In the middle of June, Stephen attended a meeting to address NCDs (non communicable diseases) called by the World Health Organization (WHO). The meeting was held in Nay Pyi Taw, the new capital city of Myanmar. Just 10 years ago, Yangon was the capital of Myanmar and what is now Nay Pyi Taw, was rural farm land. On November 5, 2005, the government declared Nay Pyi Taw the new official capital of the country and on the 6th began moving ministries into the new city they had just built from scratch. According to Wikipedia, the government cited overcrowding and lack of space for expanding government offices as the reason for the move. Nay Pyi Taw is about a 5 hour drive north of Yangon toward the middle of the country. Because school has not yet started and I am not yet working, I took this opportunity to go with Stephen to see what the new capital city was like.
"Nay Pyi Taw" can be translated “royal capital” “seat of the king” “abode of kings” or literally “royal city of the sun” in Burmese. And it is quite a contrast to Yangon, with its mostly narrow and very busy streets. The streets of Nay Pyi Taw are brand new, having as many as ten lanes, and are elaborately landscaped with beautiful trees and flowering bushes. There are street lights and miles of sidewalks that line these newly built and nearly empty roads. As we drove into town, it seemed like the whole city was hotels; many looked quite grand but several appeared to still be under construction. Of course there are other things: restaurants, shopping centers, housing...but they are spaced far apart. Not jammed together the way things are in Yangon.
It took nearly the whole day to travel from Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw, but we did have some time in the evening before dinner once we arrive to do a little sight seeing. One of Stephen’s staff, a medical doctor working for the project, took us on a tour of the Uppatasanti Pagoda. It is the Peace Pagoda. The Burmese word “Uppatasanti” can be translated as “protection from calamity”. We were instructed by the doctor to take off our shoes and leave them in the car. We walked barefoot to, from and all around the pagoda.
It is quite an impressive Buddhist house of prayer. In the photo above you can get just an idea of what the inside was like. In the photo below, if you look closely, you can see the tiny shapes of Stephen, the doctor and our driver leaving the entrance.
The mountains off in the distance make this a most beautiful and serene city.
After the pagoda tour, the doctor found an interesting restaurant for us to dine at that evening. It was buffet style Myanmar food. But instead of our getting up to get the food, waiters brought everything to our table.
And they replaced dishes even before they were empty. My soup had just gotten to the right temperature when a waiter whisked it away and replaced it with a full steaming bowl of a type of corn and sweet potato soup. As you see from the photo there were many different choices of meat and vegetables. The doctor could translate some of the items but not all. As usual, Stephen and I sampled some completely unknown dishes. One of the salads was especially good. The whole meal for all three of us was less than $12.
The following day Stephen and the doctor spent all day in meetings.
Afterwards Stephen felt pretty jazzed about the work he’s doing. NCDs (non communicable diseases) are a significant problem for the country and now is the time for action. If Stephen’s project is successful it could have positive impact on the health of a large number of people in this country. The known needs coupled with the potential of the project give Stephen hope, but also a weight of responsibility to deliver.
For our second evening in Nay Pyi Taw, the doctor bought tickets for us all to go through the Nay Pyi Taw Fountain Garden. I certainly wasn’t expecting what we discovered. It was like Disneyland! But with an entrance fee of only 700 Kyats ($0.61).
While we waited for it to get dark (when the musical water show would start) we walked around the gardens. Such fun water features.
As we were walking, a group of mostly women came up to us and wanted to have their picture taken with me. When it happened the previous night the doctor said, “You’re like a movie star.”
Evidently my white skin and light colored hair are “exotic” to these Burmese.
Although no rides, there were some waterslides and pools. A few people were swimming.
I didn’t smell any chlorine though so even though it looked inviting, Stephen and I would not be quick to jump in. We've done that before and the of risk getting sick is too high. But all the water features were certainly lovely to look at.
As we drove out of town the following day we passed the roundabout with ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) flags. The 25th annual ASEAN summit was held in Nay Pyi Taw in November of 2014. The many hotels we saw were build for hosting big events such as the summit.
Beautiful with its wide open spaces and fresh air, Nay Pyi Taw is an interesting new capital city.
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