Yangon
Yangon (or Rangoon), the capital, is a city of Buddhist
temples, open-air markets, food stalls and ill-repaired colonial
architecture. It has a population of over two million. Most of the
city has been built in the last hundred years, and although it suffered
considerable damage during World War II, there are still several
examples of a more ancient culture. These include:
 The golden Shwedragon Pagoda, one of the most spectacular
Buddhist shrines in Asia and reputedly 2500 years old (although
rebuilt in 1769).
The Sule Pagoda, also over 2000 years old.
The
Botataung Pagoda, hollow inside with a mirrored maze.
The Maha Pasan Guha or ‘Great Cave’.
Excurions
Outside the capital, places worth visiting include:
The
Naga-Yone enclosure near Myinkaba, with a Buddha figure
entwined and protected by a huge cobra – a combination of
Buddhism and Brahman astrology.
Kyaik
Tyo and its ‘Golden Rock Pagoda’, a 5.5m (18ft)
shrine built on a gold-plated boulder atop a cliff.
Pegu,
founded in 1573, with its golden Shwemawdaw Pagoda and market.
Just northeast of Pegu is the Shwethalyaung Buddha, revered
as one of the most beautiful and lifelike of reclining Buddhas,
which was lost and totally overgrown by jungle after the destruction
of Pegu in 1757. It was rediscovered in the British era, during
the construction of the railway line. |
