I wore a pair of chappals but had to take it off as I climbed the steps into the pagoda on either side of which were many shops selling puja materials, flowers, and souvenirs. I noticed a sign that stated that footwear was not allowed and foreigners (other than Myanmar residents) had to pay US $5 for entry. I soon located a kiosk in which a young man and a woman were lazing around. “No problem sir, you can leave your footwear here and you can pay the entrance fee later on when you return.” I spent almost two hours admiring the architecture of this beautiful pagoda and then decided to return to the hotel.
I came down the steps but couldn't spot the kiosk or the two persons I had met on my way up. I came down the steps just to make sure I had not missed the kiosk but saw it was the wrong entrance/exit and so retraced the path. I found another similar exit with steps and shops on either side. I carefully checked whether I had missed the kiosk by going up and down twice. Still there was no sign of the kiosk or my pair of chappals. I found during my walk that there were official footwear stands, which I had not seen earlier. After a fruitless search for 30 minutes I decided to call it a day, chappal-less and having saved US $5, which was, however, never the intention. I took a taxi and the first thing I did before entering the hotel was to buy a pair of leather chappals for about 1400 k (about US $1.5).
With the shining nice pair of chappals I entered the hotel lobby. I had noticed that footwear in the form of chappals is used extensively and there is no restriction on wearing it anywhere except in pagodas!
I still wonder what happened to my pair of chappals. Surely, there cannot be any shop in Yangon selling used Indian-made chappals!