Yangon

I arrived in Yangon at 6:00 AM exhausted from a restless night in a bumpy 12 hour bus ride. Luckily, my hostel let me check in, so after having some breakfast, I went straight to bed. Feeling more rested after a nap, I went to 999 Shan Noodles based off Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet's recommendations. This time LP was right. For just $2.10, I had delicious sticky rice noodles and a lime juice. Feeling energized, I was ready to get back to touristing. Looking at the map, I realized Sule Pagoda was a short walk away so I paid it a visit. Maybe I've been spoiled by amazing pagodas this past week, but it was nothing special. Apparently, it's older than Shwedagon Pagoda, the city's most famous pagoda, so I guess that's cool. It also supposedly has some of Buddha's hair inside. Ew. 

Everyone says that the Circle Line Train is a must-do attraction in Yangon. Since I was only 15 minutes away and wanted to save the other pagoda for sunset, I walked over to Yangon Central Station to board the train. For just 50 cents, you can ride the whole circuit around the city. I was a little skeptical about riding a train for three hours, but figured I didn't have anything better to do, so I'd hop on a get a taste of the local flavor. The first interesting thing I noticed is that everyone faces forward despite the seats facing inward. Little old ladies and wrinkly old men pull their legs in Indian style or squat on their haunches so their whole bodies face the front of the train. Some even trim completely around with their back to the center facing outward. This can be a bit weird if you sit the "normal" way, since the guy next to you is breathing into the side of your face. 

The next interesting thing to happen, and I'm using that word generously, was when a 50ish-year-old man jumped off the moving train as it was nearing a station, pulled up his longhi, pulled out his longy and started to pee on the tracks. I guess he couldn't wait! Another interesting thing about the train was the variety of goods available for sale. It's almost as if you could skip the market all together and just ride the train until everything you needed had come to you. Cheroot cigars? Of course! Mango? By the dozen! Lychee? By all means! Live chicken? Ice cream? Rice snacks? No problem! Or if you're feeling a bit more ambitious, you can exit at the Danyingon stop, which much like the train market in Bangkok, was set up on both sides of the tracks and cleared out of the way when the train approached. As soon as we departed, the vendors were back in the tracks selling their wares. 

And for the last interesting thing that happened on the train: a little girl got on and sat down next to me. She had a little bag of snack with her that she was quietly munching on. At first, I didn't really pay attention to what she was nibbling - until I noticed it was crickets. Lots and lots of seasoned crickets. She looked as if she was really enjoying them too, pulling off each wing individually and putting them into her mouth, really savoring every bite. So, as the train rolled back into Yangon Central Station, I assessed the past three hours of my day and decided that this trip is on the list of top things to do for tourists for one of two reasons. Either, the people who do it haven't even been on a train in their lives or there isn't much worth seeing in Yangon, so convincing tourists to sit on a train for three hours might distract them from wondering what to do all day. Either way, it was pretty boring. I'm glad I had a book. Since it started raining just before sunset, I decided to hold off on Shwedagon Paya until the next day. After 9 days in Myanmar, I am a bit tired of Myanmar food, so I went to Union Bar & Grill for some international cuisine. I ordered a Caesar salad and spinach ravioli. It was decent, but not amazing. I was just happy it wasn't rice and curry. 

I finally had a morning to sleep in, so I didn't set an alarm today. Thin curtains and no AC sort of ruining that plan, however and I was up at 7:30. Oh well. After breakfast and packing, I took a cab to the pagoda. Every cab driver in the city I have come across has tried to talk me into a Yangon city tour ranging from $60 to $80. I feel pretty good about walking everywhere yesterday, spending only 50 cents in the train and my $3 cab to the pagoda this morning. There is another (in my opinion better) pagoda next to Shwedagon Paya called Maha Wizaya Pagoda. Before walking in, I was making a mess of wrapping my longhi around me when a little old lady came up grabbed the cloth and took over. I was immaculately wrapped in no time! It's amazing how flattering a longhi can be when it's done right. I liked this pagoda more than its famous neighbor because there wasn't anyone there, unlike the crowded Shwedagon Paya. Also, it had a weird mystical forest inside with a unicorn and what looked like Dorothy's house from the Wizard of Oz on the ceiling. Not sure what that was all about, but it was different!

So long Myanmar! You've really been lovely!