Rangoon Off The Beaten Path

For a nice day trip from Yangon, head to the Kyauktan, which has the Yele Paya on a river island in the delta region.

To get to the island, head over the bridge to Thanlyin, and then continue on that road another 15 KM's or so. To cross over to this small island there are small ferry boats waiting on the riverbank...

If you have a free day in Yangon, and want to get away from the city, a trip out to the delta region is a perfect excursion.

Out this way, Thanlyin is a small town with historic significance, and now is a laid back peaceful place with an interesting market place.

Just past town, you'll find the impressive gold Kyaik-Khauk Paya, which due to its somewhat remote location does not get the tourist traffic that you will see in Yangon proper...

Thanlyin is located about 15 km southeast of Yangon. From Thanlyin it is another 12 km's or so onto the mid-river Yele Paya at Kyauktan.

Well this isn't really off the beaten path but it is one of the main roads of Central Yangon at it was jammed packed with traffic like I expected it. This is the main East / West road that runs right past the Sule Paya. I'm on the second floor of the Thiengyi Market.

Although you see this on TV frequently, it won't be marked on any tourists maps... I was however curious where the Nobel Prize Lauriat's home was in Yangon.

The biggest obstacle to overcome is finding a taxi driver brave enough to swing you by... (most don't even want to talk about, for the wall have ears in this police state..)

Finally found one brave (or stupid) enough to help me... He told me that when we swing by the street, don't turn your head, just glance you eyes to the side, as to not attract unwanted attention... I only got a fleeting glance for my troubles, since the street her house faces is blocked of on both ends by police barricades.. (no picture included due to obvious constraints...)

Located near Inya Lake north of the city centre....

One of the more attractive Payas in Yangon is the Swedawmyat Paya on the North side of town. It however, does not contain an actual tooth relic, but rather a replica of a copy of a relic of a tooth of the Buddha... (Say that 10 time real fast...)

Pye is off the beaten path and honestly I don't recommend it, but I'm glad I went because I saw life under martial law and felt perfectly ill at ease.

But I would recommend the not off the beaten path Wooden Bridge up in Mandalay. It's quite scenic and chill.

Hop onto the train (yeah, like the one in the photo below) to Mandalay!

As a matter of interest, this particular overly-crowded train was indeed heading towards Mandalay. Queuing up to buy train tickets here in Yangon also deserves an entire chapter.... Did you know that the Burmese folks would camp outside the train station 24 hours before the tickets go on sale?!

4 more images

There is one armenian church in Yangon.
One of sponsors is the Embassy of Russian Federation...
They prey there...