The original idea was for us to spend about a week in Myanmar but things didn’t quite go to plan and so we ended up just spending a couple of nights there. We probably spent more time sorting out our visas at the embassy in Tokyo than we did in the country itself! All of that wasn’t going to stop us from getting the most out of it though.

I’d had my heart set on going to Myanmar for a while at this point and enjoyed watching various films ‘set’ in Myanmar beforehand not that that did too much too put my mind at ease before descending on the capital city in a country which has suffered so much in the past.

Before exiting the airport on Christmas Eve we had to exchange our yen to the local currency kwat which made us seem like millionaires once the bundles of 1000 kwat ($1) notes (no coins in Myanmar) had been handed to us! They were so thick that I couldn’t put them in my pockets and so had to fill my backpack!

One of the reasons I wanted to travel to Myanmar was the unknown factor and I was quite surprised at what was to come. Sule Pagoda is the golden clump temple in the middle of a roundabout which is the brightest thing in a very, very dark city. This was our focal point for taking a walk down Maha Bandoola Road on what I thought would be a fairly straight-forward route. Although it was, there was far more to it as the pavements were packed full of vendors, stalls and shops extending out on to the street.

Most people in Myanmar, especially women and young kids, wear thanaka which is the make-up you can see on some locals. It’s one of the most noticeable things for any new arrivals and it comes from tree barl and eventually becomes a soothing, cooling cream that feels both refreshing and smells nice too. I believe it’s good for protecting the skin from the sun and is seen as fashionable too.

Low plastic stools and tables provided most eating places. No picture menus here and rarely any English too as the signs were of course only in the local language. It was back to basics and the good old fashioned way of using body language and pointing to order.

Christmas Day began for us with mohinga; a traditional Myanmar breakfast of thin rice noodles mixed with thick fish soup, roasted chilli powder, a squeezed lemon, fish sauce and coriander. All very different from what I used to have on Christmas morning!

The home of Aung San Suu Kyi by Inya Lake was our first stop that morning. Of course it’s just a gate but one of historical importance which a couple of years before our visit could only be photographed from the car window as you slowly drove by. Suu Kyi spent about 15 years of her life under house arrest here before being released in 2010.

Shwedagon Paya is certainly the number one tourist attraction in Yangon and that was next for us. This huge 2500 year old buddhist pagoda features a palace of glittering delights and was an awesome sight albeit a slightly overwhelming one as I felt I could never truly appreciate all the buildings and the fine detail of each one.

We continued on to find Happy World nearby which I had assumed would be a theme park with rides and so on but after paying the 20 cents entrance fee we found out that it was nothing more than a game centre!

The highlight for me was seeing the puny and wimpy looking Batman statue outside the place.

Yangon will always have a special place in our hearts as it was where I (eventually) proposed. The original plan had been to pop the big question at Shwedagaon Paya but it was all a bit too public for my liking…..and the fact that we had a little argument didn’t help either!!

Not wanting to get interrupted by a vendor at a critical moment or for a local scoundrel to see me presenting an expensive diamond ring in public I decided that a different place would be more suitable and safer option not that I ever felt that Yangon was in any way a dangerous place.

Back in our twin-bed room (no bed sharing before marriage! ha!) a few hours later I was aware that we were soon going to be Skyping my folks and likewise for her parents so I thought it was best to hurry things along a bit so that we could announce the news then and there rather than having to try to get hold of them later on again in a country where wi-fi was not that common or reliable!

To celebrate the good news we took the cheapest, dirtiest local bus down to Sule Pagoda (it was the only place/landmark I could think of!) and the young bus conductor couldn’t have been more helpful in looking after us. Of course I already knew exactly where our destination was but as we were only communicating via body language I decided to just let it be.

Motorcycles are outlawed in Yangon so these packed local buses are often the way to travel around. We did a short walking tour of Yangon which was quite interesting as it included the Strand Hotel, Customs House and a few other crumbling, fading British colonial Yangon buildings and places offering a slice of Asia that time has forgotten.

We then ended up on 19th street; the hottest street for nightlife in Yangon and a thriving place full of restaurants and bars selling barbecued food and cold beer.

You put your skewers of meat, fish and vegetables in a basket and they then cook them for you. All this was washed down with a few drinks which were ordered via a kind of kissing-sound you have to make to attract the waiters attention each time. Don’t try that in the western world!!

My wife and I both loved our time in a country that had been hidden away for far too long. I felt privileged to catch a glimpse of how things worked in this wonderful country and though communication with the locals wasn’t always easy, we found them to be so nice, helpful and honest in ways I could never have imagined. Of course our trip was way too short but it was definitely a case of it being Yan-gone but not forgotten!!

Click here to read ‘Dining Out: Little Myanmar In Takadanobaba’

Click here to read ‘On Screen #3 – Myanmar (Burma)’

Click here to read ‘SE Asia 2013/14 Pt II: Two Nights In Yangon (Myanmar)’

Click here to read ‘SE Asia 2013/14 Pt IV: A Pressing Engagement In Yangon (Myanmar)’