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My Burmese friends back home had promised me a warm welcome at my arrival in Rangoon. Their families would receive me in their homes and invite me for dinner.

Burma 2003 [1]

Cora
2004-02-22 16:01:25

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RANGOON (YANGON)

Saturday, November 8

Disappointment

My Burmese friends back home had promised me a warm welcome at my arrival in Rangoon. Their families would receive me in their homes and invite me for dinner. I would finally learn about life in a Burmese family.
Htet’s sister and brother-in-law however, can not stay very long and we do not even have the time to have drinks together at the local teashop. I hand over the packages I brought from Holland, and that's it.
I decide to walk to the Botataung pagoda, which I did not visit earlier. Unfortunately, the site is under construction and huge cloths are covering the golden stupa. It would have been nice though to see the pagoda where two centuries ago eight Indian monks brought relics of the Buddha and were welcomed by no less than 10000 military officers (botataung). An allied bomb destroyed the original pagoda in 1943.
I walk down Strand Road, a street that does not seem to end. This road, with a very promising name, is indescribably boring, and suddenly I feel very disappointed and I no longer have the courage to continue on my own. However, near Sule pagoda, a familiar place, I start to feel more at ease and as I am feeling more and more welcome by all the greetings and smiles, I slowly come to my senses.

Sunday, November 9

Starting to feel at home

When visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda I already feel a lot better. I separate myself from the crowd and try to enjoy this busy, but serene environment. Local tourist guides looking for work occasionally interrupt my contemplation. The guides within the complex have a discrete way of offering their services: they start with asking which country you come from and then gradually start telling you about the things you are looking at. A young man presents himself to me as Nyi and is very polite and friendly. When ...