Yangon City - Introduction to the City

June - We dropped our bags at the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel in Yangon and quickly began our tour.  Mai first took us to see the City Square.  We were able to get a photo of a Christian church, Buddhist temple, and Muslim Mosque all within the square. I was genuinely surprised to see this.  Check out our photos.

Walking through the city streets we saw some interesting sites - like lottery tickets for sale.  They don't have private banks, ATM's or basic functioning infrastructure, but they sell lottery tickets.  These sales have been authorized by the government, and they actually have large "lotto" drawings also.  We also checked out a very unique type of birdfeeder (using a dried rice plant) to attract birds in the city.  See photo.  Some restoration is taking place on several large buildings from Colonial times.  We passed a quaint tea restaurant with aromatic smells permeating the street.  We watched several men playing a board game on the corner using bottle caps and dice.  When MaryBeth went to take their picture they shouted, "no, no picture."  We've learned that it's a common game played in Burma.  The men probably didn't want any evidence for their wives that they were hanging around playing board games with the guys instead of working. 

We also watched an elderly gentleman typing (yes, I said typing as in MANUAL TYPEWRITER).  It appeared to be some kind of manuscript.  Loved this!  Then, the best of all - the TELEGRAPH OFFICE!  Had to provide a photo as actual proof.