LIfe is What Happens on the Way to Shwedagon Paya

We hit a few detours on our way to the Sweddengon Pagoda, the most famous site in Myanmar and the second most important religious pilgrimage in Buddhism.  On our way, we stumbled into another pagoda, magnificently adorned with mirrored mosaics and thousands of mini-buddhas lining the walls.  It was clearly a place of local worship with several locals praying inside. The sounds were beautiful between the conversations, chanting, prayers and sing songs.  We spent some time in silence in the temple and it radiated with devotion and compassion.  There was a lot of heart held in this temple.  I felt lucky that we decided to wander in.

Outside, there was a monk stoking a small fire.  Curious, I squatted near him to watch what seemed to be a spiritual practice.  Another monk joined him and smiled at me.  He held a pot in his hands that was surely part of this practice.  I couldn’t wait to see what magic was about to unfold.  With smiles a hand gestures, I convinced him to show me the inside of this enchanting mystery of the pot.  He opened the lid and showed me the rice inside.  They were cooking lunch.  They must have thought I was the strangest tourist ever.

We left the pagoda and decided we needed a rest at a tea house.  Again, we were entertainment for the locals.  As we sat down, we were surrounded by no less than six boys aged 9-15.  They all worked in the tea house and they swarmed us, eager to help and curious about us.  We drank tea and laughed with them, letting them look at our cameras and take pictures.  The Burmese are overall delightful people and with generous smiles.

We eventually continued the walk to Sweddengon.  The road was lined with decrepit colonial mansions.  Buildings that in their prime were stunning, but have succomb to the jungle and to squatters finding shelter. 

As we came into our final approach to Sweddengon, we stopped to chat with the nicest man who spoke reasonable english and told us our futures and personalities, based on numerology.  Rhonda was especially lucky because her birthday was close to Angelina Jolie’s, the fortune teller’s favorite actress.  He was 70ish years old and even acted out parts of the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith for us.  He then showed us the numerology for Angelina Jolie and Hilary Clinton.  This was definitely one of our better stops.