Am still catching up with some photos from last weekend’s adventures. Am sure the number of posts and photos will drop off when things become more normal. Due to the fact that “Ice World” is apparently shut until October we changed our original plans for an evening of ice and went up to Shwedagon instead. It was a lot hotter than Ice World would have been… and probably less random… but it was the perfect evening for wandering around (no rain), and it was so much nicer than visiting in the day. A lot more peaceful. I think at some point we will get a Shwedagon pass which means we will only have to pay 40p to visit as opposed to £3.
We went up there when it was still light. You can see there is a busy market on the road up to the entrance. Many people are selling offerings such as flowers and fruits, along with Buddhist icons and statues of Buddha. The tower to the far left of Shwedagon is one of the lifts (it must be the most accessible place in Yangon), the stair entrance is between the lions, and is lined with even more stalls.
As we walked around the pagoda we watched the sky change colour, and as it did Shwedagon turned increasingly golden – if that is possible. From certain points it was possible to see the diamonds and jewels that are on the top glistening and changing colour with the changes in the light.
We met a very friendly (but relatively small compared to Mel and Ant) monk called Varasami, who was far more knowledgeable than the guide we had the first time we visited, and we enjoyed wandering around with him whilst he chatted about what various things meant, what life is like for a monk in Yangon… and why monks have shaven heads! In return Ant attempted to teach him how to pronounce words beginning with “f”… a bizarre conversation where Ant probably talked about “football” more than any other occasion in his life.
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