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Welcome to the Yangon International Airport

Bogyoke Aung San Market in Yangon

Bogyoke Aung San Market in Yangon. Satcha bought a longyi to dress like the locals. A longyi is a sheet of cloth widely worn in Burma by men and women. The cloth is often sewn into a cylindrical shape. It is worn around the waist, running to the feet. It is held in place by folding fabric over, without a knot.

Bogyoke Aung San Market in Yangon. Since the longyi is only held on by a knot, and the knot comes loose very often and is very difficult to keep up. People adjust the knot quickly without any problems. But, for Satcha it was a little difficult. Many times men would come up to him and help him tie the knot tight. It was quite a site!!!!

Bogyoke Aung San Market in Yangon

Botataung Paya

Botataung Paya. The woman in the picture is our local tour guide. The children came running up to us and were laughing and playing. When we took this picture and showed it to them and their parents on the camera they were amazed. They'd never seen a picture of themselves before

Botataung Paya

Betel Nut. A few slices of the nut are wrapped in a Betel leaf along with lime and tobacco leaf. They also may include clove, cardamom, catechu (kattha), etc. for extra flavouring. Areca nuts are chewed with betel leaf for their effects as a mild stimulant, causing a mild hot sensation in the body and slightly heightened alertness, although the effects vary from person to person. As the person chews on the mixture, it produces a liquid in the mouth. Some of this liquid is usually disposed of by spitting, producing bright red spots which are highly visible in the street

Man making and selling betel nut on the street

Chaukhtatgyi Paya

Thanakha. Thanaka is a yellowish-white cosmetic paste made from ground bark and water rubbed together on a stone. It is a distinctive feature of Myanmar, seen commonly applied to the face and sometimes the arms of women and girls and to a lesser extent men and boys. The creamy paste is applied to the face in attractive designs, the most common form being a circular patch on each cheek. Besides being used for cosmetic beauty, thanaka also gives a cooling sensation and provides protection from sunburn. It is believed to help remove acne and promote smooth skin.

Meditation Center Nuns

Christine with thanakha

Wholesale Market. This market was undergroud and very strong smelling between all the spices and drying fish. There were a lot of cockroaches on the floors here

Streets of Yangon

Shwedagon Pagoda. This paya is the It is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese. This tree is the Banyan Tree. This tree has grown from a branch of the original tree under which Gautama Buddha gained enlightenment

Shwedagon Pagoda

View from the train ride Yangon - Kyaiktiyo

Christine sleeping on train ride Yangon - Kyaiktiyo

View from the train ride Yangon - Kyaiktiyo

Train ride Yangon - Kyaiktiyo. Our train derailed. What a scary feeling. The train ride was bumpy to begin with, but all the sudden things got really bumpy. We didn't know what was going on until the train finally stopped. People were getting off and looking at the derailed wheel under where we were sitting.

Our derailed train. From what we heard later on in the trip was that trains derailing were very common in Burma. We just had to wait for a someone or some type of vechicle to come and put the train back on the track. This could've taken hours...or even days!!!

Our derailed train. Luckily we were between this hill on both sides so that the train couldn't tip.

Our derailed train. When Satcha got off to take a look at what happened everyone was looking at him. They just stopped and stared. We don't know if they thought he was going to fix it or what!!!

We waited for about an hour by the train and our guide decided that we'd look for another form of trasportation to go to Kyaiktiyo. As she was looking we waited with this family. It was the best experience. They were so nice and hospitable. They offered us food, shelter from the sun while we wait, etc. We asked if we could take pictures with them and they loved it!!!! They came out and were laughing and having fun.

Burmese family

This is the trasportation that we took to Kyaiktiyo. It was quite an experience. We were packed into the back of this truck and people just kept getting on. Eventually people were hanging onto the outside of the truck by a rope.

The road to Kyaiktiyo was really bumpy. People were getting motion sick and there was no where to strech our legs for 1 hour.

Truck to Golden Rock

Truck to Golden Rock. This is the truck we took up a bumpy steep 1 lane road to the golden rock. The seats were 2x4 boards and there was no where to hang on. We hit so many bumps and went flying. I really thought that I was going to fall out of the truck.

The road to the Golden Rock was so steep that they didn't allow trucks up it. So, we had to walk...it was really hot and humid and it was impossible to keep up with our guide because she was walking so fast.

Road up to Golden Rock. Instead of walking some people had the locals carry them up. Poor guys....they are stick thin carrying a chubby tourist up this steep hill.