Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
shells. This was formerly the headquarters of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, a Scottish-
owned enterprise which during the 1920s operated the world's largest fleet of river boats,
with over six hundred vessels carrying some nine million passengers a year.
Nextdooristhe
MinistryofAgricultureandIrrigation
withitssolid-lookingvaultedgold
doors under a fancy silver canopy and quirky facade of green semicircles, with lion heads
arranged along the roof corniche. At the bottom of the street stands the imposing
Myanma
Port Authority
building with its landmark tower and huge arched windows, with roundels
decorated with ships and anchors between.
A left turn along Strand Road leads to the
Strand Hotel
.
Alternatively, heading right brings
youtotheneatred-brick
CustomsHouse
,completewithclockandcupola,andthenthe
Yan-
gon Division Court
, impressively large but almost invisible under scaffolding at the time of
writing.
The Strand Hotel
92 Strand Rd • 01 243377,
hotelthestrand.com
Downtown Yangon's address of choice for the rich and famous is the
Strand Hotel
, looking
likeastaidelderlyduchessamidthedisreputablehubbubofYangon'shistoric,butrun-down,
waterfront Strand Road. Opened in 1901, the
Strand
was the brainchild of Aviet and Tigran
Sarkies, two of the four entrepreneurial, Armenian-descended Sarkies brothers, who estab-
lished a string of luxury hotels throughout Southeast Asia including the
Raffles
in Singapore
and the
Eastern & Oriental
in Penang. The whites-only hotel (Burmese were not admitted
until 1945) was described as “the finest hostelry east of the Suez” by John Murray in his
Handbook for Travellers,
with guests including Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and
Lord Mountbatten. It fell into disrepair following independence but reopened in 1993 after
extensive renovations.
The Secretariat
Between Mahabandoola, Anawrahta, Bo Aung Kyaw and Theinbyu roads
Themostimpressive ofallYangon'scolonial monumentsisthegargantuan
Secretariat
(also
known as the Ministers' Building), a vast red-brick Neoclassical structure occupying an en-
tire city block, sprawling over sixteen acres and with 37,000 square metres of floor space -
roughly two-thirds the size of the Paris Louvre. Completed in 1902 (with the east and west
wings added three years later), this is the most famous and historically significant colonial
buildinginYangon:theformerseatofBritishadministrativepowerinBurma;thespotwhere
Aung San and six cabinet ministers were assassinated on 19 July 1947; and also the place
wherethecountry'sindependenceceremonywasconductedthefollowingyear.Itlaterserved
asthenationalparliamentbuildinguntilthe1962coup,sincewhenithasbeenofflimits.The
entire building is currently wrapped in scaffolding and tarpaulin pending a decision about
its future and, hopefully, restoration - a massive task, likely to cost at least $100m and “po-
