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If you open map of Yangon on your smartphone, you will notice a large expanse of land in the middle of the city, but its cover by water. I can confirm that this is Kandawgyi Park in Yangon, right in the heart of the city.
Kandawgyi Park cover an area of approximately 150 hectares, make it a vast area. The park is locate next to the lake. A bridge spans the entire lake. You can cross the lake from the wooden bridge, but unfortunately, the wood is very fragile, and some people have even fall and their feet have got stuck in the cracks.
Kandawgyi means is 'big lake in Burmese, and its because the lake is so vast. I was not even strong enough to walk from one corner to the other, we even took a taxi to get around the lake. However, theres one thing that really intrigue me, a beautiful structure resembling a dragon boat, situated right at the edge of the lake.
It's a fairly well known building; if you search for 'Kandawgyi Yangon', you'll find a building very close to the lake. At first, we were curious and ventured closer, eventually arriving.
It turned out to be a fine dining restaurant, or what we might call a place for wealthy Myanmar residents to eat. We tryng to enter, but unfortunately, we were not allowed to book reservations were require. Wow, I thought it would be a typical restaurant. However, this place was more exclusive than we expected.
Inside Kandawgyi Park, there's also a garden. You can enter with an entrance fee of 500 kyats. There are also entry requirements if you bring a camera for photography or video, which is quite a hefty fee.
However, we only went in because we were on a budget, so we only explored the Kandawgyi Park area. The garden also has a zoo with animal exhibits and wildlife that are exclusively for the public (with an entrance fee, of course).
It was quite hot in Kandawgyi Park, the sun was indeed very strong when we were in Yangon. However, several trees provide shade and coolness. That's the main benefit of having trees in the middle of the city, they provide shade and fresh air.
Kandawgyi Lake is indeed very large. Thats why so many people came here, even though I passed by during the day. What about in the evening? I expected it to be even more crowded, with people constantly using this park to gather in the green open space.