Around Yangon with a little help from a friend
Getting a little help from professional guides could be very useful in understanding the rich stories behind those colonial structures and the places around this old-world city. The Yangon Walking Tours offer a more systematic and exciting way to explore Yangon. Below are some of their packages:
1.The Multi-Cultural Walk (3 hours)
The Multi-Cultural Walk takes you to the Indian and Chinatown Quarters of old Yangon. You will go inside heritage buildings and walk through a morning outdoor street market. The walk would pass by colonial buildings, churches, mosques (including Sunni and Shia) & Buddhist Monastery and Ordination Hall.
These beautiful buildings reflect the religious diversity of the city. You will visit a Kali Hindu temple, as well as the beautiful French designed, St John’s Catholic Church. It will also take you to the only Synagogue in Myanmar. You will go inside an old colonial mansion that has seen better days, and into a century-old indoor food market. It’s a great showcase for the political and social history of Myanmar. There will be lots of opportunity to taste local foods during the walk.
2. Heritage Walk Tours (3 hours)
The Heritage Buildings Walk covers well known sites plus some hidden gems that are off the tourist trail. You will go inside an old heritage family mansion, and walk through a morning outdoor street market. You will also see the old financial district, The High Court (1900), The Old Telegram Office, The City Hall (1940),The old Jewish Office Building(1906), The old Armenian Balthazar Office Building (1907), a number of old residential buildings (early 1900), The Port authority building, The old Armenian Church, General Post Office(1908) and British Embassy (1900), and the beautiful St Mary’s Cathedral, the third biggest cathedral in Asia, as well as the magnificent Secretariat Building. On the way, You will pass through the oldest Hotel of Myanmar built in 1901, Strand Hotel. It is one of the three chain hotels owned by Sarkies Brother.
3. Orwell Literary Walking Tour (3 hours)
Orwell Literary Walking Tour explores the colonial heritage buildings of Yangon, bringing to life the Rangoon of the 1920s. Included in the tour are some of the sites that world renowned novelist George Orwell visited on his excursion to the capital. The tour would also take you to some places of other famous writers who lived in Yangon, and drew inspiration from this romantic and vibrant cosmopolitan city, such as the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, British writers, Somerset Maugham, Noël Coward, and Rudyard Kipling, among others.
The tour will also take you to the world of Burmese writer Shwe U-Daung who in the 1920s and 1930s adapted the Sherlock Holmes stories for the Myanmar audience. You will search for his mysterious #58 address (Burmese Baker Street). The tour will also take you to a tea shop frequented by contemporary Burmese writers. San Lin Tun, a a well-known local writer and poet who has lived in Yangon all his life and speaks very good English, will guide you through this adventure.
4. Shwe Dagon Pagoda , Chauk Htet Gyi Reclining Buddha & Monastery Tour (3 hours)
This walking tour explores the 100-meter high Shwe Dagon Pagoda on the 59-meter high Sanguttara Hill. The pagoda is covered with 24 carat gold palate from top to bottom, and seats on a 6-hectare compound. The apex of the pagoda is decorated with a 76-carat diamond and other precious jewelry donated by the Myanmar people. You can wonder around the temples, small stupas, pilgrim rest houses and thousands of Buddha images in different sizes inside the compound.
After the Shwe Dagon Pagoda visit, the tour will take you by taxi to the 60-meter long reclining Buddha called Chauk Htet Gyi Pagoda, which is over 100 years old. It is one of the most beautiful reclining Buddha in the country. The tour will end at a 100-year old Buddhist monastery to learn about monastic life in Myanma
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