It has been an eventful year in this country. A year ago there were some big anti-government protests. Then last May 146,000 people died from the category 4 storm called Cyclone Nargis. Throughout all this, government wouldn’t allow any foreign volunteers or journalists into the country. But I got in.
The first thing you notice is the men wearing a type of skirt here called longyi. Next thing you notice is monks walking barefoot on the city streets. This morning I decided to take a walk and see some sights. It was interesting to see how they deliver newspapers. There are strings hanging down from each apartment. A man clips the newspaper onto the end of the string, gives it a shake which sounds a bell, then the person inside pulls up the string with newspaper attached.
Kandawgyi Lake was my first stop. You can’t miss the huge boat shaped Karaweik Palace Restaurant there.
Then I walked to Shwedagon Paya, one of the most famous places in the country and I spent a few hours looking at everything there. Afterwards, I was hungry so I tried a few restaurants. I was scared when I saw there were no posted prices if there was any menu at all. They give away free tea and I was relived when I paid the local price for the food.
I tried one of the trucks carrying people around the city, since I was feeling adventurous. I tried to ask the driver where he was going and it sounded like it was the right way so I got on. I tried to pay, but he wouldn’t accept for some reason. Maybe not many westerners have tried this so he just let me on for free.
Now I was in the market. I needed some flip-flops, so I found some for $2. And then I found a DVD for $0.40. But this was just a DVD-R, not a professional stamped one and it didn’t work in my computer. I think I learned if you’re going to buy something fake, you better do it in China. The best fakes are from China.