Burmese Days 11: Bo Kyoke Road Sidewalk Markets

Dear Readers, in the previous post, I visited Scott's Market in downtown Rangoon. That seemed mostly oriented to the tourist trade and to arts and textiles. But tiny street markets are where many Burmese buy their supplies, vegetables, and foods. Across Bo Kyoke Road from Scott's market, the entire sidewalk for several blocks is one continuous mass of vendors, crowds, vegetables, food stands, and chickens.

This is one of the family photographs from the same area in 1957 (Anscochrome taken with a Leica IIIC camera). During my recent rip, a couple of people who saw a print said this might have been at a cinema that was formerly on that road.

Today, the scene is more crowded and food vendors have taken over. The huge citrus fruit in the second photograph are pomelo (Citrus grand is), which I found to be a lot of work to peel.

You can find almost any kind of green vegetable or grass you could imagine. I wonder how the vendors rent space for their chunk of sidewalk? 

Want a snack? These fried guys are full of protein and are a Burmese delicacy.

Burmese are very literate, and we saw a good number of book-sellers with stands jammed full of books and pamphlets.  

This is 27th street, lined with vendors. It is cheerful on a sunny day, sweltering in summer, and a mess in the rain.

Want fast food? Well, here it is locally-sourced and prepared.

A few blocks further east near the Sule Pagoda, the shops are more industrial with tools, locks, plumbing, and metal-works. The way industries cluster reminds me of the flea market in downtown Athens or Kathmandu.

In the next article, we will go to a giant wholesale market near the Yangon River.

Photographs taken with a Panasonic G3 with Olympus 9-18mm lens, Fuji X-E1, and a Nexus 4 phone.

Burmese Days 10: Plenty to see at Scott's Market, Rangoon

If you like crafts markets, they do not get much more vibrant than the Bogyoke Aung San Market (Burmese: ဗိုလ်ချုပ်အောင်ဆန်းဈေး) also known as the Scott's, on Bogyoke Aung San Road in downtown Rangoon. I think most locals still call it by the old English name, and a taxi driver will immediately know what you mean, even if he does not speak English.

The market consists of seven parallel halls separated by cobblestone alleys. Some of the buildings are 2-storey, but the central hall has a long chamber with a tall cast-iron arched ceiling. Balconies cross the alleys in some areas, so you can stay on the second floor and cross to other sections. The complex was built in 1926 by the former British administration, and was named after the Municipal Commissioner of the time, Mr. Gavin Scott.

The market is divided into different disciplines. The front has vendors of clothing and fabrics. The higher-end fashion stores have air-conditioning (very welcome).

They seem to sell a lot of underwear here.

Here are some of the lovely ladies of the market. Do they try on the underwear?

Deep in the buildings, hundreds of ladies work on sewing machines. The light level was so low, I could not see well, and the heat was muggy and wilting (at least to this wimpy Westerner).

We visited some of the gem and silver dealers. Burma is famous for rubies and sapphires, and the silver craftsmen do amazing work. The coffee pot in the photograph above is one of the family souvenirs from the 1950s. The decoration shows scenes from the life of Buddha. My mother remembered seeing the artist with a mallet and nail working on the patterns.

Look out from the balconies, and you see some of the old British buildings in varying states of preservation. It's a fascinating scene.

Immediately west of Scott's Market is the imposing brick Anglican Holy Trinity Cathedral. A magnificent construction of brick the, cathedral was designed by Robert Chisholm, an architect from Madras, in what Wikipedia calls the Indo-Saracenic style. Construction began when Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy of India, laid the cornerstone in 1886, and the project was completed in 1894. A magnificent pipe organ was destroyed in World War II and could not be repaired. The scale of this cathedral underscores the size and wealth of the Anglican community.

We will look at street markets in the next article.