"Yangon - City of Golden Pagodas" Top 5 Page for this destination Rangoon by herzog63

Rangoon Travel Guide: 614 reviews and 1,256 photos

First Impression of Yangon

My first impression was that I was in Northern India! As I left the airport in my taxi my son and I where going to have a new experience. I noticed that the men were all wearing a long sarong type thing so I asked the taxi driver about it and he said it was a Longyi pronounced Long G. He was wearing one too! Hmm..Gonnna have to get me one of those! We bought one for each of us but did't wear them around. Looking back I wish we would have. I noticed that the locals really accepted the foreigners that did wear them. I thought they might laugh at us but I was wrong. If I make it back to Myanmar the first thing I will do is buy a Longyi and wear it. I also noticed that there wasn't mass amounts of traffic. There is traffic but nothing compared to Bangkok ..not even close at least where I was driving. As we were coming into the city I spotted Shwedagon Paya off to my left and it sent shivers up my spine! Gosh! I couldn't wait to get there! This is the first picture that I had taken in Yangon. It is from the balcony of the Golden Smile Guest House.
My Yangon page is going to take a couple of days at least to complete so if you enjoy what you see please check back as I have lot's of material to add!

Yangon is a pretty cool city

Sule Paya

It is not what I had expected! The architecture in the older parts of town is very British Colonial. I didn't know a whole lot about Myanmar before I went. I knew that it had Golden Pagodas and had heard that the people were very friendly but mostly poor and that the Goverment was pretty messed up! But other than that I new very little. Our Guest House was very near the Sule Paya so that is where we headed to first. Actually second we walked a little ways past Sule Paya to Mahahandoola St which is where I was told that alot of money changers hung out. Had to change some of those FEC's into spending money.

Pros and Cons

Pros:Great place to wander..Great food..Great people!
Cons:Non from me
In a nutshell:Fantastic city!

Last visit to Rangoon: Mar 2003
Intro Updated Apr 2, 2003
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Reviews (36)

Fried Snake Restaurants (6)

This restaurant has snake for sale. I didn't get to try any as it was the last snake of the afternoon until evening.... more travel advice

See Shwedagon Paya from far away Favorites (4)

When you are in Yangon and of course not in the middle of a street but up high you can see the Golden Zedi of Shwedagon... more travel advice

Buses that are Jam packed with people Transportation (2)

The public buses that travel the streets of Yangon are very packed with people! If you decide to get on one be prepared... more travel advice

Great Old Buses Transportation (2)

This bus might have been used for something special as it had a nice paint job! Most of the buses that I saw traveling... more travel advice

Warnings Or Dangers (1)
Melting ice
Local Customs (6)
See All Dad's love their kids
Off The Beaten Path (3)
See All Hidden Wealth??

Tourist Traps (2)
See All Beggars
Shopping (5)
See All Wooden Buddhas
Things to Do (7)
See All Inside Sule Paya

Travelogues (2)

1 - 2 of 2

Comments (35)

Trekki Sep 22, 2005 at 4:30 PM Report Abuse

Lovely page on Rangoon. It's on my wishlist, too - one day :-) cheers
DaDrifter Aug 24, 2005 at 9:45 PM Report Abuse

Fantastic page, Scott! Love the pictures and your street side stories :) My fascination for Burma has grown with these pages.
canadiantravelgirl Aug 14, 2004 at 11:27 PM Report Abuse

Great page!!! My b/f and I are in the early stages of planning a trip to Burma-Myanmar and your tips provided us with lots of great info!! Thanks!!
kyoub Aug 12, 2004 at 8:34 AM Report Abuse

Loved reading this page. Great tips and photos. I am sure the kitchens do leave a lot to be desired.
Sharrie Jul 19, 2004 at 2:32 AM Report Abuse

Heading here for a quick weekend trip next week. 1) It's ok to take a cab from taxi? No scams, right? 2) Is it $200/300 that I have to convert into their currency? Thanks for the tips! I've tried snakes many times, but fried snakes... that's a novelty ;-)
Hosell May 13, 2004 at 7:01 PM Report Abuse

As usual wonderful page,pictures and travelogues.Well I'm not sure to try the fried snake!!!!!! :-)
radz May 11, 2004 at 5:53 AM Report Abuse

Great page,Loved ur pics.
sim1 Mar 17, 2004 at 8:48 AM Report Abuse

Great page Scott!!! I enjoyed this page so much! Your travel experiences, your beautiful photos and your great sense of humor make it a fantastic page to read. Hahaha, the melting ice warning made me laugh sooo much, hahahaha :-)))
dr.firas Feb 24, 2004 at 8:22 AM Report Abuse

Sule Paya looks like the city of gold ;-) hey never heard about snake food, but here in France I saw a a vodka drink and in it there were a snake Eeeeeeek LOL
Waalewiener Jan 30, 2004 at 7:32 PM Report Abuse

It has been a while since I saw one of your Asian pages Scott,and I still like them as much as I did before. You go there and you really observe and and of course you hold on to Hadji's hand ,you two are such good friends I bet.