Six years ago, I posed for the first time in Yangon —also called Rangoon for French speakers, or Yangon for English speakers. And on the scale of a country like Burma, six years is a long time. Very long.
Because since then, the country has changed a lot. After decades of closed military rule, Burma has timidly opened up to the world. And Yangon, the former capital, was one of the first reflections of this. Not everything is settled yet, but in daily life, the evolution is palpable. This somewhat unique article offers you a glimpse of this city, still marked by its past but which seems to be rapidly turning towards the future.
A leap in time
The impression it gives me is as if in the space of these 2-3 years, Burma (still officially “Myanmar” as a reminder) has gone from the 60s to the 2010s… a real shock.
So, gone are the rather quiet and deserted streets, the old telephones placed on tables as telephone booths... now, as in any big city, there are traffic jams, generally dense traffic and cars everywhere, everyone is already addicted to smartphones and high-tech stores are flourishing...
While I can't fault a country for modernizing, I couldn't help but feel that it's all happening too quickly. I didn't recognize the peaceful atmosphere I'd enjoyed the first time.
Everything has changed. Even English, once widely used, with locals able to approach you easily because they liked to see and chat with the rare foreigners who ventured into their area at the time... Surprisingly, during this stay, even in the hotel environment, it was difficult to come across someone with even a basic understanding... As if the paradox of opening up to the world made them refocus on their native language (it's not so much a criticism in itself, but yes, it creates a paradox).
Even the currency. Once the dollar was king, and the country was known for its high standards of being in perfect condition. Not anymore. the national currency is the only one used with a few rare exceptions.
It builds, it moves
On the other hand, the city is more vibrant than ever. Once, it literally lived on a shadow of its former self. Many buildings were dilapidated, with plants and trees growing on many facades.
In 2014, brand new buildings are being built, repainted, renovated. Many of the sidewalks were apparently recent and the city is teeming with life everywhere. There are even "department stores", although we are still far from the excitement of Thailand.
It is a stay filled with memories and a certain nostalgia.
Even though we had been there before, we ended up returning to the same places. Botahtaung Pagoda, Shwedagon in the lead. But it was also an opportunity to wander a little more in the old city. But this difference with the Yangon that I knew gave it a completely different flavor.
I bitterly regretted at the time not having been able to enjoy it for longer, convinced at the time that I would return soon... This was almost the case, but the trip was then aborted at the last moment, due to insufficient budget...
Have you been to this city before this "boom"? I am interested in your opinions on the sudden evolution of Yangon (and the country in general)
6 Comments
Ah Yangon, what good memories, thanks for the article 🙂
Thanks to you !
It's a shame to spoil the old charm of these cities and want to modernize everything...
It's a delicate subject... I don't think that we can really blame a city for modernizing, on the contrary, but it's the way, rather "brutal", that is regrettable. We shouldn't make the same mistake as Bangkok, for example, which, in modernizing, lost canals, razed old houses and neighborhoods to build shopping malls and condominiums.
We don't see the old green buses anymore? I remember that I learned to read Burmese numbers so I could know which bus to take!
They were all old and all screwed up, but as is often the case, they had a certain cachet that Korean buses no longer have!
No, no more green buses at all, that's exactly what I'm talking about in the article, by modernizing, the city is losing a bit of its character which made it unique, or at least interesting.