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  >  Destinations  >  Myanmar  >  New Years Eve in Yangon

It may have been one of the coldest days of the year, but Yangon was still dusty, smelly and sticky.  It may sound awful but this is a city chalked full of history not to mention amazing temples, colonial architecture and markets.  It is a gorgeous city, with some of the best preserved colonial architecture still standing.

With such limited time, we spent most of our time just wandering around Yangon and taking in the sites.  We spent a good amount of time doing Lonely Planet’s City Walk of Yangon’s Colonial Treasures, and stopped at the Musmeah Yeshua Synogogue and Begyoke market along the way.

Of course, we had to make a visit to Shwedagon Pagoda. This massive, glittering, gold village of temples, stupas and statues is a site must visiting. Once you climb up one of the four stairways, you’ll pay an entrance fee and then are free to roam around. It is a bit overwhelming but a must-see as it is one of the most important religious sites in Myanmar.  From the photo gallery, you can get an up-close view of the hti, and see hte photos of the thousands of jewels and the 72 carat diamond that sits at the top.

And given our hotel location, we also had a chance to visit Kandawgyi Gardens

We also spent new years eve in Yangon.  This was interesting since this isn’t the new year for the Burmese.  We chose to spend our night at an expat bar, Union Bar, where they served a 4-course dinner including unlimited drinks and had a DJ spinning until 2am. It wasn’t overly crowded but was a fun night with a few of the expats in Yangon.