Saturday 5 May 2012

Yangon redux!

Six years ago, if someone had told me that I would be granted another go at exploring one of the more awe-inspiring places I've ever stumbled upon, I would have been rather sceptical. Not least because the place in question is Yangon's immense Shwedagon Pagoda. Not exactly your average frequent seismic destination.


Of that first visit, a shamefully hurried and brief affair, I don't really remember a whole lot. (On top of that, what few photos I have seem mostly kinda blurry :(.) But the highlights that persisted compelled me to make amends when on this latest crew change I got the better part of a day in town and on top of that got put up in a hotel quite close to the pagoda!

Somehow the city seemed a lot less forbidding this time around. I suppose daylight might have had something to do with it. And the map that we'd armed ourselves with :). As for the pagoda, we decided on a proper look around, guide and everything!



All things considered, it was a day well spent :). Memory can be a fickle thing, but the splendour I remember was in no way an exaggeration of reality! If anything, I think last time I'd not quite grasped the sheer number of spires and halls surrounding the main pagoda. Not to mention the Buddha statues :).


But that was a week ago, and it already feels like a lot longer :(. The trip so far has been, shall we say, on the rather insane side of busy. We've left Myanmar waters a long way behind and are closing in on Singapore, and yet another docking. I figured I'd put this one up before the boat goes high and dry and life gets really hectic :|.


Currently: trying hard to find things to look forward to in the immediate future
Listening to: Chicane - MoJavé

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