Yangon’s Shwedagon Paya

Jaime — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:39:13 +0000

Rising 326 feet above Yangon’s skyline, the Shwedagon Paya is Myanmar’s premier Buddhist site. Erected (supposedly) 2500 years ago, this compound is made up of a main stupa and 82 other buildings – most guided in gold.

Originally standing just 66 feet high, the main stupa has been guilded, rebuilt, and tweaked to reach it’s current height and gold content. Successive monarchs pledged their weight (and in one case four times their weight) in gold leaf and as it sits today, it’s said to have accumulated 53 metric tons of it.

What does all this gold do? Make for a super shiny experience, for one. You’ll be hard pressed to find somewhere that doesn’t glisten blindingly once you’re in the compound. It’s also an active religious site, which adds to the splendor. Monks and nuns are splayed around the stupa. Butter lamps are being lit, Buddha washing is taking place and the place is surprisingly devoid of huge tourist groups.

We went there around 4:00pm, with is the best time to capture the light off the golden buildings. The entrance fee was US $5. Be sure to take your shoes off before you enter the entrance hallway. We forgot and were greeted by a frantic monk waving at our feet. There’s nothing quite as embarrassing as exciting a monk with your ignorance.

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Yangon Street BBQ

Martin — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 07:31:31 +0000

Street food! Have we proclaimed our love for South-East Asian street cuisine enough on this site? I think not! The latest installment of our ongoing round-the-world street food sampling circus took us to Yangon’s Chinatown, where smoking barbeque stalls serve up scrumptious skewers with any and every protein and carb you can think of (and then some).

We found the char-grilled Okra to be fantastic, the chicken to be righteous and tender, the tofu to be seasoned just right and the pork to be the perfect accompaniment to a cold, foaming beer. We felt it was wise to opt out of the pig tail skewer and the mystery ground meat skewer.

Where: 19th and Mahabandoola Streets, Yangon, Myanmar.

Price: priceless, but we paid nine dollars (including four large beers).

When: any time we’re in Yangon from now on.

Come hungry.

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Yangon’s Shwedagon Paya

Yangon Street BBQ