Yangon

We only stayed in Yangon for two nights and a day, so we didn't get to see as much of it as maybe we would have liked. However, we did make it to what is probably the main attraction, Shwedagon Pagoda. From our hotel, the first night, we went to the rooftop restaurant to eat dinner and enjoy the view (the power was off, until the generator kicked in). In the far distance you can see the tops of the pagoda, which we would visit the next day. The sunset, which we would come back for the follow night, was really pretty. Below us, birds and people were gathering for their nightly meal, so it got quite noisy, but still was worth a second visit. 

The next day we got up late and made our way to the pagoda by foot. As we got closer to the temple area it as unclear how to navigate the warrens of alleyways to get to the gates, but we saw 5-6 young monks moving in the direction of the temple, so we followed them and shortly arrived at the temple. There, we had to remove our shoes and cover our legs and shoulders. We then climbed a number of steps to get to the top, which was very busy with pilgrims. 

There were a few odd things about the temple grounds, first, there were stations for the days of the week that you were born on and you were supposed to pray to that day. I picked Sunday, which I am not sure if it was right, but I feel like a 'born on Sunday' type of guy.  Also, the pagoda is supposed to contain some of the Buddha's hair, but I couldn't find out where and Aya wasn't that interested, so we were split on it (huzah!)

The other unusual thing was that there was an inscription that was found on the temple grounds that verified how long the temple had been around. There is speculation as to how old the temple is, but not definitive proof earlier than this insciruption, so we went to check it out. For future reference, go to MONDAY, hang a left, go past the large bodhi tree and you'll find it under an open air canopy with a sleeping guard. There is the Dhamazedi inscription, made in 1485! Whenever I come across things like this, which are very old in human years, I try to think of what else was happening in the world at that time. In that year, the new world of the America's was just about to be cracked by europeans. A lot has changed in the world. 

After spending some time at the pagoda, we headed downtown to visit the old post office and walk around a bit. You can clearly see a lot of the old buildings from the British days still intact, though that is now changing as Myanmar opens and develops. After walking around the streets for a bit, staring upward, we visited a large modern shopping mall, looking for socks for Aya. 

That night, we again sat and watched the sunset on a beautiful day on Yangon. The next day we were off for a couple of days in Thailand and then on to Japan for the new year.