#5 Food, and More to see in Yangon

As we traveled through Myanmar, we became accustomed to having a fairly large breakfast each day. These were included in the price of the room. 

image from web, I forgot to take a breakfast picture

Self served from covered hot pots, one could have fried potatoes, chicken sausage, fried fish, fried tomatoes, fried slices of corn on the cob, and of course the ever present rice noodles, fried vermicelli noodles, and fried rice.


A hot bowl of Miso soup was also standard with things to add such as green onions, won-tons, and tofu.

Fresh fruit, buns and toast, coffee, tea and yogurt were standard, and a few places offered oatmeal. Most hotels had a cook on duty to make omelets or fried eggs to order. 

Also, each hotel seemed to have something different from the others. One offered sweet and sour pork, and another had a big pot of fried vegetables with steamed rice.

My favorite, Pumpkin Ginger Soup

If Craig and I had been traveling alone, these breakfasts would have satisfied us all day, but Joko and Nicki are both big eaters and we found ourselves eating lunch, a snack and a nice dinner almost every day.

Also good, a rice noodle soup

Since it seemed just about everything was fried in a wok with lots of vegetable oil, I quickly learned to order only a soup for lunch.
My choices were also compromised by my determination to follow the CDC's recommendation to avoid "raw foods". After a week or so I did eat some fruit with only moderate consequences.

On the second day we again drove around the city to see more. We stopped at the school where Joko teaches, but of course they were closed for the holidays.  We also checked out some of the government buildings and some of the old structures from the colonial days when the British ruled over what was then called Burma.

The traffic was terrible, and there just was no parking anywhere, so our sightseeing was limited to drive-bys. I must say, Joko was a great driver. There is no sense of lanes, stop signs, turn signals, or for that matter staying on a particular side of the street in busy Asian cities. Changing lanes, U-turns in mid block, and lots of horn beeping are all standard. It was a bit scary for an old lady like me, and Joko laughed at my spontaneous gasps and squeals. (Not much different from when I'm in the passenger seat of the Alfa in city traffic.)

Then, he wanted to show us the Armenian Apostolic Church of Yangon. 

We looked for a parking space, and the only one open was filled with birds! Since it was under a tree, and a man was feeding them, there was little question why no one was parked there. 

But we did, and Joko had the car washed at the end of the day.

The church was quite beautiful. It is the oldest church in Yangon and dates back over 100 years. They still hold services here. 

Next it was on to the Bogyoke Aung San Market, formerly called Scott Market.

from Web

Merikay and Joko exploring the market

Built in 1926, it contains booths and small shops of every kind imaginable. Somewhat like a cleaner more permanent version of all the street vendors.

from web

Everything was very colorful! Because we live in a motorhome with limited space, I do not buy souvenirs, but I was really tempted here.

This image was taken from a second story walkway that connects the old market building to the second building that opened in the 1990's.  

Notice there are no motorbikes. (We will see plenty later in the trip.) In '03 the government restricted motorcycles on the streets of Yangon. 

"There are a number of rumors about why motorcycles were banned in Yangon in 2003, as well as mumblings that change is on the horizon. One version about the ban is that a person on a motorbike made a threatening gesture to a military general; another is that a motorbike rider distributed pro-democracy leaflets, and the third is that a general’s son was killed while riding a motorbike." Myanmar Times

As it is, motorbikes are the most popular modes of transportation in Southeast Asia, and many are found in the suburban and outlying areas of the city. Although cars are very expensive, a city resident has to provide proof that they have a parking space before they are allowed to purchase one.

Buddhist monks and nuns are seen everywhere in Myanmar. I learned that it was not necessarily a life long commitment, and people could become a monk or nun for a limited period of time. 

These small girls streamed through the aisles of the market chanting and holding out their silver bowls to collect money. 
Nicki corrected me when I said they were "begging'.  The correct way to think of it is  asking for "donations". 

All monks seem to  carry a donation bowl wherever they go.

Perhaps Buddhist parents send the children to become temporary nuns or monks the way Christian parents send the kids to summer bible school.


That evening we had a delightful dinner at the hotel with one of Joko's fellow teachers.  It was nice to learn more about his life so  far from home.

We slept well., and were ready for more.

