Rained out in Yangon

The second day at Yangon did not offer too much.

I had a late morning, enjoyed the scrumptious breakfast and left Bike World by 10:30am.

Caught a taxi to the Bogyoke markets (formerly Scott's market) in the hopes of finding a longyi. For those not in the know, a longyi is a long piece of cylindrical fabric that you wrap around yourself. Both men and women rock the longyi in Myanmar. Bogyoke market is the main market in Yangon, and there is meant to be over 1100 stalls - so should be a good chance to find a longyi, right? Wrong - I'd gone on a day where Bogyoke market was closed.

Undeterred I walked along Bo Gyoke road and came across another main road called Shwedagon Pagoda Rd. 19th Street is meant to be where all the good eateries and pubs are, so I made my way there from 32nd Street. The street life was bustling with street sellers trying to entice their wares, old men sipping their red ochre betel leaf spit into the pavement cracks and the wet, warm feel of approaching rain. The heavens opened when I arrived to 22nd Street - luckily I had the foresight to duck under a bus shelter. The rain showed no signs of letting up, so I made my way to 19th Street between intermittent heavy downpours. 19th Street showed no signs of the eateries I'd been told, so I walked down slowly when the rain had lessened. Either I had the wrong 19th Street or the places were closed because I could not find a damn place to eat.

I walked into the adjacent street to check it out, but by then the rain was starting its backlash again. Luckily there was a small eatery so I sat in there and had lunch. By this time (1:45pm) I'd had it with the rain - I was soaked and my feet were turning a burnt orange colour, thanks to all the betel leaf spit in the street mixing with rain. My ankle support is now a patchy mustard orange colour due to this rainy day. I caught a taxi back to Bike World, where I did some bits and bots online until the rain subsided.

At 4:30pm, the skies were still overcast but had finished their rumbling. I walked out to Pyay Rd and crossed the busy road to walk alongside Inya Lake. This is where Burmese young couples go to where daring sleeveless shirts and shorts, plus to slyly make out. It was quite pleasant to look out across the lake and see little islands dotted about in it. At the end of the lake, I was back onto Pyay Rd, so I caught a taxi to check out The Strand Hotel. Peak hour had hit Yangon, so the journey took about 30 minutes. It didn't help that the driver took me to Central Hotel instead of Strand Hotel.

Strand Hotel costs about USD300 a night in the low season. Upon entering, I could see why. Strand is located on Strand Rd, which is along the port side of Yangon. It is a very colonial English building and the inside has been restored to its former glory. I could very easily imagine a bunch of stuffy monocle'd Englishman boasting about their jungle adventures in a setting of cream walls and dark woods, sitting in leather overstuff chairs with G&T served to them by the Burmese maid.

As I couldn't find the restaurant, I settled for a Strand sling and some peanuts at the bar, then made my way home at 8pm.