The ship headed 45 km up the Yangon river to get to Yangon's Thilawa port. Our arrival and departure had to be carefully timed to the tides. |
Byron rolling in the kyat. The gray market exchange rate is approximately 1200 kyat (pronounced chot)/USD, and the largest bill is a 1000 kyat note. |
Botataung Pagoda in Yangon. A sacred hair of Buddha and two of his body relics are supposedly buried under the pagoda. There was a pond with turtles and lots of gold, money, neon lights and Buddha statues. |
A boy ringing a bell at the Botataung Pagoda. Photo taken by Byron. |
A large sitting Buddha at the Botataung Pagoda. |
One of many statues at the Botataung Pagoda. |
A little boy running around the Botataung Pagoda |
Inside the entrance of the Botataung Pagoda. |
Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda, home of the reclining Buddha. |
To offer some perspective and scale, I'm standing at the foot of the reclining Buddha in Yangon. There are a hundred and eight distinguishing marks on both the soles of this Buudha. They represent the three worlds, 59 indicating teh inanimate world (Okasaloka), 21 indicating the animate world (Sattaloka), and 28 indicating the world of the Conditioned (Sankharaloka). Photo taken by Byron. |
A little girl at the Kon Htat Gyi Pagoda in Yangon. Women and children wear this yellow powdery face paint called thanakha for sun protection and as a symbol of beauty, just as we wear make-up. This is often just a yellow square on each cheek, but it is sometimes more intricate. |
The streets of Mandalay, notice all the monks hanging off the bus. This is a very common sight. |
The streets of Mandalay, notice all the monks hanging off the bus. This is a very common sight. |
Byron is pressing a thin gold sheet offering onto this Buddha which has grown and changed quite a bit over the past 100 years of people adding gold sheets. This was an interesting experience because as a woman, I was not allowed to go up to this Buddha, I had to wait in the corridor. |
Boys at the Mahagandhayon Monastic Institution lining up for their one meal of the day. |
Boys at the Mahagandhayon Monastic Institution lining up for their one meal of the day. |
Monks putting on their shoes as they head outside. No shoes are allowed in the indoor area. |
Big vats of rice being served up to all of the monks. Their only food for the day is a large bowl of rice and a banana. |
After the monestary we stopped at this lake where several people were out in boats or standing in the lake fishing. You could pay to take a ride out in a boat, but we opted to walk part way across the bridge while our driver got himself some breakfast. |
This little girl was actually just posing for pictures. I fell into this tourist trap. I should have known, her face paint was much more intricate than most people's. |
A silk factory in Mandalay. |
Neon Buddha. They really make their Buddhas gaudy in Myanmar. Photo taken by Byron. |
Byron by these old pagodas that we saw on the side of the road near Mandalay. |
I have never seen an animal quite this skeletal. I should have apologized for catching him mid-tail-raise. |
These temple ruins we stopped at are not common tourist stops, so these children don't often see foreigners. They were very curious and friendly. This is possibly my favorite photo from the entire voyage. They have so little material belongings, yet they show so much joy. |
We asked our driver to take us somewhere for lunch. This may have been a mistake. The food we were served was almost inedible and the owner kept standing over us telling us to eat. Don't go to Myanmar for the food, you'll be disappointed. Photo taken by Byron. |
It's impossible to go to one of the popular pagodas without being mobbed by little kids wanting to sell you trinkets. Photo taken by Byron. |
Lots and lots of Buddhas, each with quite a bit of flare. |
The Mandalay Royal Palace. Photo taken by Byron. |
Looking out over the Mandalay Royal Palace from an observatory tower. |