Guest Post: Tim Goes to Myanmar, Part 2

Street scenes from Yangon:  Tim got the opportunity to wander around Yangon.  Here are some of his shots: 

 

Tim hit up the Bogyoke market, originally built in 1926 as Scott's Market. 

Tim said everyone wore "slippers" everywhere- flipflops, essentially.  These shops had a lot of slippers for sale... bedazzled for the ladies. 

Lots of tailors selling cotton and silk fabric that is custom-made into the Myanmar version of the sarong- the longyi- as you wait.  Tim said the government representatives at his conference were all wearing the longyi as their uniform, with a short-sleeved button-down top in rough cotton, typically.  Tim had one made for himself and is wearing it around the house.  Ha.

People walking around in their longyis, with umbrellas to protect them from strong sun and wicked heat. 

Tim was super hot and was offered some fresh juice from this stand.  He ordered some avocado juice from the fruit stand (look how big the avocados are!!) ... turned out to be this strange, but refreshing chunky avocado mixed with sweetened condensed milk. 

The road-side markets in Yangon encroached on the streets. Tim said it was hard to walk on the sidewalks because of all the wares that were spread out everywhere.  This shot shows all of the old cars driving around Yangon, too.  It's been hard for the country to import new cars into Myanmar because of economic sanctions...

 Roadside vendors selling produce.  Dudes in longyis.

Historic, but dilapidated colonial architecture.  All of these buildings are running on generators at least half the day because of inconsistent electricity supply. 

More colonial architecture, plus the tri-shaw - a three wheeled rickshaw, essentially.  Tim says this guy on the left was selling betel nut- commonly chewed by folks on the street in Myanmar.  It makes people's mouths turn red and they spit big red loogies everywhere.

More colonial architecture- this one from 1914.

Another tri-shaw in front of colonial buidlings - this one's carrying a full load of beer!!

Tim took a cab ride in a taxi with the driver on the right-hand side.  Cars in Myanmar drive on the right hand side, like in the U.S., but sometimes the driver is on the right side of the car, sometimes the left.  Scary!  Tim says they also use miles-per-hour, not kilometers, which is pretty strange.