Social Distancing Yangon

The maddening crowd of Asian cities creates an assault on the senses.

These days it is hard to match in Northern European cities, where street life has been supplanted with indoor shopping experiences and only rare street trading (beyond gentrified markets). There, street life seems like a bygone era.



So it is unsettling to now experience Yangon in this period of social distancing. Although there is already some light humour concerning the challenge of normal social interactions: it is not traditional to shake hands in Myanmar instead a bow is the typical greeting, so that’s one less behaviour that needs revision.



It is hoped traditional street life can resume soon.