Bago, Myanmar

Last trip of the two-year adventure:  Bago

Since this was over a month ago, I will make the entry short and rather than words, it will be a pictorial.  Jody, Courtney and I hired a taxi driver to take up a couple hours down the road to tour Bago.  The idea was to have the driver stop wherever we wanted if we saw a good scene to capture. Our main destination was to visit the snake temple.  Here is what a website has to say about it:

“Dubbed the Snake Monastery, the source of its name soon becomes apparent once visitors enter the shrine dedicated to the serpent that lives within. Slithering free in a large chamber that contains both Buddhist statues and visiting devotees is an exceedingly large Burmese python.

Thought to be the reincarnation of a former abbot, the snake is reputed to be over a century old. It was last measured at just over five meters in length and easily is as thick as an average human thigh. Should the snake need to be moved, it takes at least five monks to transport the serpent.

Given its status as a former monk, the python is often left offerings by pilgrims who come by the monastery, the offerings frequently being  financial support or food. It is possible for foreigners to come close enough to touch the python, though some may settle for the safe but no less impressive option of watching it get fed, which usually involves the snake swallowing a hapless chicken whole.” 

We did get to see the snake along with the many locals who had come on a pilgrimage, but we did not see it feed (thanks goodness) nor did we try to touch it. We ate some interesting fruits thanks to our driver and then headed home.

            We passed a grave yard.  I am still in love with the Burmese script.

 Bamboo is used for so many things.  I bought some vases because it even holds water.  Wish I could have brought home the lounge chairs they make.

 Just another day in the office.

 Small streams scatter the landscape.  This is a bridge one family has to take to their home.

 So glad I was not invited over. :)

 Entrance to a monastary.

 The roots of a big teak tree

 Thatched roof with a twinge of Texas.

 We had to go through a dump to get to the monastery. It is so sad that rather than having a system for waste they tend to just move it from one place to another.  No judgment- i remember when I was young my dad would stop at a light and dump his ashtray. It took a whole generation, a huge media campaign, and Earth Day for us to just say no to littering.

 The snake aka Monk.  So glad I did not see this meal go down. Obviously, he had eaten.

 Up close and personal

 Donations for a blessing

 Another cool mode of transportation

 Mangosteen fruit. Not a fan.

 I forgot what this was- although messy, it was tasty.

 I think this is a hindu temple. very colorful.

 My obsession with doors.

 This is a tree I will miss most of all- When grouped together in a mountain it makes it look like the landscape is on fire.

That's all for now.  I have many notes from which to draw my last Myanmar entry, but I am still "unpacking" the experience and my suitcases. :