Next: #6 Naypyidaw

#3 - Learning a little about the culture and history of Myanmar

The best way to understand the modern culture of a country is to learn a bit about their history. 

Royal Regalia (image from web)

After our drive through the city, we went to the National Museum of Myanmar.

We were not allowed to take our camera into the museum, so I am using this image from the web. 

These are royal wedding regalia. They were extensively embroidered with gold and silver threads and had many precious gems attached. They must have been very heavy.

The story behind them was that the sister of the bride stole the wedding dress and was married to the king in her sister's place, thereby becoming queen.

We  wandered the exhibit halls for an hour or so getting a feel for the past, before going to lunch and on to our next venue: The National Races Village. "If you visit the village, you will not only enjoy a fresh breeze blowing across the Bago River, but also get the sense of Union Spirit from the villages of our national brethren: Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Bamar, Mon, Rakhine and Shan. You can see buildings with significant symbols denoting various national races residing in the country."

The park was quite large and the day was getting hotter. 

Image from web

Joko had suggested we rent bicycles, but on second thought we opted for a shuttle ride to the farthest house and a walk back.

Nicki, Joko and Merikay feeding the ducks

Nicki, a Burmese friend of Joko's, came with us for the first few days of the trip. Having an interpreter was so helpful. Nicki's English was impeccable. 

Image from Web

Almost all of the  "village" houses were on raised platforms with room underneath for family activities, storage and or the keeping of livestock. 
We were required to remove our shoes before entering each house. This was a bother. I was wearing walking shoes and they are not easily slipped on and off. Some of the stairs to the upper levels did not have a railing, and at these I did not go upstairs with the others.

This one was not on stilts. It had a variety of colorful fabrics and clothing items on display, a big garden, and a flower bedecked bullock cart.

This guy was at the entrance to the path leading to one of the houses. I'm not really sure which, but we thought he was fun.




















Some of the houses were empty, but others displayed a wide variety of everyday household items.

I think this sand-covered table was a cooking surface, based on the placement of the sticks and the brick-like pot and kettle holder.

Pottery on display was simple but functional.

Notice the woven wall, and the open spaces in the floor and walls. Air circulation must be very important in the hot humid climate. All of the peoples made extensive use of local materials to weave baskets and other containers. This was all pre-plastic, but they had everything they needed.

In contrast, I noticed the extensive use of plastic at this modern Burmese family picnic outside one of the houses.

In most of the houses there was a large open room, used for all daily activities, and where the entire family slept on the floor mats that were rolled up each morning.

We saw this bed in a separate area of one house. I don't recall the story, but noticed the "mattress" is just a woven mat on a wood slat base. 

Some of the houses had separate sleeping areas for the unmarried women of the family, called "virgin rooms".

At the time, I had a hard time really seeing the differences between one village house and another, but later in our drive around the countryside I began to recognize differences from place to place. In the countryside people still live in these kinds of homes. They have no indoor plumbing, and the walls are mostly woven or wood slats.

Our walk back to the entrance was long, but leisurely. It was late afternoon but Joko and Nicki had one more magnificent thing to show us. 

The next post will be #4, Sunset at Shwedagon Pagoda

Look for my next post to read more about it and see some really stunning images!

#2-Sghts in the streets of Yangon, Myanmar

This is the second post about our Southeast Asia trip, if you want to know why we went where we did, start at the beginning: #1 -Why 

You just don't want to remember some parts of a trip. The flight   from San Diego to Yangon was long but uneventful. We left home on the morning of December 25th and arrived in Yangon after 10 PM, on the 26th. Intellectually I knew we had crossed the dateline, but it still felt strange to think that it was today in Yangon but  yesterday in San Diego. 

Our son Joko had rented a car and was our driver. On the 27th, after we had a good night's rest, he picked us up and we went for a drive around some of the older parts of the city. 

One of the first things that I noticed were all of the wires.

This was not the heaviest concentration of wires on one pole that we saw, just one that I caught while we were stopped in traffic. This was typical of the power line structure.

In many places large bundles of wires sagged against the walls. No one uses land-line phones, so perhaps many of them are dead.

I can't imagine how this guy knows which wire is which, or which are "hot." Craig said they don't repair the wires, they just string new ones! I think I see he has some sort of safety belt attached to the pole, but

 is he barefoot, or wearing some sort of rubber sandal? 

