Mount Kyaiktiyo, Myanmar

We're on our way to Mount Kyaiktiyo to see the Golden Rock.

There is no such thing as a 'full' bus.  One more can always squeeze on!

Our hotel complex is beautiful, the kind of place you want to stay at for a while, but being the athlete I am - ha! decided to walk up to the Golden Rock, rather than take the 45 minute taxi.  The path is mostly up with many steps and shops along the way.  It's hard to imagine living on the mountain with no electricity although some places have generators.  Most supply drinks and food - lots of  toy guns too!  The people also live in their shop.

Straight ahead is the shop and to the right is the home-

The path-

The valley views are beautiful-

The route is 7 miles long and it took 3 hours.  Unfortunately when we got there in the dark at 6:10, the last taxi back to the village had left.  So, we had no choice but to get a hotel room and stay overnight.

I am hot, dripping sweat and exhausted in front of, at least, a photo of the rock!

Looking forward to seeing the rock at sunrise tomorrow!

Yangon, Myanmar

Yangon is a nice city but there are no motorcycles!  That is strange for Myanmar.  Apparently a government official was in an accident with or because of one so they are banned.  It must make it difficult for the locals because they are a cheap and efficient way to get around, however, there are many inexpensive taxis so it's very easy to get around.  There are still some colonial buildings from the time of the British occupation and the streets are very wide.  There are also many green spaces.  Drivers are very patient, in spite of the constant traffic jams - very few horns honking.  The most annoying thing are the mega speakers attached to power poles, sides of buildings and sometimes mounted on tops of cars, blasting out music or propaganda.

Lunch was a delicious chicken biryani.  The spices are so good!

This is the Shwedagon Paya. 

Its dome measures 322 feet high and the current stupa, also known as a zedi, was built in 1769.  The platform covers 12 acres and there are 68 smaller stupas - 4 at the cardinal points, 4 more at the corners, and 60 forming 'walls'.  

There are 16 flowers on the bell and an inverted bowl on top, as well as lotus petals, a banana bud and finally the hti.  There are 13,153 one foot square gold plates - gold plates, not gold leaf, on the banana bud.  On the top vane, there are 278 carats of diamonds and 1383 other stones.  On the top orb, there are 1860 carats of diamonds and on the very top, one single 76 carat diamond.  Unfortunately the stupa was covered in scaffolding so I couldn't see all the gems. 

There are four worship spots like this at the cardinal points.  There are flashing lights around Buddha which made it look sort of tacky-

Monks -

Buddha's tooth relic replica-

More Buddhas and other statues-

Sein Ma Pu prayer Hall was originally built in 1894 and renovated in 2011.  They were chanting, singing and praying- 

Because I was born on a Tuesday, if I were a Buddhist, I would come to pray at the Tuesday Corner.  Notice the rented longyi - shorts are not allowed-

Neither for men!

Tonight it's back to the 50th Street Bar and Grill to watch football, well not real football, it's actually soccer.  I'm only going for the bourbon and burger although the chicken wings, calamari and green papaya salad were also delicious!

Yangon, Myanmar

Breakfast was interesting with lots of fruit, toast, fried eggs and 3 different rice concoctions with coconut and sesame!

We're on our way to Yangon which means "end of strife".  After the British victory in 1852, they changed its name to Rangoon but the Burmese know it as Yangon.

Along the way-

Highway workers-  heating the tar-

and workers - I love the hats!  Everything is done manually!  They work hard!

It's harvest time.  Here's rice drying along the road-

Lunch was sweet and sour eel!  It was delicious!

Typical transportation, baby and all!

We spent the evening at the 50th Street Bar and Grill, watching rugby and playing pool!  I had the best burger ever!  Finally!  

Here's Jill, Matt and Brenda-

Pool shark Adam!

Tomorrow it's the Shwedagon Paya!  Buddhist's Mecca!

Taungoo, Myanmar

Today was a driving day from Inle Lake to Taungoo as we make our way to Yangon.

All of a sudden, chilis are everywhere!  You can smell them as you drive by-

Cotton-

Lunch was corn fritters and a black bean/rice combination that tasted really good!

Along the way-

Looking forward to Yangon!

Inle Lake, Myanmar

Today was the most amazing day!

The river connects Inle Lake to Nyaung-shwe.  Inle Lake is 13.5 miles long and 7 miles wide.  

Boats waiting for customers-

Homes on stilts and a woman doing her washng-

The fishermen have a paddle wrapped around one leg which allows them to manoeuvre their boat while fishing-

This is a working river and lake so there is a lot of traffic.  They fransport everything!

Tomatoes-

Barrels of ....

Boxes of .....

and even a live pig-

We went to a silver workshop.  This is silver ore-

It's chemically separated, then heated to produce-

The silver strips are rolled to make a bangle-

Passing through a village-

   

A home made with mats of woven bamboo that even has satellite tv-

Souvenirs at a market-

Lacquer ware-

Pails of lacquer-

Betel making-

There are a lot of betel chewers and this is what the ground looks like from all their spitting!

Fibres from the lotus plant are used in weaving.  A small scarf costs $75!

We went to a knife making workshop.  Two men used sledge hammers to shape the hot blade-

A boat takes a month to make and sells for $2500.  They're made from teak wood-

Floating gardens of the Inthe tribe-

Cigar making-

Today was a fantastic day!  The weather was great and the sights were amazing!