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Yangon, 19th Street

I asked OneWayTicketPhil.com (he's probably one of my favorite writer out there online) where is THE best place to stay in Yangon. I told him I had only 4 days to play around with, so I was hoping I could stay in an area with the most action. He replied, '19th Street is your best bet'. I had never known about the 19th Street prior to his suggestion even after all the Googling I had done about Yangon. So I was like, 'um, thank you, but let me Google Map it'. In the midst of it all, while I was looking high and low for accommodation taking his advice to heart about 19th Street (it was a tad difficult because most of the guesthouses and lodges were either not visible or not available online) I found Ocean Pearl where I eventually spend my nights at.

So I settled with Ocean Pearl and went -- HMPH 19th Street must be another place to be! And listed it in my very free itinerary. I checked with the hostel's staff how far was 19th Street to Bo Ta Taong Road and according to him it's a 30 minutes walk or more, so he recommended me to take the cab. At that time, it was already 5pm and it was getting dark so I figured 'sure, let's try the cab' and it was a cool ride I must say. The staff cut off some dollars for me, and true enough I did fancy paying off a thrilling ride of continuous honks, double lanes, gridlock 5 ways, jerking brakes all and more in our unbelted seats. All too familiar with Manila :)

He stopped me at a random corner, of a busy street and I was like, okay - I'm guessing I'm supposed to follow my instincts on this one which exactly entails the 19th Street. But it doesn't take an instinct to a go to a place like 19th Street! People flocking through in all directions, like they knew where exactly which stall exactly had the things they had in mind to go to, I followed a young lady with her swinging umbrella, too difficult to identify the tourists here, you could count them by the fingers. Left the lady, followed a young couple into another corner, hah -- after about 10 minutes of twisting and turning my steps and I think basically making circles, I think I finally stepped onto the 19th Street, and that's when I know exactly why Phil had suggested the street.

A long stretch of food, textiles, shoes, home deco, alleys after alleys of bars and pubs, and restaurants and small hotels (if you know what I'm sayin'). There were people everywhere from all walks of life, and even a lot more tourists (by more I mean a few more). Everything was packed in one street! So yes, come to think about it, I wasn't sure why 19th Street was especially difficult to be found online, so I've decided to write about it and get people to get more involved in the economy there :)

Unfortunately, I took too little photos from the street, I was pre-occupied with walking around, and was so fascinated with everything they have to offer, I forgot about snapping some photos -____________-"



Yes, I took 3 photos of 19th Street. THREE. Fml


I reached Sule pagoda after much walking around after dinner :)  It's always a rare sight to be stumbled upon the Pagodas! Too lovely of a sight.

Love,
Jacqueline Rowena @ Jacqkie.

Comments

KY said…
I miss yangon, had the chance to go there twice in my previous job, charming place.

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Love,  Jacqueline Rowena @ Jacqkie.