Yangon

History

Yangon was the capital of Myanmar until the government decided to change it to Nyapyidaw in November 2005. Nevertheless, Yangon remains the largest city and has only lost it's official administrative function. The area on which the city is now located is probably founded by the Mon who called it Dagon, in 1755 king Alaungpaya conquered the city and gave it the name Yangon. During British colonization, it was called Rangoon and became known to the rest of the world as such. The colonizers were also responsible for the present oldest part of the city near the Ayeyarwaddy river after a huge fire destroyed much of the city in 1841. Several colonial buildings can still be seen today, most of them in a deplorable state since there is just no money to do any manitanance. Only after about 1990 the first flats and other high buildings started to appear but even in 2008 the best landmarks in the city are it's pagoda's, not highrises.

Is Yangon a safe city?

According to my guide the answer is "yes", according to me I would say "probably yes". During my stay I never experienced any moment of unsafety or unwanted hassle, also when walking is densely crowded streets, in the many taxis I sat in and when going out after dark (which I did every night). I always put my money in 2 places and even though it is required to carry your passport as an ID I sometimes brought just a copy of it with the phonenumber of my guide written on it. Taking the normal precautions as you would in any large city is sufficient: watch your belongings, do not open your wallet on busy places when you need small change, do not walk into dark alleys and watch around carefully, but most of all relaxed. As a comparison: I felt equally safe in Yangon as in the capital of my country, Amsterdam. Other places I visited in Myanmar are centainly safe: penalties by police and army are harsh, but most of the time they do not need to interfere. For instance, in Mandalay, it is common practice to wear a wallet sticking out half in the back of the longyi, the skirt the men wear, also in very crowded places.

Is Yangon a beautiful city?

The answer is "not very": densely populated, much-used buildings, roads and cars, partly polluted, busy, differences between poor en rich parts. The government likes to call Yangon the "Garden City" and in some respect it is a fair description as there are still open garden-like areas between the higher buildings. According to my guide, the tropical cyclone Nargis destroyed almost half the number of trees in the city in May 2008. Overall the pictures shows a city that urgently needs refurbishing for which no funds are available. It is remarkable how the Myanmar people learn to live with the shortcomings of their buildings, roads filled with potholes, sidewalks that hardly deserve to be called that way, cars with extra strong shockbreakers, diesel powered generators everywhere to overcome the almost daily power outages, the dangerous street-crossings, etcetera. The beauty of the city comes mainly from the charm of their people, and secondly from the really outstanding religious buildings: Indian temples, Christian churches, Muslim mosques and most of all the Buddhist temples and pagodas. To me, the Shwedagon Pagoda is the most beautiful monument I have ever seen and I would put it above the Eiffel Tower or even the Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican / Rome in Italy.

As a sign of thank to the guide I had in Yangon, I mention my guide's name,: Thein Toe. You can contact him by visiting his website with all the details: http://www.tettoe-travel.com/ He is an honest, nice man with a thoughtfull look on life. He is a good guide and sometimes downright entertainer, serious conversation takes turns with jokes.

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