burma: shwedagon pagoda

we stayed only a few minutes away from yangon's treasure: the shwedagon pagoda.

gold, gold, gold.
more gold than i've ever seen at any temple in asia.

this buddhist pagoda is believed to be 2,600 years old, making it the oldest pagoda in burma and in the world. it's the most impressive temple i've seen before. the gold and detail of each stupa is incredible.

take your shoes off when you enter, but don't be surprised to find your feet black from dirt when you leave.

we silently observed the worshipers. i'd read a lot about this pagoda, and watched a documentary explaining the rites and significance of many things we saw.

whatever your age, pour that number of cups of holy water over the buddha. nate was standing by when a little lady offered him a cup, so he joined right in.

the day we visited happened to be an exciting day. men carried boys dressed in gold-adorned ceremonial clothing on their shoulders, shaded by fancy umbrellas. families trailed behind, and it was like a big parade at the temple. i tried to decipher what was going on, but i only managed to get something about how the boys were parading to the monastery.



i loved watching the familial interactions, and as i snapped photo after photo...and look! oh that baby is so cute...i realized that i was now one of those tourists. the ones who snap photo after photo of my caucasian child. the ones who i want to ask, "really? what exactly are you going to do with a photo of some random white toddler?" but i couldn't help myself. these people were beautiful, intriguing, and quite eager to have their picture taken. i think they thought i was a journalist or something.

this family was having formal photos taken, and i stood behind and watched. the photographer saw the camera in my hands, stepped out of the way, and said, "now you." 

we liked this guy's version of worshiping...

the huge, ornate staircases going down from the main temple area almost as impressive as the temple itself, and filled with trinkets of course.

and by night.

burma: the city

burma, myanmar, whatever you want to call it...has fascinated us for awhile. 

up until a few years ago, the country was ruled by a military junta with absolute power, and they committed some pretty serious human rights crimes (they also renamed the country myanmar).

the beauty of burma is that it is still untouched by the western world in many places.
it's a third world country that has been closed to the world for many years. there is no mcdonald's, no starbucks, no kfc.
my mom stayed with sage so we could go on our first adventure without her. burma was not a place i was willing to bring our girl. we had planned to travel north where the country is truly untouched, but time only allowed for us to stay in yangon.
 i have to come back someday to do this.

never have i seen such poverty at the foot of a beautiful building, or across from a fenced-in mansion. the british influence is still very apparent in the architecture of the yangon buildings.
yet, never have i met such happy people. from our research, and from our conversations with local burmese, i know that many people are hurting under the current government. but, you wouldn't know it by their smiles...the father teaching the son to grind sugar cane on the sidewalk, the little boy in star pajamas holding his mom's hand, the teenager using a bucket of dirty water to shower outside of a shack.
i love that traveling lends a peek into another world.

we knew burma would be hot, but it was HOT. about 100 degrees F hot. it didn't feel as humid as singapore, but the heat, dust, and dirt were overwhelming sometimes.
we stayed at a cute, overpriced hotel called the savoy. and besides our fascination with all things burma, this getaway was about being together.
it was a dream to lay by the pool and read, to take a dip when it got too hot.

this is all too common: huge, gaping holes in the sidewalk. well, everywhere actually. watch where you step.

don't eat the street food.

we decided to walk 25 minutes from our hotel to an art exhibition, but it was so hot, we had to stop in a little grocery store for some air con. this was the "deli" area. appetizing, no?

see the whitish coating on the woman's cheeks? that's thanaka--the beauty secret of myanmar. women rub the organic paste on their cheeks and face daily to block the sun, cool the skin, and control oiliness.

our singaporean friend curated an art exhibition at the institut francais, so we went to check it out in the heat of the day. the burmese artist, NCS, paints on old photographs. his pieces have lots of hidden meaning, and speak to myanmar's rocky past and present.

cars have suddenly swarmed yangon in the past few years since the restriction on vehicles has been lifted. this means lots of traffic jams!

i was cracking up at this guy. the bus's brakes must have been faulty, because every time it would stop, this guy would jump out and put a wooden block behind the wheel. the traffic's moving again? hurry, pick it up and hop back on that bus!

we ate at monsoon twice. it's the most delicious menu of laotion, cambodian, vietnamese, thai, and burmese cuisine.

on top of monsoon is an artisan giftshop. all the proceeds go to charity. i could've bought the whole store! i was trying to convince nate that sage needs that huge purple-spotted giraffe in her future room.

be careful...don't let your goods drop in the sewage below, or pray that concrete doesn't crumble beneath your stool.

we shopped at the big market. burma is famous for their lacquer ware. nate was pretty proud of the lacquer toothpick holder and rose wood cooking spoon he picked out.

and then we were hot and delirious. it was a gift to happen upon a taxi with air con.

the definition of juxtaposition.