I was resting my feet during those remaining few days of 2013. They had gone through miles and miles of pavement and off-road rambling around new cities and towns I had visited during that travel-blessed year. Among my favorite walks of the year was along the charming colonial buildings of Yangon in Myanmar. It felt like being transported back in time; although a few modern structures had already been erected, the old buildings from yester-decades still filled the streets of the city. It was a different feeling being in a country I had deemed impossible to visit a few years earlier because of the political upheavals going on at that time. I, like the rest of the world, was glad that Myanmar had finally opened up and let its unique qualities be known to all of us.
Yangon’s Colonial Charms and other Street Scenes | Myanmar
A Portal to Escolta's Twin City
It was our last day in Myanmar, a trip which had us basking at the seemingly infinite numbers of temples in Bagan and climbing the steps alongside the monkeys to a hilltop monastery at Mount Popa. We stayed at a hostel called Motherland Inn, and we had arrived there early in the morning. After checking in, we decided to roam the streets of Yangon. While the others opted to hang out in a cafe, Dong, Ron, Jerome, and I went on a few hours of walking around, seeing and discovering interesting nooks and crannies at every turn.
It was like being in Escolta and some parts of Old Manila, only in Yangon—the old colonial buildings were more noticeable and stood out because of their larger numbers and almost untouched condition. While some had started to show signs of withering away from their many years of an upended state, others still projected a solid presence like a soldier proudly standing, resisting real estate developers from replacing them with modern malls and office buildings. That was something I did not want to happen. I was pretty sure the government of Myanmar would never want to commit the same mistakes ours did in allowing the new to replace the old, which in turn was slowly wiping out the last bastion of heritage in our city of Manila.
The "Same Same, But Different" Vibe
One thing about observing the street scenes in many Southeast Asian countries was that one distinguished some similarities and at the same time noticed the differences, which made it quite interesting and backed up the notion of "same same, but different". There were always no two places exactly alike, and the more one looked into it, the more one realized the vastness and the alteration among people who went through the motions of their daily lives.
The long cluster of old colonial buildings in Yangon provided delight to travelers visiting the city for the first time, such as myself, who could not seem to direct my eyes to one spot for long as I got distracted by other buildings worthy of a look. What was once a hub of the who's who in cosmopolitan Europe—brought there by the lengthy colonization of the British in the region that includes Myanmar—still very much bore the signs of that era.
It was just a question of how much it could hold up once developers came in and decided they might want to knock out a heritage building—like, for example, the Sofaer Building, whose facade was highlighted by tiles imported from Manchester, UK, almost a century ago. Those were some of the worries that rattled my head while we were doing the walk.
Street Scenes and Daily Rhythms
The street scenes were very lively; everyone seemed to be up to something—nothing sinister, but the drill of rummaging with daily chores like being on their way to work, plying trades, or talking to others, which had conversations flying in all directions. Eavesdropping on a foreign language became the norm, and even though I did not understand one bit, I came to recognize the kind of talks that were serious; the ones that were mellowed were shared most probably between family members, while the ones with hints of pleading were those from buyers to sellers.
We passed by small art galleries, cafes, clothing stores, and music stores playing then-current popular songs like PSY's "Gangnam Style", as well as music from local artists. Around lunchtime, I started to feel the soles of my feet aching a bit, and the hot climate at that time in Yangon did not help either. Still, all sorts of inconvenience seemed like a small dent compared to the joy I was feeling discovering and seeing more of Yangon.
Our stroll from early morning to lunch provided me with an interesting and educational walk through the streets of Yangon. I imagined the time when it was still considered gung-ho to walk those streets as a foreigner, compared to the time I was there. The changes might have been monumental, but the people, I believed, were still the same: accommodating, friendly, and cheerful. I remembered locking eyes with the vendors, and even though I did not buy anything, they looked back at me with a sincere smile. "Same-same," just like at home, and something that would not make you feel you were really away.
Preserving a Century of Heritage
I did a bit of research after coming home about the plans of Myanmar to preserve the rich heritage of Yangon. I found out that efforts had been underway to declare the vast area of the city as a heritage district. Opening up to the world, though, should not come at the expense of ruining a big part of history. Thant Myint-U, the founder of the Yangon Heritage Trust, perfectly summed it up: "By looking at these buildings, we know who came into our country and what happened. Without them, how can we know our history?"
