Our time in Myanmar/Burma was special. We hadn't planned to visit Myanmar on our trip, but too many people recommended it, so we squeezed it in at the end. Unfortunately, we only had 3 weeks and there is plenty to see in quite a diverse country. We were also quite tired after 13 months on the road, that we felt we weren't as adventurous as if we had visited earlier. Oh well, all good reason to return!
This photo is at Shwedagon Paya, the most sacred and impressive pagoda in the former capital of Yangon. It is over 100m tall, and is up on a local hill. The massive gold stupa has 4 long entrances, each from the cardinal points, with gold roofs and guarded by 2 huge chinthe (half lion, half dragon) statues. Around the main stupa were loads of other temples, some for each day of the week. In their culture, it is important which day of the week you were born, and you pray to that specific temple. Strangely, there are 8 temples, and so they divide Wednesday into AM and PM to create the 8 'days'. Just as we arrived, the skies opened up and the rains came. Loads of umbrellas, and some very slippery tiled floors circling the stupa.
It is typical of our time in Myanmar, as while we were waiting out the heavy rains, a group of monks came to talk to us. Their English was excellent, so they really didn't need to work on it, but just hung out with us for an hour learning about our lives and what we do. The people here are so curious about the 'outside' world because they are only told what the government tells them. They are genuinely friendly and our time in Myanmar was so good because of the people. Always greeted with a big smile and a friendly 'Minglava' (hello in Burmese). *Stub
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