The center of the city, that is, until the British moved it, this temple is fantastic in its vastness and glitz. A mighty staircase ascends to the main temple area, and Ginat Stupa, but an innumerable number of side Buddhas and glitz captivate the faithful and the tourists.
This monk was ringing the bell to signal, uhm, something……
View from Main Gate, amazing!
So much detail and beautiful carved woodwork everywhere you look!
Another view, this absuletly is the number one tourist attraction in Yangon, and for good reason.
Even beautiful at night!
This temple houses our favorite Yangon Buddha (that is saying something)…at the top of a hill, with lovely breezes flowing through the temple, this 46-ft-tall statue somehow fills one with serenity.
Lovely ironwork instead of sides of this temple mean cool breezes and a beautiful view.
Across the road, this 65-meter reclining Buddha is housed in a temple/big metal shed. It certainly does not disappoint in terms of grandure.
Fruit and cereals, even golden painted coconuts are accepatable offerings!
I had to laugh thinking about what they might charge for this pedicure…..this one is for Betty, thinking about all the pictures we have taken of our pretty toes over the years…..
In the temple grounds, but outside of the stupa, a bridge over a tortoise pond delights monks and visitors alike.
This temple had a stupa that was different because you can actually walk around inside it….yes, this is all lined with actual gold leaf…crazy….
Boys aren’t the only ones aloud to where the cloth, study, and pray. These young nuns are boarding the train. Like their male counterparts, they will most likely not be nuns for life, but only for a short time, or as long as they desire.
Sun goes down in the utilitiarian dock area, bringing much desired cool-off to the city.
The city is full of construction projects making it almost impossible for the pedestrian to navigate roads that already have littlle to no sidewalks….and at its completion, this brand new building is…….KFC???
Just in case if you were wondering weather the advertising-crazy RB had made it to Myanmar….
On the town in China Town, bustling area of Yangon at night.
Yangon, Myanmar – January 31-February 4, 2016
If you think you don’t recognize this place, I will give you its former colonial name, Rangoon, Burma. What an exotic-sounding place. The sound of it conjures up images of colonial splendor in a tropical paradise. The reality of it is that this bustling city (the largest in Myanmar) is just starting to come to life again after being pretty thoroughly neglected during the long years of military rule just now coming to an end. In fact, the party of Aung Sung Su Ki, the people’s democratic choice for leadership who was under house arrest in Yangon for some 20 years, was sworn into leadership in the capital (now Naypyidaw) during our stay in Yangon.
The Shwedagon Pagoda, a vast golden temple complex, looms over the city in its eye-straining brightness. It is truly a site to behold, both in the day and as the sun goes down. In addition, there are countless other temples of various sizes and levels of ostentation around the city, and you can happily go from one to the next until you are all templed-out. Our favorite of the sub-temples was the Ngahtatgyi Paya, on top of a hill with lovely breezes and a 46-ft tall seated Buddha.
Other highlights were visiting the lakes in and about the city, and some fabulous little art galleries to poke around in. We tried the local specialty noodle soup and found it delicious. Looking forward to more cuisine in the countryside as we head to Inle Lake this morning.
Kathleen
