Myanmar
Twantay

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    • Day 3

      The Not So Circular Train and Night Bus

      January 20, 2019 in Myanmar ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      We booked our first night bus for Bagan for tonight so today was about getting rest and planning around getting to the bus station which is pretty far from town.

      We had quite a lazy morning having breakfast, chatting to the other guests in the youth hostel and sharing ideas. It got to about 11am and we still hadn't showered or packed to check out, so we quickly did. By this time it was now time for lunch so we joined a German guy for Shan Noodles (it's like an Asian bolognese, seriously delicious).

      After lunch we picked up our bags and headed off to the circle line. Now we were prewarned, it's not actually a circle anymore but it was more beneficial this was anyway as it took us half way to our bus station for our night bus.

      For the first half an hour the journey was quite fun and the train wasn't too crowded but after it got very crowded, hot and stuffy. It was just one sweaty mess. The locals were very sweet though and there were some adorable tiny babies. One watched Will in amazement while he was eating an orange and then took a segment. He was adorable! Would I recommend the journey to others? It's an interesting way of watching locals go about their day but if you have been to any other SEA Country then no you don't need to do this. It was about 2 hours long and that wasn't even the whole way.

      We arrived at Insein Station pretty early so we stopped for an overpriced stir fry veg but the owner was really pleasant and chatted to us for a while and instead of getting a taxi recommended that we get a bus all the way to the station. Perfect! Even though pretty early we jumped on the bus and that was much more comfortable.

      We arrived at the station with plenty of time so sat and read our books waiting for our bus. When it came it looked super luxurious and fancy... But looks can be deceiving...
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    • Day 3

      You say Yangon, I say Rangoon

      October 27, 2018 in Myanmar ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

      Getting through immigration was a breeze and I met up with the tour guide quickly after arriving. I checked into my hotel and then it was off to a day of sightseeing. I was hopeful that the frenetic pace might keep me awake, having gotten six disrupted hours of sleep last “night.”

      We started with a walk through the numerous markets in downtown Yangon. I think my favorite item was the instant karma. We walked by a man who had about 50 finches stuffed into a cage. I asked why he was selling them and the guide said that you can purchase them to purposely liberate them, creating good karma for you. Sounded like a good idea but then it occurred to me what bad karma it must be to trap and sell them in the first place.

      We continued on past the Sule Pagoda, which has been standing for 2500 years. All the other areas of town are described by their distance from this point. Across the street on one side of the pagoda is a mosque, and on the other side is a church. They are fairly tolerant of religions here, or so the guide noted. We later drove out to the Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda, to experience an enormous reclining Buddha. I thought I had seen a large reclining Buddha, when I was in Thailand, but this one was gigantic. He is several stories high and proportionally long. At present he is covered with scaffolding, as they repaint him; but behind the bamboo, you could see striking blue eyes and pink fingernail polish. He is stark white, with brown robes and a sash of gold leaf.

      We finished our day at Shwedagon Pagoda. This isn’t just a pagoda, it’s an entire complex of them. Every turn and each step reveals a new Buddha statue or pagoda. The complex is large and the ornate woodwork is beautiful.

      Tomorrow we head to Bagan for more pagodas and temples.
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    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Twantay, တွံတေး မြို့နယ်

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