One of the highlights of the cruise itinerary was a 3-day port call in Myanmar. The ship was docked in the Port of Thilawa, an industrial port with no traveler facilities or shops. Depending on traffic, the Thilawa port is about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive away from the heart of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city and former capital.For our first day in Myanmar, we booked the 5-hour-long Introduction to Yangon shore excursion through the ship, to get an overview of Yangon and a feel for the country before venturing out on our own. This tour left from the cruise port terminal in Thilawa. For an alternative to a shore excursion through the ship, there is a free shuttle bus takes you to the road outside of the port gates, where you can meet a pre-arranged independent tour, or pick up a taxi. There were no free shuttles or other public transportation options to get from Thilawa to Yangon.
Due to shallow water and tides in the Yangon River, our ship arrived several hours late into to port, so it was a good day to have booked a tour through the ship. By 10:15, we were on our bus to Yangon, with a very friendly and informative young guide who said to call her “Mo – Mo.” The buses were very comfortable and had good air conditioning.
We headed Shwedagon Pagoda, the giant golden gleaming pagoda in Yangon with a 326 feet tall stupa (spire) that is topped with more than 6,500 diamonds, rubies and other precious stones. It is considered the most sacred of all Buddhist sites in all of Myanmar.
To enter Shwedagon Pagoda, you must take off your shoes and socks and walk with bare feet (your shoes are stored in baskets with minders, who you tip when you pick up the shoes.) You also must have your shoulders and knees covered. I was wearing a below-the – knee dress and sweater, but the minders still insisted that I have a longyi, a wraparound skirt to cover my legs, which was provided. In Myanmar, both men and women wear the longyi — men tie theirs in the front and women fold the cloth over and secure it at the side.
Our group headed upstairs at the Pagoda, where the guide gave us a map and a meeting time. You could either explore on your own or stay with the guide. Most of us stayed with her. The marble stones were warm, but not burning hot on your bare feet as I had feared. (You do want to avoid the black-colored tiles or stones).
Before you visit Shwedagon Pagoda, you may want to use the calendar in your smartphone to figure out the day of the week that you were born on, such as Tuesday or Friday or Sunday. Each day of the week has a different blessing area such as “Sunday Corner” (pictured above) for those who were born on a Sunday.
The Shwedagon Pagoda is filled with sparkling detail at every turn (see photo above.) Besides marveling at the detailed decor of the Pagoda, it was interesting to watch young boys and girls, about 8-12 years of age, dressed in fancy costumes and being paraded through the Pagoda with their families. Our guide explained it was the ceremony before the child is given to the Monk’s for 30 days – to have their head shaved, be dressed in monk’s robes, and be educated about the rituals of being a monk. All boys go through the process, and many girls do it as well although it is optional for them.
After our time at the Shwedagon Pagoda, our tour bus headed to the center of Yangon by the City Hall a brief photo stop.
Finally, we headed to the 70-year-old Bogyoke Aung San Market (better known as Scott Market) with more than 2,000 shopping stalls. We had about 40 minutes there but you could spend much longer.
Scott Market is filled with stalls selling jewelry, longyis, art, linens, silver, lacquer ware, everything – with haggling on price expected, unless the stall had a clear “fixed prices” sign.
In between the narrow aisles, streams of young monk-trainee girls visited each stall, chanting something until the people put some money in their “bowls” (that are traditionally used to gather food.)
Our favorite Tour Guide “Mo-Mo” (left) in Thilawa, Myanmar
Best of this tour was our guide Mo-Mo who made the 3 hours of bus time to and from the cruise pier informative and fun as she shared much detail about life in Myanmar, and how it has changed in the last five years.
Have you visited Myanmar via a cruise ship? What was your favorite excursion or destination? Please share in comments below.
You may want to check out these other posts on our 14-Day Asian Holiday cruise:
- Sailing into Thilawa, Myanmar (Burma); Port City for Yangon
- Christmas Day in Phuket, Thailand with a Visit to Tiger Kingdom
- Christmas Eve on Holland America Line’s Volendam
- A Close-up Look at Holland America’s Dive-In at the Terrace Grill Menu
- Experiencing the Best Food of Penang, Malaysia with Heritage on a Plate