-
Ethical and Beautiful Shopping in Yangon
If there is one shop in downtown Yangon where you can buy a gorgeous souvenir and help make a difference direct to local artisans, Hla Day is it. The name of the shop means ‘beautiful’ in Burmese and it’s hard not to feel good when you walk through the door. Founder and Lead Designer Ulla Kroeber agrees. “People clearly enjoy our products. They come here because we are a happy place,” she said. The visually stunning craft outlet was established at it’s current site around two years ago by a group including Kroeber. The shop aims to help talented local craftspeople develop their skills, market their goods and, ultimately, have a…
-
The top four hotels in Yangon
My favorite hotel in Yangon is not, probably, the best hotel in town, but it’s certainly the most gorgeous. In a city which seems to open a new hotel every month, it’s pretty hard to choose the top four. There are a slew of brand new, high-rise places each one more shiny and slick than the next, as well as older, more established places. If you like modern, high-rise hotels, with (mostly) good views and standard amenities, you will be spoilt for choice. The newly opened Pullman, the Melia, the Park Royal, the Rose Garden and many similar places will give you all that and more. The problem with these,…
-
The Soothsayer at the Sule Pagoda
I’m a sucker for a fortune teller. And so, when I heard the second most famous pagoda in Yangon had resident soothsayers, I headed straight there. When I arrived and saw the monstrous traffic that stood between me and my destiny, I almost lost my nerve. Because Sule Pagoda and its palm readers and astrologers also happen to occupy a huge traffic island slap bang in the middle of the busiest part of a city notorious for heavy traffic. There, bus, taxi and truck drivers smack their feet to the floor as they vie with one another for the tiny gaps in the roaring sea of vehicles. So near and…
-
Yangon in the Rainy Season – Things to do
If you visit Yangon any time between May and September, chances are you will get caught in the rain. A lot. That’s why most visitors come between November and February, when the temperatures are moderate and rainfall low. However, there’s a certain charm to the city in the rainy season. Not least of which is low prices and no crowds. Also, Yangon is not normally a city for gentle rambles on the sidewalks, even in the best of weather. Pavements here, generally, are a route between one destination and another, not a place to linger and smell the roses. And so, many of the best things to do can be…
