Yangon is so different from the rest of Eastern Asia. It reminds me much more of India than Thailand, Vietnam, Bali, or Malaysia. It is noticeably the most poor area we have been to so far on this trip. The sidewalks are in such bad shape that it is safer for us to walk on the streets with the cars. The lighting at night on the streets barely shines bright enough to see where you are walking. Buildings are half finished and covered with black streaks that may be from dirt, exhaust, or who knows what. I would guess it's from the dirt that is everywhere based on how black the soles of my feet looked when we got back to our hotel at night. Good thing our hotel has a generator since there are blackouts several times a day. The first one happened to me while I was in the elevator of all places. Dinner at Monsoons tonight was good which was to be expected since it's three times the price of the local restaurants. That means that an entrée came to a whopping $3.00. After dinner we walked to the Botahtaung Shrine. Inside contains a strand of Buddha's hair. That is if you can find it as you have to meander through an antiquated version of a carnival "house of mirrors". I like this place so far. Yes, it may not be the most beautiful city, but the sites are impressive and so different from other places in southeast asia. The golden shrines all over town are stunning.
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