Ann's Notes on first days in Myanmar

It was my carry on bag that we had to check in Chicago and that did not catch up with is in Yangon until our second day here. While I thought I had grabbed everything I needed before we checked the bag, that turned out not to be the case. In the business lounge in Chicago I got one of those headaches that once it takes hold, I can't shake without Relpax (which was now checked on the carry on bag) and it stayed with me for the next 36 hours until the Relpax arrived. Once it did and I was able to take it, I slept for about 14 hours and was fine.

So on to our trip. Having a day to sightsee before the group arrived was great. I had read on Trip Advisor about the only remaining synagogue in Myanmar and we went to visit. Moses Samuels has maintained the synagogue for 35 years for the remaining Jews in Myanmar, who now number about 20, down from a high of a community of about 3000(Steve was way off on the number). Moses's son, Sammy, studied business at Yeshiva University and has started a travel agency offering Jewish Heritage Tours in Myanmar. Moses called Sammy on the phone to talk with me while we were at the synagogue. Sammy splits his time between New York and Myanmar. And the synagogue has gotten broad recognition over the years as indicated by photos in the synagogue with Israeli leaders such as Ben Gurion and Moshe Dayan and more recent photos on the Internet with the Samuels' family and Aung San Suu Kyi.

From there, as Steve has written about we went to Aung San's home where he and his family lived until his assassination in 1947. It was interesting, but I would have liked to have been able to take pictures, which we were not.

When Elsa, Steve and I checked into the hotel in Yangon we were given lovely club rooms. Our view from the balcony was not great but Elsa had a spectacular view of the Shwedagon Temple. The day after we checked in our room keys stopped working. Turned out they were trying to move us to the "excursion" rooms. Elsa and I balked and explained to them that it was Odyssey that had made the reservation. We prevailed and remained in the club rooms for the remainder of our initial stay in Yangon. Elsa and I will spend another night at this hotel at the end of our stay so we will get to experience the "regular" rooms then.

Usually getting up at 4:30 am would be really difficult, but with a 13 1/2 hour time difference from home, my body is still confused. I fell asleep at about 8:00pm last night so I was awake and ready to start the day at 3:30 am, and Steve was awake even earlier. We are now in the Yangon airport awaiting what was supposed to be our 6:30 am flight, that is now one hour delayed.




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