shwedagon paya

our second day in myanmar we ventured north to

see the magnificent shwedagon paya.

we had spotted the top of it around town 

as it reaches 325 feet into the sky

(in a city where the majority of buildings

are no more than four stories tall,

it's easy to see the shwedagon from almost everywhere).

we were not prepared for

the extravagance that we would see here.

the grounds are enormous:

housing hundreds of little pagodas and

Buddha monuments.

steven and i were two of maybe 5 white tourists present.

mostly there were monks walking around with burmese families,

bowing and praying for blessings upon their family.

everything was covered in gold paint.

the only structure actually covered in real gold is the main shwedagon paya.

it was one of the most stunning and incredible sights we 

saw in myanmar,

but it wouldn't be the last...

-e

we entered through the western gate where there was a long hallway with these beautiful pillars and then several flights of stairs to climb in order to approach the shwedagon paya

the view form the top of the stairs. many small payas. each representing a day of the week. Buddhist pray and ask for blessing from the paya that corresponds with the day of the week they were born on.

some of the structures were covered in glass murals

a burmese man took this picture. he said he loves photography but cant afford a camera. so the credit for this great shot goes to him.

every Buddha had one of these light shows behind it. pretty interesting

renovations

chipping gold paint

we walked by these monks about seven times before we had the courage to ask if we could take their picture

they spoke no english but were very kind and wanted a picture with me as well. i can only dream of looking as cool as they do...

sights of yangon

after three whirlwind days in bangkok

(finding out our money had been stolen, deciding to come home, getting a shock and surprise from our family and friends, and applying for visas)

we were finally on a plane to yangon 

and we could not believe it.

neither of us had any idea of what we'd find in myanmar.

sure, we had bought the lonely planet guide book 

(along with every other person on our plane ride over)

and we'd read all about the country's

ups and downs in the news,

but in reality,

we were going in blind.

which was a large part of the excitement.

tourism,

in mass numbers,

is still a very new thing in myanmar.

from the moment we stepped off the plane until

the moment we left the country

people stared at us and watched our every move.

children waved at us and giggled as if they'd just seen a movie star.

everyone smiled at us and would yell "hello" as we walked past.

every time we ate out our waiter would stand next to our table, 

trying disparately to practice his or her english and

ask us clarifying questions about american slang.

we met some of the most wonderful and beautiful people this way

and had some great laughs.

yangon was a shocking city.

here we saw the most stunning sights we'd ever seen before.

huge pagodas covered in gold and "gold".

millions of people going about their everyday lives

in a city that is rapidly changing in front of their eyes.

new buildings being built while others rot away.

thousands of monks going about their everyday lives in the city.

we also saw a lot of filth, trash, and poverty.

it was shocking as a westerner because

there was no hiding it,

no indication that anyone cared about the problem

or even saw it as a problem.

we never got used to living among

the trash and mindset of the people of yangon,

i don't think we every would have.

it was an eye opening an shocking city,

both outrageously beautiful and devastating...

-e

our first glimpse of myanmar from the plane. stunning

thank you coca- cola. you're pretty much all i drank while in this country...

beautiful buildings rotting away

nearly every truck and bus was a hino, which is the same type of truck my father owns. it was a sentimental couple weeks...

the streets were overrun with stray dogs. most of them skin and bones, or pregnant.

the markets were plentiful 

many streets are closed off to the public

asia has the cutest little cars

roosters and chickens everywhere

you can't just drink coke out of the can, or even in just a regular glass. wine glasses only...