Day 260 - Visit to the National Museum of Yangon
Sunday, March 24th, 2019.
This morning, Gregory and I took a taxi to the stadium across from the central railway station where they sell bus tickets. It wasn’t really a bus station but many small stands with beach umbrellas out front to keep the sun out. All the signs were in Myanmar language -- you are not supposed to say Burmese because it recalls colonial times and oppresion of non-Burmese ethnic groups!
After comparing prices at a few stands, we finally chose at a stand where they assured us that it was the nicest bus with footrests and snacks on board. It took a while because the girls didn’t speak much English but after an hour, we had our tickets. Well, actually we had a receipt for 4 bus tickets. They explained to us that we have to be in there half an hour early to take the bus. I always feel uncomfortable when it's not a formal bus station but it was like this in Ethiopia and other places. [Gregory's note: I always ask Lili, what's the worst that could happen? We get on the wrong bus? Or we take a bus the next day? But you will recall that she was raised by a man who insisted on leaving the house 4 hours early to drive to the airport "in case something should happen".]
After getting that out of the way, we went to the National Museum of Yangon, taking advantage that we didn't have the kids. The temperature is around 90F (33C) so instead of seeing another famous Pagoda from the outside, we figured the museum would have AC. I have to say that the museum is not great. The building was big and ugly. [Gregory's note: it's a Soviet-era building. Imposing, Monumentalist architecture. Did not age well.] The exposition had bad lighting and very few explanations. They do have nice things to see, and we especially enjoyed the music room with all sorts of interesting and old musical instruments.
We didn’t see the whole museum because it was quite large and it was lunchtime. We figured that the kids would not go out for lunch, even if we had left them money, so we went back to the hotel. The kids did go out but only for boba tea, not food. We went out looking for a place to eat and ended up eating in a place called Thai Box that apparently is an online restaurant but they had delicious food and AC. Across from the restaurant was a nice hair salon and I decided to get a haircut. I think my last one had been almost a year ago when we went to Mexico to get vaccines for this trip!
I really needed the haircut. They trimmed and blow dried my hair for the high price of $2, yes you heard me right. When I first asked how much, I froze when she said: 3000 kyats but when I used my calculator and realized that it was only two dollars, I laughed. I told her that I would come back to dye my hair, I just didn’t have time. I asked Sunshine if she wanted to get her hair trimmed and she said no. We walked back to our hotel through that busy road that is full of cafes, restaurants, stores, tailor and all you need you can find in that road. It is not very clean but much better than India. [Gregory's note: when she says busy, she means crowded with people, bicycle rickshaws, and the occasional car crawling through with shops, bars, and restaurants on both sides. It's a one-lane, one-way street.]
Sometimes I wish we could stay in fancier hotels to avoid crowds, dirt, trash, people spitting, smells and all the chaos that come with the popular streets but sometimes I’m happy that we stayed in these neighborhoods because we get to experience the real city. Sometimes I want to be a tourist and be away from the locals. I want to visit palaces, eat in a nice restaurant and not see the ugly and dirty parts of the city. Other times, I love to be with the locals and eat in the same places where they eat because I know that’s the best food. The places where the locals hang around is where the heart of the city is. Is like the real thing! I guess I’m just complicated. [Gregory's note: she manages to make it sound like a slum! It's actually pretty nice here, these streets are not dirty at all, and they're not even that crowded. There are several nice bars, local restaurants -- even ones with AC, so her grumbling here is more a matter of comparison with her adopted home of suburban coastal North County San Diego.]
This morning, Gregory and I took a taxi to the stadium across from the central railway station where they sell bus tickets. It wasn’t really a bus station but many small stands with beach umbrellas out front to keep the sun out. All the signs were in Myanmar language -- you are not supposed to say Burmese because it recalls colonial times and oppresion of non-Burmese ethnic groups!
After comparing prices at a few stands, we finally chose at a stand where they assured us that it was the nicest bus with footrests and snacks on board. It took a while because the girls didn’t speak much English but after an hour, we had our tickets. Well, actually we had a receipt for 4 bus tickets. They explained to us that we have to be in there half an hour early to take the bus. I always feel uncomfortable when it's not a formal bus station but it was like this in Ethiopia and other places. [Gregory's note: I always ask Lili, what's the worst that could happen? We get on the wrong bus? Or we take a bus the next day? But you will recall that she was raised by a man who insisted on leaving the house 4 hours early to drive to the airport "in case something should happen".]
After getting that out of the way, we went to the National Museum of Yangon, taking advantage that we didn't have the kids. The temperature is around 90F (33C) so instead of seeing another famous Pagoda from the outside, we figured the museum would have AC. I have to say that the museum is not great. The building was big and ugly. [Gregory's note: it's a Soviet-era building. Imposing, Monumentalist architecture. Did not age well.] The exposition had bad lighting and very few explanations. They do have nice things to see, and we especially enjoyed the music room with all sorts of interesting and old musical instruments.
We didn’t see the whole museum because it was quite large and it was lunchtime. We figured that the kids would not go out for lunch, even if we had left them money, so we went back to the hotel. The kids did go out but only for boba tea, not food. We went out looking for a place to eat and ended up eating in a place called Thai Box that apparently is an online restaurant but they had delicious food and AC. Across from the restaurant was a nice hair salon and I decided to get a haircut. I think my last one had been almost a year ago when we went to Mexico to get vaccines for this trip!
I really needed the haircut. They trimmed and blow dried my hair for the high price of $2, yes you heard me right. When I first asked how much, I froze when she said: 3000 kyats but when I used my calculator and realized that it was only two dollars, I laughed. I told her that I would come back to dye my hair, I just didn’t have time. I asked Sunshine if she wanted to get her hair trimmed and she said no. We walked back to our hotel through that busy road that is full of cafes, restaurants, stores, tailor and all you need you can find in that road. It is not very clean but much better than India. [Gregory's note: when she says busy, she means crowded with people, bicycle rickshaws, and the occasional car crawling through with shops, bars, and restaurants on both sides. It's a one-lane, one-way street.]
Sometimes I wish we could stay in fancier hotels to avoid crowds, dirt, trash, people spitting, smells and all the chaos that come with the popular streets but sometimes I’m happy that we stayed in these neighborhoods because we get to experience the real city. Sometimes I want to be a tourist and be away from the locals. I want to visit palaces, eat in a nice restaurant and not see the ugly and dirty parts of the city. Other times, I love to be with the locals and eat in the same places where they eat because I know that’s the best food. The places where the locals hang around is where the heart of the city is. Is like the real thing! I guess I’m just complicated. [Gregory's note: she manages to make it sound like a slum! It's actually pretty nice here, these streets are not dirty at all, and they're not even that crowded. There are several nice bars, local restaurants -- even ones with AC, so her grumbling here is more a matter of comparison with her adopted home of suburban coastal North County San Diego.]
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/u7z5YxWP56rfFc8c9
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