From the green and peace of Yangon's gardens to the glitter and crowds of Shwedagon Pagoda

My final non-touristy visit in Yangon was to the public gardens for some peace and serenity after the chaos in the centre of town. At the gates it was the usual system: free for the locals and a $2 entry fee for foreigners. I wonder if we'll ever be sensible enough to implement this discrimination at home for our world famous museums and galleries and parks? It might help our debt crisis.h

But the gardens were lovely, green and well tended and above all peaceful.

 

And with the inevitable shrines to Buddha in the middle:

 

A delightful way to end a day before tackling the crowds at Shwedagon Pagoda the next morning:

Shwedagon Pagoda: It is magnificent, it is impressive, it is glittery and it is packed! And like all pagodas, wats, temples, and stupas in this country you have to take off your shoes and walk round barefoot. I accept that there are plenty of volunteers sweeping all the time but you still end up with permanently dirty feet, a situation to which I have still not adjusted and neither have my feet.

A few photos below, but you really need a coffee table style book to fully appreciate the sheer vastness of the whole thing.

And among it all:

 

And you really do need a fair amount of cash here as there are a never ending stream of donation boxes. Every shrine that you visit should end with a donation and believe me there are shrines as far as the eye can see, including ones dedicated to days of the week as the Burmese/Buddhist system is that your birthday is celebrated on the day of the week of your birth, either morning or afternoon. So with me being a Monday girl (girl? heavens, that was a few years ago!) I made a beeline for the Monday morning shrine, as did vast numbers of other people, and it transpires that I am a Tiger, thanks to the Monday label. I still haven't worked out if you get 52 birthdays a year? It's unlikely as that sounds a distinctly un-Buddhist way to carry on.

So, farewell to Yangon, and onwards on my travels.  Next stop: Golden Rock, so see you there.