Yangon airport
I landed at the Yangon airport after a 40 minute flight from Bangkok. When I saw the aiprort, I thought this is it? I would call it the main terminal but I couldn’t because that would imply there was an additional terminal. Later the tourguide commented that this was the new aiport which opened in 2007. I guess they weren’t expecting the upcoming changes.
Before leaving the terminal I exchanged money. I handed over a new $100 bill and was given a 2 inch stack of Kyats (pronounced chats). The exchange ratio is close to 1,000 Kyats to 1 US dollard. I must admit that there was something gratfiying about being handed this big stack of cash but I quickly put it in perspective telling myself that I was basically carrying around 100 $1 bills.
As I left the aiport, the first thing that occurred to me was that I was no longer in Thailand. Although similar, there was a distinct difference. Less humidity, the men wore skirts, faces were painted with suncreen made from sandalwood. The steering wheels were on the right hand side of the cars leading me to believe we would be riding on the left (not the right) side of the road but were told that when they threw the British out, the changed the road system to dirve on the right side of the road but they didn’t change the steering wheels.
Ironically we went to a French restaurant for dinner. I was a little perplexed at this, we weren’t in France and as far as I knew, the French never occupied Myanmar. If I had gone to France would they serve anything else but French food? I must admit the food was good and there was a great view of the Shewedagaon Paya pagoda but it just seemed wrong.
So, when do you actually board the Viking ship? Or, did you book an add-on trip before boarding the ship so you could see more of the country? The hotel you’re staying in is really nice and those pictures of the buffet made me super hungry – it’s only 7:25AM here and I haven’t eaten breakfast yet!