Hundreds of wires sagged across this side street.

Vendors line both sides of the streets, selling everything imaginable. Behind them there are also small shops selling, among othere things, clothes, pharmaceuticals, electronics, plants, flowers, vegetables, rice, used and new auto parts, plastic furniture, rugs, and blankets.  I have other pictures of street sellers to share, but for now this is just a quick look.

Food of all kinds is also sold on the streets.

This lady was selling fresh fish from pans on the ground. No refrigeration or ice. Mixed among the vendors were many people cooking and selling things to eat on the go. 

We did not sample any of the street foods because I was a bit paranoid about the warnings from the CDC. My theory is that the people build up an immunity to some of the things that sicken a visitor. After a week or so, I did eat a few fresh fruits and vegetables at a hotel restaurant, without serious consequences. 

I may be wrong, but it is my impression that millions of people in the city areas buy their food daily and either eat their meals at little stalls on the street, or cook it quickly in their apartments. Joko has told us that power outages in the hot or rainy months are frequent and many people do not have refrigerators. 

image from the web

Two other things I saw a lot of as we drove around, were plastic waste and street dogs.

Wherever there was a space between buildings, or the edge of a street that was not occupied by a vendor, there were piles of plastic waste. I also noticed this when we drove through the countryside later in the week. I can't help remembering our own country's movement to clean up the litter along our roads in the past. Perhaps someday Myanmar will do the same. They do seem to collect and recycle plastic water bottles, but that is because they get paid for them. 

image from web

The dogs are every where. But they don't belong to anyone. 

They are not pampered house pets and have a life of their own on the streets.

They don't seem to beg, but I saw people feeding them scraps. 

Since most Burmese are Buddhists they let the dogs be.  After all, they may come back as one in their next life if they are not good.

The dogs are all about the same size, but vary in color,  and are generally short-haired with a curling tail. 

Such a different, vibrant place. This was just our first few hours.

Much more to come!

#1 Why did we go to Myanmar and Vietnam

I decided to wait until we returned from our trip to Myanmar, Vietnam and Hawaii before I blogged about it. 

I knew I couldn’t do the trip justice if I tried to post day-by-day as we went along. I will be putting up posts about it every few days for a while. I will try to keep each post reasonably short so as to not burn out on writing them (nor burn you out reading them 🙂).  Hopefully this also encourages you readers to come back for more. I hope you will enjoy following along and sharing the adventure.

Of all the places in the world to travel to for a winter vacation, why did we choose these three? Craig and I love living full time in an RV, because although we enjoy travel to new places, we don't enjoy 

• flying on airplanes, 
• living out of suitcases, 
• eating every meal in restaurants, or 
• checking into and out of hotels. 

So why did we leave our Alfa parked while we went off to Southeast Asia?

Because we wanted to visit our son, Gil, who has been teaching English in Yangon, Myanmar for the last five years. 

My son the poster boy

Merikay and Gil in front of another poster advertising the school he works for.

During our first few years of full time RVing, we didn’t want to put the Alfa in storage and had no real alternative as to where to park her. When we found Jojoba Hills, we knew it was a perfect place to leave her for a month or more without worry. 

I wanted to add Thailand to our itinerary, but Gil has been there many times and suggested we all go to Vietnam for a week instead. So we did.

One of the great things about being retired is that you don't have to go home to go back to work. If you want to travel for one week, two weeks, a month, it doesn’t matter. You have no time clock to punch, and the only limit is your own endurance and budget. Both of which we stretched to the limit on this trip!

Then, when thinking about the return flights to San Diego from Hanoi, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to visit the last state on our RV travel map - Hawaii.

   

Many RVers have these maps and have different personal rules for earning a state sticker. Some say they have to actually camp in a state; we may have counted one or two that we have just driven through. Hawaii is a special case. The Alfa doesn’t float, so she had to stay at Jojoba Hills, but we count this trip as our 50th state anyway. 

Joko and Craig

Our son was named Gil after my father. When he was in high school, he went to Indonesia as an exchange student. His Indonesian family and friends had a hard time with the "G" in his name, so he took "Joko" as his nickname.

He now goes by Joko MacKenna to his friends in Southeast Asia, and as I continue this story I will call him by that name too. 

Coming Soon:
# 2-Sights in the streets of Yangon, Myanmar