Riding the Train in Yangon, Part 2

Continuing from my last post, here is the actual riding part on the Yangon Circular Railway which turned out to be very interesting for me though it probably was just another ordinary day for the locals who were taking it.  The journey lasted good three hours.

My ride

Was not busy at around 2 pm.

I sat across from these ladies who I guessed to be a daughter-mother pair

Food vendors of different kinds kept coming and going.

Lots of action on the platform.

At first I thought these quail eggs were raw because that’s how they are sold in Japan but I think they were boiled as I saw people eating them.

Every now and then the conductor who was never the same person kept coming by to check your ticket.

The lady sitting next to me at one point bought a bag of apples.  She threw the white nets out the window as soon as she got her apples.

The afore-mentioned daughter-mother pair in a different position after about an hour journey. It was as though the train was their living room, the way they were eating and drinking out of their basket.

And then came the watermelon lady with a big tray of pre-cut watermelon on her head. Again the lady sitting next to me wanted a piece.  The watermelon lady sat down, took a piece and cut it into smaller pieces, put them in a plastic bag and handed it to my neighbor and WHAT?! threw the watermelon skin out the window!!

The mother facing outward now.

More platform scene

Ladies with big bags of vegetables boarded the train at one point.  Seemed that they were vendors that had bought the produce from farmers or a wholesale market for resale.

Thriving businesses on the platform

Back where I started three hours later.

Riding the Train in Yangon, Part 1

A good Canadian friend of mine who had recently been to Myanmar told me that the best attraction in Yangon was riding the “circular train” which is a regular means of transport for the locals.  He gave me a link and I went to read about it. Indeed it sounded very interesting and off I went to seek the experience.

Getting to the Central Station overlooking the tracks

The ticket booth for long-distance journeys

The waiting area for long-distance journeys

Following the sign for the “circular train”

The ticket stand for local journeys

To be continued.

The Mixed Architecture of Myanmar

While in the city of Yangon, Myanmar, I saw some interesting architecture that was a mixture of colonial and traditional Myanmar influences.

So that was the City Hall.  Here is Yangon Central Railway Station which to me looks like a mixture but according to wikipedia, it is more local in its architecture.

But then inside was this which to me looked very western.

 

The General Post Office, Yangon

When I visit a new country, I try to visit its post office.  It’s best if it’s the “General Post Office” where you can generally find out about what kind of services are offered (which is secondary to my purpose) and where architecture and the decor can be quite magnificent, so I have come to learn.

I went to visit Yangon‘s General Post Office on my recent trip to Myanmar and it was good to see it so crowded.  It was also good to learn later that Japan’s postal system apparently is contributing to its popularity.

Lunching in Yangon

I had my lunch planned out on the first day of being in Yangon, Myanmar, or so I thought.  Upon discovering that my lunch venue was being renovated and closed until sometime in November, I turned elsewhere.

The Strand, where I wanted and intended to go for lunch.

 

But not to be!!

And it didn’t have to be in a fancy (gaudy) hotel but I did need some air conditioning comfort and ended up here.

The food turned out to be great though.