Things to do
6-
Bogyoke Aung San Market
Cobbled lanes under a 1926 market hall hold jade, gems, lacquer, longyis and tailors who can turn a garment around in a day, with moneychangers along the front. Bargaining is normal and the gem trade rewards caution from anyone without expertise. Closed on Monday and on public holidays; mornings are calmer than the afternoon rush.
-
Chaukhtatgyi Buddha
A reclining Buddha some 65m long lies under a metal shed in Bahan township, its face glass-eyed and made up, the soles marked with 108 symbols of the cosmos. Monastic schools occupy the compound around it. Photography from the gallery at the head end gives the only view that takes the whole figure in.
-
Kandawgyi Lake
A colonial-era reservoir east of Shwedagon carries a boardwalk around its southern shore and the Karaweik, a concrete barge shaped as a royal bird and used as a banquet hall. Shwedagon reflects across the water at sunset, which is the reason to time a visit late. Parts of the boardwalk close for repair and the park is ticketed.
-
Shwedagon Pagoda
Gold plating and a jewelled crown top a stupa rising nearly 100m above a hill north of downtown, held to enshrine relics of four Buddhas and rebuilt over centuries after earthquakes. Worshippers pour water at the planetary post matching their birth day. Covered stairways climb from four sides, shoes come off at the base, and dusk is when the platform fills.
-
Sule Pagoda
Traffic circles an octagonal stupa in the middle of downtown, used by British surveyors as the point the colonial grid was measured from and by protesters as a rallying place since. Shops and moneychangers occupy the ground floor of the surrounding structure. It takes twenty minutes, works well at night when the gold is lit, and sits beside the city hall.
-
Yangon Central Railway Station
Burmese tiered roofs sit on a 1954 replacement for the station blown up in the retreat of 1943, and it is the terminus for the circular line that loops through suburbs and market stops in about three hours. Tickets are sold on the platform on the day. Carriages are open-sided, slow and full of trade, which is the point of riding it.