Shwedagon Pagoda

We began the day with a visit to the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda, which is actually a sprawling complex of pagodas. The architecture is pretty over the top. The guide told us there were 60 tons of gold leaf here, and that is believable given the number of gilded spires and statues. We did wonder how the flashing colored lights behind some of the buddhas could be an aid to meditation. Clearly there were people here engaged in pious worship, but for many others it was equally clear that the visit to the pagoda was more of a family outing. We saw large family groups picnicking in various spots, and enjoying the antics of playing children.

We passed by another beautiful pagoda on the way to a local monastery, Kalaywa Tawya. The We began the day with a visit to the amazing Shwedagon Pagoda, which is actually a sprawling complex of pagodas. The architecture is pretty over the top. The guide told us there were 60 tons of gold leaf here, and that is believable given the number of gilded spires and statues. We did wonder how the flashing colored lights behind some of the buddhas could be an aid to meditation. Clearly there were people here engaged in pious worship, but for many others it was equally clear that the visit to the pagoda was more of a family outing. We saw large family groups picnicking in various spots, and enjoying the antics of playing children.

We passed by another beautiful pagoda on the way to a local monastery, Kalaywa Tawya. The monastery housed more than 1400 monks and nuns (in separate compounds), almost all of them children. We learned that almost all of them were orphans -- many who lost parents to the military regime. At the monastery they receive food and shelter, a couple of robes to wear, medical care, and (perhaps most important) education. Most leave the monastery when they reach adulthood, so the education is vital when they enter the real world. They also spend several hours a day begging for food on the streets, so this may also be a useful life skill.

Both of us are having trouble with jet lag -- Mary is struggling even more than I -- so we spent the afternoon reading and relaxing. In the afternoon the group visited the famous Strand Hotel, bastion of British imperial culture. We toured the art gallery there, were treated to a brief lesson on the bamboo marimba from the musician in the lobby, and visited the bar, which might have been imported straight from an English pub. We continued on foot through a small market and onto the docks of the waterfront to watch commuters find their way onto ferries that could take them to their homes on the opposite side of the river, and to watch the sunset over the water. We then walked through Yangon's "China Town," which is a busy street market that spills out into the streets, making for some interesting encounters with traffic. In the evening our group enjoyed an excellent meal in the house that once belonged to General Ang Song, liberator of his country and father of Ang Song Suu Kyi.

monastery housed more than 1400 monks and nuns (in separate compounds), almost all of them children. We learned that almost all of them were orphans -- many who lost parents to the military regime. At the monastery they receive food and shelter, a couple of robes to wear, medical care, and (perhaps most important) education. Most leave the monastery when they reach adulthood, so the education is vital when they enter the real world. They also spend several hours a day begging for food on the streets, so this may also be a useful life skill.

Both of us are having trouble with jet lag -- Mary is struggling even more than I -- so we spent the afternoon reading and relaxing. In the afternoon the group visited the famous Strand Hotel, bastion of British imperial culture. We toured the art gallery there, were treated to a brief lesson on the bamboo marimba from the musician in the lobby, and visited the bar, which might have been imported straight from an English pub. We continued on foot through a small market and onto the docks of the waterfront to watch commuters find their way onto ferries that could take them to their homes on the opposite side of the river, and to watch the sunset over the water. We then walked through Yangon's "China Town," which is a busy street market that spills out into the streets, making for some interesting encounters with traffic. In the evening our group enjoyed an excellent meal in the house that once belonged to General Ang Song, liberator of his country and father of Ang Song Suu Kyi.