Then we're off downtown. We walk down streets lined with old colonial buildings, the most impressive being a huge red brick building, an old British government building. It was also where General Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi) was assassinated and is now abandoned, taken over on a huge scale by overgrown banana trees and betel nut palms, an eerie remnant of a past no one dares talk about and, it felt to me, a striking embodiment of colonialism.
A faded photo of General Aung San looks down from the entrance of his family home, above a bright NLD banner, the only sign that his daughter, once imprisoned under house arrest inside these very walls, still lives there and is still fighting his democratic cause. I love learning the politics of a country, and so today was a bit of a geek fest for me...
Delicious chicken feet, fish heads, pools of blood and betal nut spit stains which filled each street helped me work up an appetite. Needless to say I went veggie for lunch - delicious okra cooked Myanmar style, as well as some tempura and vegetable samosas all under a greatly appreciated electric fan. A nice respite from my 30 degree bottled water.
We also were later dwarfed by this ridiculously huge reclining Buddha at Chauk Htat Kyi. His feet nearly as big as mine. Had a few more photos taken of us too. I wondered if I should pose? Then gate crashed a couple of grand old colonial hotels for lime juice and iced tea before taking in the beautiful lake view of the royal floating barge, Karaweik Hall, with Shwedagon Pagoda glistening in the distance.
Tomorrow, it's up at 4am to fly to Bagan for a lotta lotta pagodas.
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