Yangon- Myanmar

We are in Yangon, the capital of Myanmar and a population of 5.2 million. It has a totally different 'feel' of a city compared to both Mandalay and Bagan. It's definitely more cosmopolitan but it is still rich in old customs. One of the practices is releasing 'free' birds:

                                 

There are vendors who have birds for sale for 1,000 Kyats (about $1) and as a buddhist custom, you can 'free' the bird as a good omen and fortune. We've seen in other places where you could 'free' fish, birds, etc as buddhists love all things living.

Also, we found a lot of people in this city wearing the thanaka powder in daily life, actually more so than other parts of the country:

As well, when we've visited the pagodas here in Yangon, the prayers and meditation that we've seen people engage in is quite extraordinary:

There is a huge temple complex in Yangon called the Shwedagon Pagoda and there are hundreds of shrines and stupas; it's Yangon’s most famous landmark:

The massive 99 meter high gold plated pagoda in the middle has a diamond studded spire (actually 4531 diamonds; the largest of which is a 72 carat diamond) set on top:

Built over 2500 years ago and many shrines added throughout the years, it's also Myanmar’s most important Buddhist pilgrimage site. At night, it's lit up with spotlights and can be seen around the city.

According to their ancient history, in 588 BC, 8 strands of Buddha's hair were given to two merchants as blessings and they were enshrined with relics from two other buddhas. There is also a shrine with Buddha's sacred tooth relic (like Sri Lanka) which is revered here. 

It's been estimated that the umbrella atop the Shwedagon Pagoda is worth nearly US$3 billion. Its main stupa alone is plated with nearly 22,000 solid gold bars, and estimates of the pagoda’s total gold range from 9 to 60 tonnes. Its main spire boasts 2300 rubies, sapphires, and other gems, and 4000 golden bells. And none of this includes the gold, jewels, and 21st-century LED displays that swirl around many of the Buddhas and hundreds of other buildings on the pagoda platform:

It's said that the Pagoda complex has more gold than all the vaults in England and it absolutely dazzles your eyes and imagination in having so much gold in a religious complex like this.

We also visited the home of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar's current Prime Minister elect (April 2016) who was under house arrest for 15 of the last 20 odd years:

                                

She was elected in 1990 as the Prime Minister of Burma but the governing military, since 1962, did not let her political party, the National League for Democracy join the government. After elections in Burma in 2010, she was released from house arrest in November 2010 but she was not allowed to take part in the 2010 election as the government banned anyone who had been arrested. That is why she has the title of Prime Minister elect.

There is a President for Myanmar and theoretically he is to institute the direction and strategy of "Mother Suu" as affectionately known by her people. There is mixed reviews, however, on how autonomous she can be and the recent 'agreements' with the military is raising some eyebrows internationally.

Next up- Vietnam