Yangon a minute

Getting to Myanmar is easier than ever before, but still more difficult than anywhere else I've been to in south-east Asia. The visa requirements can be stringent, most land border crossings are closed, you can only exchange crease-free and pristine dollar bills and until very recently, there were no ATMs. It is also more expensive than other countries, and the shoddy state of many roads makes overland travel lengthy and uncomfortable. Yet despite all that, Myanmar was one of my favorite places so far.

Streets of Yangon

View from Mahabandoola Gardens in Yangon

Men and women wearing longyis

Government instructions!

First stop for me, as it is for most tourists who have to fly in to Myanmar, was Yangon. The former capital of Burma, and still Myanmar's biggest city, sprawls from the banks of the Yangon river and is the most bustling part of the country. Millions of men and women, most wearing longyis or sarongs, inhabit this city. I saw plenty of Muslims, many with henna dyed beards, and even a Christian nun or two, but most people here are devout Buddhists.

A game of Chin Lone or rattan ball playing

Shopkeeper in Bogyoke Aung San Market, Yangon

Waiting for the bus

There are hundreds of monks in the streets, which was to be expected, and hundred of nuns, which was not. Apparently, a lot of women shave their heads, don pink robes and ask for alms in Myanmar, even though there is not the same cultural imperative to serve time in a nunnery as there is to serve time in a monastery. Every Burmese Buddhist boy is expected to spend part of his childhood as a novice monk, and to re-enter the monastery for a period as an adult.

Monk and civilians

Trio of Nuns

One of the most holy sites in Myanmar is the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. Legend has it that two Burmese brothers met Lord Buddha more than 2600 years ago. He gave them 8 of his hairs which they carried home and enshrined here. Successive rulers have added to the golden stupa on top of the shrine over the centuries and it currently stands at 325 feet tall.

Shwedagon Pagoda

Pouring water on the Buddha for luck at Shwedagon Pagoda

There are thousands of stupas and temples across Myanmar, some in some pretty strange places like the Sule Pagoda in a roundabout in the center of Yangon. But one of the greatest concentrations of holy buildings in the country is where I was heading next - Bagan.

Sule Pagoda in the middle of a Yangon roundabout