Yangon is the hub of Myanmar, the largest city in the country and a city full of character. It also happened to be the final destination of our 9 month expedition across Asia, meaning we were in a very reflective, and tired, state. What a journey! Now is not the time to press rewind though. In this blog I will share the glorious-ness of Yangon with you.
Downtown Yangon
Yangon is a city that, in my mind, is unique to any others we have visited in that the buildings and streets have so much personality. The signs of British colonialism are on every corner of every street in downtown. Cliche British architecture mixed with splashes of colour and crumbling plaster make a simple walk down the road an interesting experience. The only other city that has similar vibes is Mumbai, but the Indians seem to have kept their buildings in dramatically better condition. That’s not a dig at Yangon though, the ‘looks like it might collapse’ aesthetic they have going on is incredibly charming.
Walking between 10th-40th street provides the best examples of these wonderful streets. As with most of Asia, Yangon seems to categorise streets and slump all shops of the same category together. This means when walking around you may just turn down a tiny cobbled side street only selling stationary and ribbons, as we did.
From 16th street to 19th street we got caught up in an extremely busy market, mostly selling food (fruit, veg, meat and fish). Asian markets, as I’ve mentioned before, are the best way to experience the local culture. These narrow streets are one way, with absolutely no room for two cars to be side by side. The markets, however, take up the whole road. To accommodate this, the sellers that are in the middle of the road have learnt to layout their vegetables in a manner that allows the cars to drive right over the top of them!
Food
In my last blog from northern Myanmar, I mentioned that we had eaten at a Burmese tea shop (and thoroughly enjoyed it!). Yangon continues the culture of tea shops and has a few different shops available. We ate at 3, although two were from the same chain and undoubtedly were our favourite. The shop is called Lucky Seven and here you will be getting an authentic, local tea shop experience with all the craziness and none of the expense of alternative options. Rangoon Tea House was the only other tea shop we tried, due to good reviews online. We were extremely disappointed – it was nothing like any other tea shop we had been too! Instead of being hustled in quickly to a table and shown a menu with no prices, we were sat down in a posh cafe and given a menu with prices over 4x what we would pay at Lucky Seven. Brad and I even agreed that the flavours at this overpriced joint did not match the more authentic Lucky Seven, my advice is don’t bother. The only people sat in there were expats and middle-class tourists, and us.
Our standard order at Lucky Seven consisted of 2 puri with mutton curry, samosas and 2 chai tea, a bottle of water and we did enjoy the duck patties once. Eating here never cost over £6 for the both of us. If you eat veggie it costs considerably less than that to. Hence, we ate here every day with absolutely no regrets.
We also ate at a lovely place called 50th Street which did some delicious western style breakfasts, even if it does cost a little more than the local’s samosas. The cocktails were also delicious during happy hour.
For Shan style noodles our favourite spot was Aung Mingalar Shan Noodles, which just so happened to be across from another bar called Fatman, which seemed to be popular with expats. A bowl of noodles at this eatery costs £1 and they are super tasty!
Unfortunately, during the week we were in Yangon it was definitely coming into monsoon season and at approximately 5pm every evening the heavens opened. That meant that any sunset plans we made were tossed to the curb, every day. Otherwise I’m sure we would have seen a little more of the ‘attractions’ in the city. Honestly, I am happy with our experience of Yangon despite this. Watching life unfold on the narrow streets of this city, then continue despite torrential rain and the smiles of its residents never faltering, was a great way to finish our final week of travel.
My only complaint was the insane heat during the daytime. After 9 months you’d think we’d be used to it, but I just don’t think you can ever adjust to temperatures that high.
Lara
Wow, I can’t believe it has come to the end. Over the past nine months you experienced so many wonderful things, the generosity and kindness of people, the unbelievable wildlife encounters, other travellers from different nations and visiting the different countries of south east Asia. I’m sure your blog is only a drop in the ocean of everything you did, but gives us readers an inkling of what it was like. I’m glad you’re home safe and sound, I am extremely proud of what you have achieved and how you accomplished your goals. I know how much planning went into organising this trip, but all the planning in the world doesn’t make it a smooth journey, you overcame every obstacle and did everything you wanted to do.
Thank you so much! Your kind words mean a lot to me. And I’m grateful for you following my blogs x