55(^) SLEEPINGYANGON
SLEEPING
YANGON
About halfway down this block you’ll see
the 6 High Court Building on your right –
in name at least, the highest legal authority
in the land. Continuing along this wide and
generally empty section of Pansodan St.
It's hard not to feel minuscule, particularly
when walking by the huge 7 Inland Water
Transport offi ces and the even grander
8 Myanma Port Authority building. Con-
tinue south to Strand Rd, the last east-west
thoroughfare before the Yangon River.
Two blocks to your left is the 9 Strand
Hotel, whose restored façade evokes another
era. You may not be able to aff ord a room, but
the air-conditioned lobby, café and bar make
a good rest stop along the way.
When you’re ready to brave the heat and
uneven sidewalks again, walk west along
Strand Rd for a block past Pansodan St,
where you’ll see on your right the
a^ Customs House, built in 1915, and on
your left the b Law Court, an impressive-
looking colonnaded building. Police will
prevent you approaching this last building, so
turn north, just past the Customs House, and
then left onto boisterous Bank St and up onto
Sule Paya Rd, where you can discover how
the remainder of your walking tour will pan
out by consulting one of the many fortune-
tellers who hang out under the trees.
Bordering this street is a 55yd obelisk, a
monument to the country’s independence,
standing in the middle of the heat-stained
c^ Mahabandoola Garden. A glance
through the fence is enough to give you an
idea of what goes on here – no need to pay
the K500 entry fee.
This brings you back to the Sule Paya,
from where you can continue west down
Mahabandoola Rd through the chaotic Indian
and Chinese quarters of the city. Roughly
speaking, the Indian quarter extends as far
west as the Shwedagon Pagoda Rd, while the
Chinese quarter begins at about 21st St and
extends several blocks further west. A good
drink stop and an appropriate taste of Yan-
gon's Little India is the open-air lassi stall
d^ Shwe Bali, near the corner of Bo Sun
Pat Rd.
Continue west along Mahabandoola before
detouring south onto 26th St in order to pay
a visit to e Moseah Yeshua Synagogue.
Retrace your steps to Mahabandoola and
carry on westwards a little further until you
reach the bursting f Theingyi Zei market.
If you arrive early enough (ideally before
9am), you can catch the action along the
adjacent g open-air market on 26th St.
Exit onto Anawrahta Rd and head east
until you crash into the h Sri Kali temple.
Continue east along Anawrahta St, turning
left down 29th St, where i Danu Phyu
Daw Saw Yee Myanma Restaurant, one of
central Yangon’s most lauded Burmese res-
taurants, is your lunch stop.
From here it’s only a short hike north to
the sprawling mess of j Bogyoke Aung
San Market, where you can begin a new sort
of tour, a slightly more diffi cult one that com-
bines walking and shopping.