RANGOON — In downtown Rangoon’s Kyauktada Township, traffic on Anawratha Road lumbers along in fits and grinds to a halt for what feels like hours at a time. As the day wears on, stallholders gradually claim space on the boulevard between Seikkantha Street and Pansodan Road, spilling into the narrow residential laneways to the north.
Soon, the traffic on the sidewalk slows down to the speed of the road, as people eke and jostle their way through produce sellers, young couples dining on noodle salad and idle shoppers.