Precious Memories: Rangoon, Myanmar (Part II)

Friday, March 25, 2016

Rangoon, Myanmar (Part II)

Thilawa and Rangoon, Myanmar -- February 21, 2016 (II)

2016 HAL Volendam Asian Adventure, Day 6

cont. Rangoon, Myanmar

After our visit to the first of many pagodas to come in Myanmar for the next two days, we boarded our bus and rode through downtown Rangoon to our next stop, Bogyoke Aung San Market which is also known as Scott Market. This is a market with over 1,600 shops selling handicrafts, textiles, silver, silk, and other merchandise.

Passing by a Chinese Temple in Chinatown.

Chinatown

Bogyoke Aung San Market (Scott Market)

This is a very busy area so we got off the bus a little away and then walked to the market. The tall building ahead is the Shangrila Hotel.

Entrance to the market where Sunny instructed us to meet back here later on.

Inside the huge market. This market reminded me of the market in Valencia, Spain, except this one is full of shops for jewelry, cloths, etc. instead of food.

At the back of the main building where more shops are located.

Many colorful materials for sale.

Eating places on the side street.

After walking around ones without buying anything, we came back to our waiting point, found some chairs to sit and waited. It was quite interesting to just sat there and people-watched. Nuns of all ages were coming and going, offering to pray for the stores with donations. Women walking by wearing their beautiful sarongs was particularly elegant. MOR looked for a public restroom and found it but he did not have the 100 local money to get in, so he gave up. We had to take a long walk on some uneven and busy streets back to our bus afterward.

Lunch was at a place called Padonmar Restaurant, which seemed to be a very nice restaurant mainly serving tourists. They had an extensive menu, serving Myanmar and Thai food.

Sign outside of the restaurant.

We each ordered our food and drink then paid our own bills separately at the end. Food was good! This was my coconut curry chicken with the little basket of white rice.

MOR's fried rice noodle.

ChC's yogurt curry with coconut rice.

We all enjoyed our lunch at a relaxing atmosphere.

Inside the restaurant.

Pictures of some important people with the restaurant owner on the wall.

I suppose this restaurant had been visited by many celebrities!

Jack fruits on the tree in the yard.

Karwweik Hall and Royal Lake

Karwweik Hall and Royal Lake

We were not able to get into the Royal boat because it is now a buffet dinner restaurant with cultural shows in the evenings. It certainly looked impressive though.

with our guide Sunny

Chaukhatatgyi Pagoda

This pagoda houses one of the biggest reclining Buddhas in Myanmar. The Buddha has a placid face and a crown covered in diamonds and other precious stone which made it look impressive.

Entrance of the pagoda

No exceptions!

Around the back of the building.

A monastery nearby in the back.

Back inside, Sunny showed us how to ring the bell with a stick.

Our shoes were there waiting for us as we exit.

Seat belts? What seat belts?

Shwedagon Pagoda

The highlight of the day was at the end of the tour that late afternoon when we visited the Shwedagon Pagoda, the soul of Rangoon. It was good planning that Sunny brought us there in the late afternoon to avoid the heat and walking around hot tiles. Our sunset visit was amazing, with much cooler weather which made the visit much more pleasant.

The Shwedagon Pagoda is located near the Royal Lake on Singuttara Hill. It is the most sacred Buddhist site for the people here. The main pagoda is about 110 meters and covered with hundreds of gold plates. It is encrusted with 4531 diamonds at the top of the stupa with the largest 76 carat diamond. There are hundreds of temples, stupas, and statues at this one location. This is the focus of religious and community activities with many volunteers helping out with different chores daily.

Glass elevators

The basket for our group to put all our shoes in. When visiting Myanmar, it's better to wear sandals to avoid the trouble of having to put shoes and socks on and off.

Crossing the bridge to the pagoda.

This is one giant compound with many pagodas. We were instructed to walk clock-wise around these structures.

These young ladies were being trained in sweeping the grounds as a group. They are all volunteers, we were told.

It was just impressive as we watched the pagodas changing colors at sunset.

Lots of people!

The pagoda changing colors as the sun set.

It was getting dark when we were ready to leave this place and Sunny wanted to show us the huge diamond on the very top of the pagoda that changes color. He told me to stand on a particular tile and look up at the diamond and then move to the right a step and to the left a step. I could see that the diamond changed from white to red and then blue. As each of us tried to do the same, a long line of people started to form behind us. I thought that was kind of funny! I wonder if they even know what we were doing but that sure was a long line as we left the place.

The long line formed behind us as we were leaving.

The sacred tree

After this last stop, we took the 1-hour drive back to port. By the time we got back on the ship it was 8:30, past our fixed dinner time. We thought that room service would be our only option but figured that it wouldn't hurt to try and see if the main dining room will accommodate us.

Fortunately, after listening to our explanation, the manager was kind enough to let us in for a sit down dinner.