Mar 15, 2015
I went to the Shwedagon Pagoda during the middle of the day after visiting the Reclining Buddha. Philip had already seen it so he stayed outside while I went to have a look. I ended up entering through the side with the escalators. Thank goodness because there were a lot of stairs and normally I don’t mind but I had walked a lot that day and it was really hot. I noticed that a lot of the locals were hesitant to get on the escalators. It looked like they had never been on one before. It reminded me of the scene from Elf where Buddy tries to get on the escalators for the first time. I found this amusing so I sat down and people watched for a bit.
It cost $5 to enter and you have to take your shoes off. The tiles were burning hot! It was like playing hopscotch trying to get to the shaded areas. Once I found a place to settle for a bit, I was able to take it all in. There were a bunch of people just hanging out and chillin.
The Shwe Dagon Pagoda is one of the most famous pagodas and the main reason why people visit Yangon. At least that was one of the main reasons. The other reason was to see my friend, Chase. The Shwe Dagon is referred to in Myanmar as "The crown of Burma" and is said to contain eight hairs of the Buddha.
There was a group of female nuns sitting under one of the stupas (?) and singing/chanting. I sat down nearby and listened for a bit. It was really peaceful just sitting and listening.
I felt bad leaving Philip outside so I tried to hurry it up. When I got back to the front of the escalators, all I saw was a group of locals leaving the spot that Philip was sitting in. He later told me that they had wanted a photo with a foreigner. haha oh Philip!
