Diethelm was right there at the airport to shepherd us though immigration. The Yangon airport is only about 15 km from the center of Yangon, and serves International and Domestic flights.

Yangon has an impressive colonial heritage, but the highlight is Shwedagon Pagoda. It was originally built about 2,500 years ago to house eight sacred hairs of the Buddha, and added onto until it’s now about 300 feet tall. The dome is covered with tons of gold leaf, and the top of the stupa is encrusted with 1,000′s of diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Buddhists from all around the country come pay respect to the pagoda. View image

It is beyond description…just wandering around, looking at the different stupas and people watching, is an experience right out of Disney World.

Shwedagon Pagoda

The Burmese people wear the “longgyis” everyday which is their national dress. A longgyi is sort of a wrap-around sarong that both men and women wear. Sorry, but the Westerners trying to go native with a longgyi just look ridiculous.

A fun place to shop is the Bogyoke Market, established by the British in the 1920′s (formerly called Scott’s Market). Good place to souvenir shop – woodcarving, lacquerware, basketware, textiles, monk’s umbrellas, “older” items and some antiques. The market is under roof and surrounded by lots of other small shops. I bought velvet flip-flops for $1 a pair along with LOTS of other items. Their souvenirs, antiques, and such are still very reasonable compared to other countries. China and Thailand are triple the price for the same items.

Go to Myanmar (Burma) before it loses all it’s charm and becomes just another Westernized, Asian country. The people are sweet, kind, and hospitable to their visitors.

From there, it was a short flight on Yangon Airways to Kengtung – via Heho, Mandalay and Thachilek (you can cross over the border into Thailand from Thachilek). Most domestic flights make multiple stops. It’s very rare to have a non-stop. They load up those planes and take-off, usually before they are supposed to depart. Don’t even think of a close connection…your plane won’t be there. And, all announcements are made in their language! You must have someone with you who can translate or throw yourself on someone’s mercy, otherwise you’ll be clueless as to what is going on.

We stayed at the small Princess Hotel, in Kengtung, and the owner’s daughter was our local guide through the minority villages. (She spoke many of the dialects.)

There were a variety of villages: Kattauk, Pin Tauk has the Lahu and Akha (the largest minority in the area). In Wanpin village, the Akha still dress in their traditional costumes. The women wear headdresses which resemble heavy silver helmets – rows of heavy silver baubles, interspersed with beads, sewn on a bamboo cap. They looked mighty heavy to me and I wasn’t about to try one on….possible “cooties”?

Akha headdress

Some of the villages have converted to Catholicism or Baptism, but most are still Animists – sacrifice animals, worship trees, etc. We brought lots of rice cakes to distribute, and everyone lined up for their share. Children, naturally, tried to line up twice to get an extra one!

yummy rice cakes

Even through most of the villages required a muddy walk uphill, the people do their best to keep themselves and their houses, quite clean. View image

Tomorrow, more villages….