Yangon (Rangoon) is Burma's largest city and former capital, but still remains one of the most exotic cities of South East Asia. It has hardly changed over the years; you'll quickly discover the glistening gilded pagodas that are so important to the country's Buddhist traditions, standing alongside the crumbling colonial buildings that are reminders of its British colonial past.
From almost every point in the city, the majestic and revered Shwedagon pagoda, one of Buddhism’s most sacred sites, dominates the skyline, shimmering with up to 60 tons of gold. Shwedagon aside, there are plenty of other things to see during your stay in Yangon, including the beautiful Karaweik Palace on the shores of the scenic Kandawgyi Lake, enormous reclining Buddhas, Hindu temples, mosques, historic churches and Burma’s only synagogue, as well as numerous other pagodas, alongside pretty parks, bustling markets and the treasures of the National Museum of Myanmar. Everywhere you look, you'll see people wearing the traditional sarong-like longyi, chewing betel nuts and displaying distinctive yellow paste from the bark of the Thanaka tree (a natural sunscreen) on their faces.
