The last days in Yangon and Kalaw
The former supreme court building in Yangon completed by the British in 1911
One of the things I loved about our trip to Burma was always marvelling at the multitude of influences we saw in architecture, food, and religion. The Indian influence is particularly strong, presumably because of the geographical proximity and the fact that many Indians moved to Burma for work when it was part of the British Empire. There are some great opportunities to have Indian meals from delicious Biriyani in Yangon to samosas and bhajis at little tea/coffee shops in Nyaungshwe and Kalaw.
Wandering around the markets in downtown Yangon there was a mix of products from the more familiar sugar cane juice, also common in Vietnam, to tandoori chicken street food strangely being bought by a buddhist monk.
In Yangon most of the secular architectural influence is British other than buildings built after independence. See more of my photos from our last trip here including the stunning Shwedagon Pagoda.
A post colonial building – birds are often fed at temples and so were everywhere
An old British company’s building beside a Burmese bird house complete with food (the swag)
After Inle Lake we drove two hours up into the pine dotted hills and Kalaw, an old British hill station. At first glance the town appeared to belie its history but as soon as we started to walk out of the town we began to feel as though we were in suburban England circa 1920 with mock Tudor houses everywhere. It reminded me a lot of Boars Hill, near Oxford, where I used to live.
A view of Kalaw from a temple on the hill
Kalaw was a charming place to spend a day and if we had had more time I would have loved to have gone hiking in the area. Next time!
Three men and their truck run with a tractor engine
A local pariah dog enjoying the sun. It was quite cold because of the altitude.
Despite it being a very small town, Kalaw had a mosque, several buddhist temples, a sikh gurdwara and a few christian churches all in close proximity of one another.
A buddhist temple covered in tiny mirrors
Has anyone been trekking around Kalaw or followed the route to Inle lake on foot?
Fabulous photos as always Jura… we’ll have to pick your brains about Burma sometime soon
Thanks! Yes please do. Happy lunar new year!
Permission to share your pariah dog photo? Thank you!
Sorry I can’t seem to see your website. Do you have a link? Please can you credit me and include a link to my blog if you want to use my photo.