First of all, sorry to say that I outfoxed myself in the iPad department. Two days before my trip, I finally broke down and purchased a new pad; yes, I still had the first ever and it was time to jump higher and run faster, so to speak. However, I wasn’t thinking about the nifty new lightning connection it has instead of the old school wider attachment, which is how my photo uploader plugged in. So, when I went to upload today’s pictures, I finally had the “aha” that I needed to have before leaving. So, that’s my long way of saying: no pictures until I can hook up to a hotel computer. At any rate….
The trip here was seriously long. Spent a little less than half of each leg sleeping, or being sleepy. Arrived in Bangkok about 11 pm last night, and into my hotel room about zero dark 40. Only slept about 4 hours (going to take a couple of days to get acclimated), then up for breakfast buffet (def only enjoyed the Asian offerings), checking the dive bag and panicking for a moment that I hadn’t booked a flight from Jakarta to Bangkok on the way home. Silly girl! I printed out the wrong United confirm. That explains it.
Headed to the airport earlier than I needed to because the wifi is free there, and usually great snacks (not the same 5 items that you’ll find in every United lounge around the US). After catching up on my Words with Friends, I boarded the plane for Yangon. Finally! Flight was only and hour plus a few minutes, and found a smiling man holding a sign with my name on it. All the men and women still wear traditional longyi (long-gee), which is basically a 6 foot length of fabric that is knotted just so around the waist. Short sleeve shirts are generally worn on top, although I’ve read that there used to be a short jacket finishing the whole ensemble back in the day.
Checked in at the hotel, then out for some touring. The reclining Buddha, which is seriously about 40 feet long (great picture of a monk hoisted up by ropes to dust off his head), was magnificent.
Evidently the first one that was built about a hundred years ago was not too well received by the populace (not smiling and congenial enough to really be the enlightened one), so a new one was built. The most amazing part to me was the bottom of his feet. The symbols for everything is one there, because the Buddha knows/is everything.
And in each corner is a small shrine, where you can make an offering:
From there we head to Schwedagon Pagoda, although every time the guide said “sha-wed-a gon” it sounded like the beginning of shweddy balls (you know, the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor!). Anyway, this thing went on forever – different small structures with carved Buddhas (including the radiating neon light encircling his head to demonstrate his enlightenment), and corners that each represented a day of the week.
Small rooms and alcoves along the perimeter offer places to worship the Buddha, or just to observe his many forms:
If you were born on a Monday, you could go to the corner for Monday morning and bathe the Buddha there in water, in an effort to wash your troubles away. Here I am, washing the guinea pig, the entity for being born on Friday:
So interesting. Then there are the women who form a line, each with a handmade broom in her hand, so as they walk and sweep in a solid line, no area is left dusty or dirty.
These volunteers have to sign up about a year in advance to get a chance to do this work. The buildings of the pagoda go on and on, creating a beautiful skyline; some built and dedicated by Burmese Kings from hundreds of years ago. A few filled with ornately carved 24-ton bells. And as we depart, a statue of the Buddha under a fig tree, where, legend has it, he sat for 3 years and achieved enlightenment:
From there, we head over to little China, and wander in the dusk through stalls of every kind of vegetable and fruit you can imagine, including avocados about as big as a baby’s head; inconceivable! We even walk down 19th street, which is also referred to as “barbecue”” street. They have everything you can think of threaded on skewers and cooked or cooking (including okay!). Definitely going to drag Valerie back to try out a couple of spots. A woman walked by carrying a wok-like bowl filled with fried goodies, and even a small pot of oil frying up tofu triangles underneath. I wanted to know what everything was, and ended up with a sampler bag. yum! Let’s hope I don’t regret the decision. I’m just tired of hearing how great Asian street food is and always being too scared to try (although I did take my probiotic the minute I got back to the hotel). Lots of photos here:
So much going on and so many good smells, but I’m feeling kind of like I’m sleeping on my feet. When the driver finally takes me back to the hotel (with the news I have to be ready to go tomorrow morning at 5 am!), I have to nibble some chocolate to raise the energy to get everything put away (not the least of which is a wad of kyot about 5 inches thick – and I’m not exaggerating here). Even with mostly 1000 notes (about$3.75), changing $400 created an almost unmanageable stack. Finally, something to use rubber bands for! No ATMs anywhere and the exchange rate gets worse the further you get away from the capital. Soooo, I changed everything I thought I’d need for the 10 days here right when I meet my guide (at his suggestion).