mandalay hill

after a day of exploring the markets and inner city of mandalay

we hired a cab to see some of the outer city cites.

the driver took us to a couple magnificent 

temples and payas

before heading to mandalay hill,

something we had been looking forward to before we even left the states.

two giant lion statues guard the entrance 

to the 790 foot hill.

we climbed stairs for half an hour,

stopping to gaze at the many Buddha statues

and trinket shops along the way.

at the top we spend a while taking in the view of mandalay

and it's surrounding mountain ranges. 

it was absolutely breathtaking.

about an hour before sunset we got back into the cab

and headed for the city of amarapura,

home of U Bein Bridge,

the longest teak bridge in the world...

-e

temple kitties

lions guarding mandalay hill

half an hour of stairs. it was a nice workout...

a view of mandalay. so many golden payas covering the landscape

souvenir shops along the way

steven taking in the views

me at the top. a little over heated but so happy

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...

nara- koen

yesterday we spent a day

sightseeing with our friends in nara.

we focused on nara-koen,

an amazing park that is home 

to about 1200 deer who just roam free,

eating grass and attacking tourist who

buy "deer biscuits". 

i literally had two separate deer bite me,

once on the butt and another

on my leg
 putting a small snag in the 

fabric of my only skirt...

to escape the deer attacks

we visited some of the many shrines, 

temples, and gardens that are encompassed

in this great park.

a highlight was seeing the Great Buddha statue (Daibutsu)

which is housed on the worlds largest wooden structure

Todai-ji. 

these pictures don't do it justice...

-e

southern higashiyama

we spend a day seeing the many sights

in southerner higashiyama,

a district in kyoto that holds the geisha neighborhood.

we saw more shrines, temples, and gardens

then we ever thought possible in one day.

each more beautiful and 

extravagant than the next...

-e