DISCOVERING YANGON: A TRAVEL GUIDE TO THE FAMOUS 19TH STREET FOOD MARKETS, SHOPPING DISTRICTS AND MAJESTIC SHWEDAGON PAGODA
Welcome to Yangon, Myanmar! A city that radiates with the authenticity of old school South East Asia!!
The former capital of Myanmar offers an interesting mesh of old and new; where you'll find plush tea houses standing adjacent to ramshackle street food stalls or multi story malls just a stone's throw away from jade and silk markets.
Ever since opening its borders to tourism during the 1990s, Myanmar (formerly Burma), has grown increasingly popular and every year it attracts more and more Western travelers. Despite the ongoing civil war in Myanmar, the larger cities of Yangon, Mandalay & Bagan are very safe and accessible for Western tourists.
In this Myanmar travel Vlog, we will discover some of Yangon's famous street food on 19th Street, explore the China Town and local market districts as well as visit the golden Shwedagon Pagoda, the spiritual corner stone of Burmese culture.
Yeah, we made it.
All right, so as you can see, Myanmar.
Just made it into Myanmar.
Can I get a drum roll?
We've got so much planned for this country,
it's gonna be crazy.
But you're gonna find out all about that tomorrow.
We're gonna go get a bit of food, get a bit of sleep,
and we'll check back in with you guys tomorrow.
Peace.
Delicious, awesome, goodness.
I don't know what it is, but I hope it's chicken.
Hey guys, this is our first day in Yangon.
So what we did yesterday, we got in from the airport,
went out to get some street food in Chinatown.
It's really lively right now,
because it's just after Chinese New Year.
So there were some performances and drums
and lots of people.
We got some barbecue, we got some beers,
sat with some locals, and it was a really good time.
So, enjoying Myanmar so far.
So, what can I say about Myanmar?
It has a population of 50 million people?
54 million.
54 million people, thank you.
There's a little bit of conflict going on,
which is causing a decline
in the Western tourists coming here.
One thing to say about Myanmar,
there is a little bit of strife right now.
Politically, there is one
of the longest ongoing civil wars,
which is currently happening right now,
and that's between the government, the army,
the Muslims, the Buddhists, the Christians.
I don't know a great deal about it,
but here in Yangon, you don't really get that vibe.
With that said, there's certain cities
you're not really supposed to go to.
I think we're gonna stay on the quite touristy areas,
because I think when you get outside the cities,
it can get quite dangerous.
There's some places that tourists are not allowed to go to.
Actually not allowed, yeah, right?
Restricted areas.
So what are we doing here?
We're obviously gonna start in Yangon.
Yangoon, Yangon.
Yangoon.
Where else?
And then we go up to Bagan.
Bagan.
Mandalay.
And we'll do maybe a three-day hike to Inle Lake.
We'll see about that.
Myanmar's about experiencing a culture
that's not that exposed.
It's not quite touristic.
It's still quite raw.
We're gonna eat a lot of food.
A lot of food.
And we're gonna see a lot of temples.
See some temples, yeah.
And we're gonna do some hiking.
Pagodas.
That's about it, really?
All right, so we're gonna hit the streets now.
We're gonna hit the legs,
and we're gonna show you guys exactly
what Yangon's all about.
Are you ready?
I'm ready.
All right, let's do it.
Let's go.
Boom.
There's something interesting down every street.
Definitely.
It's like cross between like India and...
Thailand.
Thailand, hey.
Yeah.
It's cool.
It's cool, definitely, definitely cool.
See my excited face?
You know, we're in your favorite place to be.
That was nice.
It feels like 7-Eleven.
All right, day two.
What are we up to today?
We're going to Bo Yoke Market.
It's supposed to be a market for local handicrafts.
We'll see if there's actually locals shopping there.
It might just be like a tourist trap,
but yeah, we'll see when we get there.
And I'm gonna pick up myself a man's sarong as well.
Yes, he wants to get a sarong.
When I was in Indonesia, I picked up a sarong.
Apparently it's for women.
Yes, a local kindly let us know yesterday
that he's wearing a woman's sarong.
An old lady was laughing at me as well.
Do you like the color?
10 US dollars, 15 gigs.
It's a great deal.
So we went to the local market now.
We're in the actual shopping mall
and it's quite built up.
There's quite a few shops here.
I didn't expect this.
It's like a proper mall here.
I thought so.
She got a SIM card, got the face mask.
Got everything.
And how'd you like the market?
I thought it was good.
I got a new sarong.
Can't go wrong with a sarong.
Yangon has been really cool to walk around,
get around these streets,
but we're at our last stop now,
which is the Suedegon Pagoda,
which is this structure you're about to see in a minute.
It looks epic.
It looks pretty crazy.
So I'm gonna get in here.
What's the history behind this?
Do you know?
Not a damn clue.
We don't know what the history is yet,
but I'm gonna put it down below or something.
We're about to learn.
Yeah.
All right, cool.
All right, so we're finally leaving Yangon today.
We've been here for quite a few days
and we're off to Bagan next.
We're gonna jump on the overnight train.
Overnight bus, sorry.
Actually, hold on.
Let's go grab a coffee
and we'll do this somewhere comfortable, all right?
All right, so we're heading to Bagan tonight
on an overnight bus.
We got our bus tickets for 30,000 kyats.
Kyats?
Is that the currency?
Kyat.
Kyats.
I don't think that's the currency, but anyway.
So we're gonna have a coffee,
do a bit of work in this cafe,
and then we're gonna jump on the bus
and we're gonna see you in Bagan.
Just arrived in Bagan.
Haven't slept yet.
It's 5 a.m.
Everyone's yelling around us.
No, no, we're good.
