Describing Myanmar in its entirety would be something truly prohibitive: one would need to have books on archeology, history, religion and sociology, as well as having an infinity of free time.

With the articles in this section we will try to tell about our journey, inserting where possible a relatively detailed description of the place of interest, combining it with our personal experiences formed by watching this world of strong contrasts as spectators.

We visited Myanmar during the Christmas period of 2018: aware of the likely communication difficulties of the population in speaking English, we contacted an international guide, booking visits and trips a few months in advance.

We also state that we totally disagree with the elderly Lombard gentleman who complained repeatedly on the plane with his wife for dragging him to see "A temple!" during Christmas: in Myanmar the temples are so many and different!

To visit Myanmar one must have a mind open to knowledge, open to understanding the diversity and uniqueness of the Burmese people at the same time.

Seven days were spent getting to know at least a small part of this socio-cultural treasure hidden from the Western world; treasure where you can be impressed by noting that the hands of time have stopped for many decades.

Yangon, the most important city, as well as the former capital of the country, perfectly reflects the aforementioned concept with its historic center which, designed by the British during the colonial period, is by far one of the most fascinating districts of the city.

Although it covers an area of ​​5 square kilometers, it is no longer able to withstand the heavy traffic of a developing city of about 5 million inhabitants.

The architecture we encountered was the typical colonial Asian landscape, with many buildings in decay (except for the very central areas such as those around the municipality), with the streets and sidewalks full of shops of all kinds, improvised stalls where trinkets or food were sold from the street (a constant that will follow us all over the country), improvised guides, shops, but above all an enormous number of monks dressed in brick red robes who entered and left the monasteries and pagodas; to savor the essence of all these visions you need to take all the time you need.

Sule Pagoda

Legends narrate that the place where to erect this Pagoda (or Stupa, for Buddhism a place intended to collect relics and gather in prayer) was indicated 2500 years ago by the powerful spirit Nat Sularata (insert link https://vitaminaproject.com/myanmar- the-worship-of-nat-and-the-reflection-of-a-still-natural-world /), to the king of Nat Sukka, because he witnessed the burial of the relic of the Buddha many years earlier (as often happens in Buddhism, the relics were divided and scattered in multiple locations to create new pilgrimage sites and spread the faith).

British administrative buildings were built around the Sule pagoda during the period of British colonialism.
Starting from the second half of the 1900s, with the increase in population and traffic, the Pagoda became a sort of gigantic traffic island roundabout.

The stupa is octagonal in shape, 44 meters high, entirely covered with gold, and during our visit it appeared to be a very quiet and peaceful place, where there were many niches with many finely decorated statues where you can gather in prayer.

The students gathered around the Sule pagoda during the famous insurrection of 1988 (which proclaimed Aung San Suu Kyi a national icon in the fight against military despotism) and the monks in the so-called "Saffron Revolution" of 2007, so called for the color of the togas. Both revolts were stopped with blood, but they gave life to the democratic movement that demanded better living conditions.

Botataung Pagoda

This pagoda, located on the southeastern edge of the historic center, was built 2500 years ago according to a legend similar to that of its "sisters" Sule and Shwedagon.
The pagoda was entirely rebuilt after an accidental bombing by the British RAF during the Second World War.
such as vases, jewels, statues and terracotta tables were found. Of considerable importance were:

• the discovery of a casket on which Nat figures were carved, judged to be the guardians of the place,
• a terracotta table that made it possible to decipher the ancient language of the Mon,
• a stone cone covered with gold, which in turn covered a small and very ancient gold pagoda which, once raised, gave birth to a small gold cylinder inside which two human relics and a hair were found.

Bogyoke market area

The Bogyoke market area is undoubtedly one of the most chaotic areas of the city, also due to its proximity to the large and modern shopping center.

The market looks like a large covered bazaar, inside which there are numerous shops selling mainly gems and street food.

As soon as you leave the market, you can see the unmistakable bell tower of the Anglican church from the end of the 19th century.

Where to dine

To conclude a day characterized by many kilometers traveled on foot, in the evening we had dinner at the very famous Rangoon Tea-House, where the dishes served were superb (definitely try the fermented tea leaf salad).

This high-impact English sentence appeared written in pen on one of the walls:

“Dear Emily: My only wish would be that you could make a trip over the great ocean. The land is golden, the people are so gracious and they have taught me many things about kin and kindness. It won’t be long until we see each other my dear….”   
Signed: February 1, 1948