Taukkyan War Cemetery

This was our third day in Myanmar and we were going to visit Bago. Everyday as we started our tour in the morning, I have come to love how alive Yangon is. I suppose life is hard and everyone is trying to earn a living in a competitive place. The markets and the roadside stalls were already opened, perhaps long before I even woke up!

We were doing a day trip to Bago. On our way there, we visited the Taukkyan War Cemetery. It is the largest war cemetery out of the three in Myanmar. This was built in memory of the allied soldiers of the British Commonwealth during WW2. Again, this is another place that is so different from the rest of Yangon, so much so that it stick out like a sore thumb. As I entered through a little metal gate, I found myself "teleported" to another place. The beautiful, green lawn surrounding the Roman pillars under this glorious, blue sky brought me back to the spring or summer of Europe. Despite its beauty, I never like places of history that are war-related. They give off this sad and tragic aura that makes me feel unpleasant. I guess my shallow perspective of war took a drastic turn during my trip to Cambodia, especially the Tuol Sleng Genocide Centre visit. To this very day, I am still much affected both emotionally and mentally by what I saw in the centre, though I didn't have the emotional strength to complete the visit.

After taking a few photos and reading the names of some of the tombstones, we left and continued our journey to Bago.

Busy streets looking like this one everywhere in Yangon


Myanmar Indoor Stadium


People carry things by placing them on their heads


A miss shot of a temple with Bagan architecture while passing through Taukkyan


Two boys in their school uniform and heading to school in a bicycle


Railway tracks


We stopped by at a tyre air pump place to get air filled in the tyres


Rows of graves belonging to allied soldiers of British Commonwealth


One of the tombstones


At the centre