First thing Monday morning, however, Rachel began to introduce me to her normal routines and all that the city has to offer. Rachel began with the perfect starting point: breakfast. During the week she introduced me to quick and delicious breakfasts sold by various vendors just a short walk from her apartment.
Mohinga
Monday morning we ate Mohinga, a soup with a mild fish broth and rice noodles, garnished with fried lentil wafers, fried garlic, fresh chopped cilantro and dried chili to taste. The contrasting flavors and textures make this soup so delicious that we each devoured a bowl in record time, and probably could have eaten a couple more.
Delicious, savory pancakes (I forgot the Burmese name)
Another morning we bought thin, crispy, savory pancakes from another vendor that Rachel frequents. This breakfast item evidences the influence and presence of Indian culture in Myanmar. The vendor fries the pancakes on a griddle, balanced over an open fire. She tops the pancakes with a few cooked beans, fresh green onion and sesame, and then folds them into thirds. The result is a delightfully light, crispy pancake that is salty rather than sweet. Writing about it makes me want one (or two or three) right now.
Black tea with milk
One morning Rachel's friend taught us how to make a black tea with milk. What's so special about that, you ask? Well, my friends, if you could taste it, you would understand. Black tea, steeped with a pinch of green tea and a smaller pinch of coffee power, is mixed with both evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk. The preferred method of mixing the tea and milk is to pour the mixture back and forth from one mixing cup to another, repeating the process several times. That same morning we also sampled sweet, rice flour pancakes with white poppy seeds (pictured in the bowl on the table) purchased from another stand that Rachel commonly visits.
The Market
During the week we also visited a large market that sells a stunning array of artfully crafted goods, including paintings, wood carvings and hand woven textiles.
In the market, we visited a Kachin fabric shop (Kachin is an ethnic group in Myanmar). The shop sells hand-woven and hand-embroidered fabrics
used for longyis. Longyis can be described as long skirts used by both men and women in
Myanmar. Men tie their longyis in the front whereas women tuck their's
in on the side. Rachel wears longyi, but has also had western style
skirts made from traditional longyi fabrics. I decided to follow suit and bought some fabric at this stand.
A street in the market complex. Here you can see both women and men in longyi.
The Shwedegon Pagoda
The Shwedegon is, without a doubt, the most famous pagoda in Yangon, if not the most famous in the country. Buddhism is the majority religion in Myanmar, and Rachel explained to me that Buddhists from all over the country try to visit the pagoda at least once in their lifetimes. Pagodas house relics from the Buddha, and are important holy sites for Buddhists. It is an understatement to say that the Shwedegon pagoda is stunning--its size alone is impressive, and then the entire structure is covered in gold. Smaller stupas, also decorated with intricate designs, surround the large pagoda.
We visited Shwedegon in the evening, which offered the advantages of cooler temperatures and the sight of the pagoda elegantly illuminated against the darkening sky.
Yangon is the largest city in Myanmar, but Myanmar is a large, diverse country with so much to offer. In the next post, I'll report on our weekend trip outside of Yangon to what can be classified as a truly one-of-a-kind location.
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