Burmese Days part 2

From the Aung San House, it was a short walk through some winding backstreets to Ngahtatgyi Paya, a giant seated Buddha. It's a really impressive Buddha, but not a lot of people who visit know about it.

By this time my traveling companions Xin, Helen, and I were getting hungry. We bought some vegetable samosas from a lady who was selling them on the street for k50 apiece, and ate them as we continued on our way.

While not as large as Wat Pho in Bangkok, Chaukhtgyi Paya is an impressively ornate reclining Buddha. Again, there weren't many people here. I think most people visit Yangon to see Schwedagon, and miss the other smaller temples in the area.

The ornate Buddha

We were wet and tired, and ready for a rest. After taking a taxi back to the hotel, Xin and I planned our evening. Helen was getting ready to leave for her next adventure in the north, but my Chinese friend and I decided to stick together for a while. She had not been to Schwedagon yet and my ticket was good for the entire day, so we planned to return that evening and see the famous pagoda at dusk and by night.

me with my longyi (traditional Burmese garb)

We got to the pagoda around 5:00 while it was still light. There are two small but interesting (and free) museums on the site; one is about the history of Buddhism, and the other is a collection of photographs of Shwedagon from the past to the present including photos of the jewel-encrusted crown which you can't see from the ground.

In Burmese (and Thai) culture, one's birthday is extremely important. Surrounding the main pagoda are eight stations representing the days of the week (Wednesday is split into AM and PM in Burmese tradition) and the corresponding animal according to Burmese culture. To make merit, one can light candles and incense at their respective corner and wash the Buddha image with cups of water from the fountain at the base of each statue. I was born on a Monday so my Thai color is yellow and my Burmese animal is the tiger.

Monday Buddha

As the sky grew darker, the lights went on at the golden zedi, reflecting dully at first off the golden dome. We circled the main pagoda several times, trying to see it from the best angle.

Soon, Shwedagon was glowing brilliantly under the dark sky. From what I had seen of Yangon, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that this was the best-lit place in the whole city.

Suddenly the monsoons arrived again, pouring cold rain from the dark sky. We hoped this would be a short one, as it had seemed that the heavy rains were usually over relatively quickly (whereas light rain went on for hours). Taking shelter in the covered alleys of surrounding shrines, we saw an old monk meditating. Two novices nearby said that it was alright to take his photograph and that he was the head monk and abbot of Shwedagon. He meditated every evening for four hours, from 4:00-8:00, moving amongst some of his favorite spots.

Whilst the rain was falling, we sheltered in the surrounding shrines and took in the beautiful architecture  and stunning decoration of the smaller temples. Previously we hadn't gotten a very close look at these shrines because our focus was turned to the main pagoda. The rain forced us to turn our attention to some of the lesser pagodas and temples, and the intricate architecture was quite stunning.

As the rain slacked off nearly as quickly as it had appeared, we looked down from the pagoda hill. There are four entrenches, one in each of the cardinal directions. Each one was ornate, and while all of them had a long hall of stairs leading up, only the west entrance (where most foreigners are encouraged to enter) has an escalator to the top. Looking down past the east entrance, we could see the lake we visited earlier off in the far distance,

the east enterence

Waterlogged and cold, we walked back down the quiet street to our hotel. At the front desk we asked for a recommendation for a good place to eat dinner, and the staff directed us to a place down the street called Finger's Food Garden. It was a quiet, colorful, trendy little place with wifi and English newspapers and magazines to read. After a hot bowl of Burmese dry noodles, a hot shower and a warm bed awaited me. My first full day in Myanmar had tired me out.