My taxi waiting outside the Aung Tha Pyay Hotel, Yangon
Outside the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, Yangon
Outside the Aung Tha Pyay Hotel on 34th Street, Yangon
Friendly haircut with a mother and her daughters, Yangon
The source of excellent spring rolls, Yangon
Sidewalk shopping, Yangon
Quiet moment in a pagoda, Yangon
The gaping hole in the crotch of my pants, repaired in no time on a vintage machine,
in a morning market off Merchant Road, Yangon
THE TAXI WAS WAITING in the street below, but before i missed the opportunity, i stuck the iPad out the window. I was grabbing one last fragment of Yangon: with it's ragged beauty, utter decay and promise of huge change. The "Tar Tar" moment had come at last. Of course the Burmese word for goodbye, from the English expression "Ta-Ta," just seemed to fit the mood. Let's not forget that Myanmar is steeped in historical complexities, which included the colonial factor too. Well, i got my video, a jerky pan shot of a street lined with weathered facades, mostly out of the time of the British Empire. Then i rushed downstairs.
The final days here in Yangon had been slow and relaxing. Serious sightseeing was behind me now and there were no little dramas worth sharing. I had supper in a beer joint next to the hotel, on my last night here. A young Burmese man started to talk to me and our conversation was quite open and friendly. Chance encounters like these were always welcome. It brought me a little closer to the realities of daily life and made things look a little less "other."
My last night was spent at the Aung Tha Pyay Hotel, off Merchant Road. The pleasant room overlooked the friendly bustle of 34th Street, shown in the first video. This was in stark contrast to the night before, at the shabby Garden Guest House. Those much cheaper digs amounted to a windowless space for the night. There was no sign of an electrical outlet, so no place too to recharge my iPad, god forbid. Meanwhile the mosquitos were humming ever so plaintively in the bathroom. Fortunately, that was not going to be my last impression of Yangon.
Meanwhile, outside on the street, the genial driver had agreed to stop for me, on the way to the airport. I had wanted to see the house of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's legendary opposition leader. What a disappointment when we got there! Nothing matched the images i remembered from several documentaries, at least not from out here on the road. Where was that quirky old white villa by the edge of Inya Lake? Instead we were greeted with brand new surveillance technology that included video cameras, high walls and a bomb proof metal gate. Was this really the address of "the Lady" as they call her here? It looked more like an American Embassy but then i saw her party logo. Instead of being under house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi was now active in the Myanmar Parliament, as the opposition leader of the National League for Democracy Party. With this Burmese politician's rehabilitation came new challenges, that being her personal safety. The airport was next.
Just in case more on "Tar Tar:"
Pleasant last night at the Aung Tha Pyay Hotel:
Depressing digs for the second to last night in Yangon:
"The Lady," as Aung San Suu Kyi is called, in her homeland of Myanmar:
Doubt this is relevant, but of anecdotal interest for sure, by Steve Burgess of Vancouver's
"The Tyee," who wrote about her recently:
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