacular. The best way to
visit the temples of Bangan?
By scooter. Whether it’s in a
restaurant or on the street,
Burmese food is delicous. A
traditional fisherman on the
Ayeyarwady River
40 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
wait to be set free by Buddhists
earning credit for the next life.
Across the road, I wander through
Maha Bandula Park to escape the traffic,
when a local walks up and introduces
himself. My alarm bells go off, ready and
waiting for the inevitable pitch of a tour
or a shop visit. But no, he just wants
to practice his English, and waves me
on my way. It’s not the last time on my
journey that locals stop me for nothing
more than a friendly chat.
Bogyoke Market is a popular stop in
the city centre, with stalls piled high
with cloth, jewellery and souvenirs.
It pays to look further afield as well,
though: amid the pavement stalls down
nearby side streets I find fascinating
mementoes, from engraved temple
bells to Chinese teapots.
Pansodan Street is in a particularly
charming corner of the capital. Here,
booksellers line the pavement, peddling
everything from school textbooks to
tourist-friendly tomes. Want to battle
your way through a copy of Orwell’s
Burmese Days? You’ve come to the
right spot.
Don’t miss the imposing Secretariat
Building, a massive neo-classical
edifice taking up a whole city block.
It’s here where General Aung San was
assassinated, and where Burma declared
independence from Britain in 1948.
Also, look up. Once the grandest
avenue in Yangon, Pansodan still boasts
fine old colonial architecture, including
the Inland Water Transport office.
The building was once home to the
Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, which in the
1920s ran hundreds of boats connecting
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the capital to cities upstream. If, like
me, you don’t have time to cast off for
distant Mandalay, hop on the ferry across
the Yangon River for a wander through
the laid-back village of Dalah.
Wandering back along Pansodan
Street I stop in at the Rangoon Tea
House, where Yangon-born co-owner
Htet Myet Oo dishes up wonderful
Burmese cuisine with an upmarket twist
on authentic street food.
There’s certainly no shortage of
© ADEY
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