Hello!
This is Mark Oh, a.k.a @pandagom247, who loves travel and takes photo.
Today, I brought 10 essential Myanmar pictures, that I took during my travel. It was very hard for me to choose only 10 pictures out of thousands of fabulous moments.
Let’s rock!
Isn’t he lovely? Actually, this is my first impression when I just arrived Myanmar. Almost everyone put something on their face. It is called ‘Thanaka’ which is yellowish-white cosmetic paste made from ground bark, according to wikipedia. At first, it seems strange, but several days after, even I wanted to try. It looks fancy at some moment.
When the baby is grown up, he needs to be a monk at least once in his lifetime, mostly in their childhood. As Buddhism is not only national religion, but also their life, all men - and some women also - have responsibility to be a monk. This is called ‘Shinbyu’, referring Siddhartha’s renunciation. You can see many monks walking around with their own bowl in the morning. Giving them food is also an exotic experience.
Once you decided to travel Myanmar, you need to take a boat and a horse car, as some beautiful spots are located in the middle of lake, or dessert-like plain. Myanmar travel is literally over the mountains and across the water.
Below three pictures are 3most sacred pagodas in Myanmar. Most Burmese people desire to visit all three of them in their lifetime.
1. Shwedagon Pagoda
Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar, as it is believed to contain eight strands of hair from the Gautama Buddha.
2. Mahamuni Pagoda
According to wikipedia, there are only five likenesses of the Buddha, made during his lifetime; two were in India, two in paradise, and the fifth is the Mahamuni Buddha image in this pagoda.
3. Kyaiktiyo Pagoda
It is also know as Golden Rock, as you can see in the picture. It is very small pagoda, built on the top of the rock, covered with gold. The rock looks dangerous, but it is stay still with the help of a strand of the Buddha’s hair, according to the legend.
Not only those three pagodas, there are a number of pagodas. Actually, Myanmar is covered with hundreds and thousands of pagodas everywhere.
In Bagan, you can easily find out ancient pagodas, as here is the capital city of Pagan Kingdom from 9th to 13th century. Looking down from the top of an ancient pagoda is totally new experience, feeling ups and downs of a kingdom. In the high season, there will be an air ballon, you can ride or take pictures in the sunrise.
Traveling Myanmar is not easy. You need to get visa and get through the situation of lack of traveling information. However, it is totally worth it.
Hope you can try someday. If you need help, I will be your helper.