In which Roz and Layla touch down in Rangoon

By Roz

The flight to Burma from DC takes 24 hours and so I had swept aside Layla's objections to expense and booked us into a fancy hotel for our first two nights in Rangoon.  As it happened, the flight wasn't particularly bad.  Or no more bad than being on a plane for 24 hours is required to be. But with a time difference of 12 hours and the prospect of staying in some very dodgy hotels the rest of our time, I was still very pleased to be starting off our holiday with more than the required glamour.  We arrived at midnight, and did little more than stagger into our Chatrium Hotel room, gaze at the pretty view of the lake and pagoda, note the enticing looking swimming pool, and have a beer before finally getting into the bed we had been dreaming of for at least the last 12 hours. 

Next morning we were both awake disgustingly early, at 6am. Most unsatisfactory, particularly given the comfortable bed, and ended up heading down to the breakfast buffet earlier than either of us had hoped. But we told ourselves that calories were almost as satisfying as sleep as we tucked into omlettes and cheese and bread. We'd anticipated having a quiet day reading our books by the pool but neither of us could resist the lure of Rangoon and so headed off on our Lonely Planet dictated walking tour around half 9. 

Deposited at a roundabout by our taxi, we looked around trying to get our bearings.  But before we had done so, Layla gave a squeal of delight, having spotted a watch repair shop across the road, just below a big gold temple. She had failed to get a new battery for her holiday watch (ie "doesn't matter if it gets too bashed about" watch) despite the fact we live no more than 5 minutes from three different watch repair shops. She'd brought her dead watch anyway, despite my scoffing, and was smug that our first proper thing in Rangoon was a practical transaction. Fastening her newly working watch to her wrist, we set off for our wander through Rangoon. The first street the walking tour took us down turned out to be full of book stalls. It was fun to see the reading material of Rangoon, which seemed very far from the western world (no translations of Dan Brown, the Twilight series or The Hunger Games so far as I could see). And there was a striking focus on learning, with textbooks on pretty much all of the stalls. We headed down to the river, which sadly we couldn't see due to all the construction work, passing lots of colonial buildings - the Telegraph Office, the high court and the city hall - and the famous Strand hotel built for the visiting rich (and too expensive for us - $600+ a night!). We stopped off for a drink at the Parisian Cafe - less French and less nice than it sounds - and read for a bit whilst drinking lime juice. Outdoors again, I was struck at how "heavy" the air seemed - not just humid and hot (though it is) but also carrying a range of smells (mostly nice). Continuing through the streets of Rangoon, we passed more and more people selling things outdoors - indeed I can't imagine that anyone actually buys anything from any indoor shops (except watch batteries!). Throughout, we were quite a spectacle, curiosities to all.  Though we spotted the odd other non-Asian, usually in the distance, they were generally older and usually men. Starting to fade a bit, we ended up in a fancy cafe where we sort of had lunch (since neither of us felt absolutely hungry, though we knew it was the right sort of time for lunch) and made good progress on our books before heading back to the hotel in the early afternoon.  

We then headed down to the hotel's very good pool and swam (slowly) a few lengths whilst watching the hotel staff prepare for a poolside wedding reception, constructing giant glittering hearts, a fake car, and suchlike.  Before any sign of the wedding guests, we headed upstairs to the spa and booked body scrubs and massages.  Both of which were excellent, though we were bemused to be treated in the same room - and to find ourselves asked to shower at the same time in what was just a normal sized shower. But it was certainly jolly. Back in our room we succumbed to a short nap before heading for our free gin and tonics in the hotel bar where we vigorously discussed whether (as atheists) we hoped the next pope would be a progressive type. We then headed out to dinner at a lovely restaurant called Monsoon, which was in an old colonial building. We drank local wine (which was surprisingly lovely) and had a pumpkin and coconut curry (Layla) and a tofu and mushroom curry (me). Also dessert and a mad cold chocolate drink (for Layla, naturally). We headed back to the hotel to find the wedding reception finishing (quite early) and went to sleep.

This morning we were again awake early, though I had the good luck to end up dozing off again. Breakfast was followed by another nap (it was a long journey, ok?!) and we are now ensconced by the pool and about to have a swim - our last taste of luxury this holiday, as we go to meet our holiday companions this afternoon.