RANGOON 29th / 30th January 2015

After Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lkaehere we are in Rangoon / Yangon with it's 2millions habitants, it's not the best place, that we have visited in Myanmar ; it stinks, is littered with rubbish and rats run along the streets in profusion. Our guesthouse "Chang Maye" is right in the center of the old town and is very clean and well kept, good value for money. We visited  "Shwe Dagon Pagoda" and stayed many hours it is so beautiful. 

SHWE DAGON quiet and beautiful, was built around 8 of  Buddha's hairs  in 300 BC 

Bouddha s'est installé quelques années sous un arbre "pippâl" (aujourd’hui appelé "ficus religiosa") en Inde. C'est une pousse de cet arbre qui a été planté à Rangoon .
After leaving the palace Buddah travelled for many years and also sat meditating for 6 years under a sacred fig tree,  where he gained enlightenment. 

This bell was taken from a temple by English during the Colonial days to make their canons but it fell into the river and they couldn't get it out so they just left it there. The Burman people used many bamboo canes and managed to raise it out off the water and set it back in its place to Shwe-Dogon

Julie touching the knees of the gardians, in the legend your knees will be healed thanks to this...

A washing ceremony , it is a privilege to wash in this temple

A reclining Bouddah where Obasa gave us our first lesson in meditation. 

  At the end of the day some people volunteer to clean the temple floors, this is looked on as a privilege.   

Meeting with Obasa a Monk and also a teacher at one of the monasteries in Yangon.  He  made our vist a great one , he stayed with us some hours to explain about  the Pagoda and Buddhism . 

The boudhisme calendar has 8 days (Wednesday morning and afternoon is 2 days because it was Buddha 's birth day. 
I pour some water on Saturday's statue , one glass for every year . 
Julie is born on a Wednesday  afternoon and it is highly recommended for someone born on this day to be with a someone born on a Saturday ...youpi 

 After the sunset everything is quiet at Shwe Dagon but outside it's the noisy big city !

A typical street , jam packed with satellite dishes. The next picture is of a reunion for flee picking by local ladies. 

 We want to a local market and all the people wanted to serve us, they are so kind. And when they don't have what we need they run all over the market to all the other stalls to find what we want. 

There is also a catholique church and  not just pagodas in Yangon.
It looks to me like "Notre Dame de Paris" 

Sunset near the river was also quiet

A spectacle of seagulls flying down to the quay to catch the food that people throw at them.  

Local men empty the boats of their cargo , in this case 30kg bags of rice and some of them carry 2 at a time. 

And of course sunset with Ju outlined by the sun.  

 In the centre of Rangon there is a temple called Sule and there is a park and this rather impressive building near it. 
At 6 o'clock the park gates are shut.