9-30 (Saturday) Yangon, Myanmar/Burma

I still haven’t been able to sleep through the night since I have left the US.

We finished packing, had breakfast, very briefly went to the internet and left for the airport at 8:30. It took an hour to get there even though there was very little traffic since it was Saturday. The taxi cost $8.50.

We were leaving from the brand new airport which opened on the 28^th of this month. Just three days ago. It was very impressive in its size and architecture. I believe it is the largest in the world. We checked our luggage, paid our airport tax and went to the gate. The pilot was sitting a couple seats down from us. I started talking to him and had my picture taken with him. Like the taxi driver yesterday this guy didn’t look like he was old enough to fly a plane but I must say he was very handsome. The Myanmar Volleyball team was on the plane with us. The came in 3^rd in the tournament. I think Indonesia was first and Thailand second.

The flight was only an hour but we were served lunch! That would NEVER happen in the states. You’d be lucky to get a tiny bag of pretzels.

After we touched down we boarded a bus and were driven to the terminal. It was kinda dumpy but it looked like they were trying to build something else. Usually entering a country at visa control the foreigner’s line is the longest – not here- there were very few foreigners entering Myanmar. The visa control girls were sitting on old rickety folding metal chairs while they worked on ANCIENT filthy computers with tiny screens.

After getting our luggage and making our way towards the outside some guy came up to me and said he would take us to the hotel for $5 US. That sounded like a good deal so we took it.

Our hotel was the Yusana. The first room they took us to reeked of smoke so they moved us to another room which they sprayed right before we entered. From our window we had a fantastic view of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the most famous pagoda in Myanmar. I can’t tell you how beautiful it is – all gold a gleaming in the sun. At night they light it up and from our window it is magnificent. It is very sacred and is surrounded by hundreds of pavilions and shrines of all shapes and sizes. Burmese from all walks of life perform their devotions, meet friends or sit quietly and enjoy the atmosphere.

After we were all checked in we walked to the Shwedagon Pagoda. We were walking through “neighborhoods” and down back alleys. We couldn’t believe how poor the people are. It is really heartbreaking. They like in dirty little shacks that look like they could tumble down in a soft breeze.

Two young boys started “hustling” us for money. They wanted us to buy plastic bags from them to put our shoes in when we went into the pagoda. We ended up not going in because you had to take off your socks as well as shoes plus I was wearing shorts.

We walked though a street market on the way home. I took a lot of pictures. People really stared at us like they had not seen foreigners before.

After we got back to the hotel and caught our breath we went off to do the internet. It was on the second floor of some department store. There were all guys in there mostly playing games. The net went so slow that we gave up on it and walked back to the hotel.