On my return trip to Yangon, I went back to Shwedagon. During this visit I was approached by a Buddhist monk who wanted to show me around the Pagoda. He seemed truly interested in showing me around the pagoda – we spent an hour touring the plaza and taking photos of what he felt were the ideal photo spots (some are shown below). At the end of the tour he agreed to pose for the photo above. Then…..he said, “I have something important to ask you”. This was the pitch for a donation to a school he was hoping to start. I donated the equivalent of US$5. This was a lot of money considering the average annual per capita income in Burma is around $350.
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At the end of each day, women are given the privilege of sweeping the plaza – this is orchestrated by a leader who makes everything run with military precision making everyone line up in a perfect line.
Our hotel had an impressive view of Shwedagon Pagoda, which remains lit throughout the night.
The day in Yangon was filled with stops at the main tourist attractions. This included the reclining Buddha. This is a huge Buddha lying in a building with people praying and offering incense. The feet of the Buddha are carved with symbols depicting the wisdom of Buddha.
After a day of the tourist highlights, the next day’s primary event was an early morning boat trip up the Ayeyawaddy (elephant river) river. The river was alive with boats and people going about their daily life.
Sunrise over the Ayeyarwaddy river.
I came across this young couple at the docks while I was waiting for our boat. The woman is wearing the traditional Burmese face make-up called thanakha paste, which is a combination of moisturizer, sunscreen and perfume. It comes from the bark of a thanakha tree. Most of the women, and many men, wear this paste - sometimes it is put on very artfully with circles on their cheeks and forehead (as shown in the photo below), others times, like this women, it's just smeared on. Both she and her boy friend felt she looked quite stunningly beautiful that morning and asked to have their photo taken – they were very pleased with the photo, which was shown on the replay of my digital camera. The pen in the pocket of the man was a pen I gave to a little boy watching me take photos. The pen was quickly taken away and pocketed by the man – the boy did not object. This was just a fact of life in Burma.
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