7. Return to Rangoon

Another early start, goodbye to Chan and a flight back to the capital to be met by Tun again. The latter is much more detached than Chan and has a tendency to swagger around as though he owns the place! He is also quite happy to talk about his political views and clearly has a lot of time for ‘the Lady’.

There are not a huge number of memorable sights in Rangoon but over the course of the next day and a half we explored and had an enjoyable afternoon tea at the renovated Strand Hotel (we could have stayed over night with the services if our own butler for about £250 a night).

The area around the Strand is very run down and it is sad to see many potentially very attractive colonial buildings unused or squatted in and in great need of repair and restoration. The Secretariat, where Aung San and 6 cabinet ministers were assassinated in 1947, is being restored and should be opened by the end of this year, hopefully a good sign.

lady boy literally stopping traffic

 In a temple in Chinatown we saw a couple seeking astrological advice as to whether to buy a flat! The Musmeah  Yeshua synagogue has a very attractive interior although currently serving only about 20 Jews remaining in Rangoon.

 We took a "local "train in the afternoon,trundling through the city and outskirts.

Entire families selling foodstuffs on the platform

At dusk we took the ferry over to the village of Dalah and had a trishaw ride. Nic and David insisted on having a go themselves too! Lots of high fives from the kids. The contrast to life in the city only a 10 minute ferry ride away is striking, the villagers in their bamboo houses not even having running water. The night market there literally goes on until morning and was buzzing.

Kite flying at dusk

On the last morning we walked about 4 miles around the Kandawgyi lake with the Karaweik Palace, a restaurant set on a pair of barges with huge birds heads on the prows, being the most spectacular sight.

Lots of locals were picnicking in the shade around the lake. It was a pity that the boardwalk and lots of the bridges had been allowed to fall into such disrepair.

The last two afternoons in Rangoon saw heavy rainfall and chaos at our hotel as wedding celebrations for 250 people were threatened with having to be moved indoors.