Kelly and Quang's Global Roam

We tried to get up early this morning, our first full day in Yangon, but it just didn`t happen. Despite our two months in Southeast Asia, we still haven`t gotten used to getting up when the locals do. At 6 a.m. the streets are usually active. Everyone is up to beat the heat of the day.

We dragged our heads up off our pillows at 8 a.m., turned on the shower, and turned on the TV. Yesterday, when we arrived at our hotel, we were surprised to find the staff lounging about the lobby watching Sylvester Stalone's Cobra on TV. We were even more surprised when we got to our room and found the only other channel the hotel recieved was MTV Asia. Kelly Clarkson was belting out "Since You've Been Gone." This morning, as we showered and got dressed for the day, the Black Eyed Peas were hopping about performing "Pump It". So much for America's trade sanctions against Myanmar, we thought. What good does it do anyone, we wondered, to prohibit economic exchanges with Myanmar, especially if our culture can still worm its way in?

After a breakfast that included instant coffee (a fond reminder of our Nescafe days), we hit the streets. We had a general walking tour planned that would take us along city blocks of British colonial buildings, the downtown area, China town and a busy market. Yet instead of really taking in big sights, we were busy soaking up the atmosphere.

It was steamy and it became quickly apparent that we were in a poor country. The sidewalks were crowded,the path largely uneven. There were gaping holes in the middle of downtown walkways. Sometimes the sidewalks were just dirt. The busses were ancient, bicycles were pleanty, and an fleet of peddle-pushed trickshaw taxis were carting people about. And everywhere we walked, people outright stared at me. Children actually stopped midstride to look. It was slightly unsettling to realize that my skin, my hair, and my clothes (basically my everything) were such a novelty.

"I'm glad we went to Vietnam before here," I leaned over and said to Quang. "If we'd've come here first, I think the stares would've freaked me out."

He nodded. "Yeah, I was just thinking, this is like the only time I wish you were Asian."

Eventually, we made our way to Yangon's central train station where we passed a confusing 30 minutes trying to figure out schedules and routes. Considering the fact that we can't even begin to read Burmese, our language barrier was high. We did find a couple of English speaking ticket sellers, but their accents were thick and their grammar was poor. We managed to gain a marginal understanding of our options. But we weren't sure about taking the train. Since it's government owned, the cost of our ticket would line the military junta's pockets. Plus, we had heard it was a long and unsteady ride to any stop. Instead of making any travel decisions, we hailed a cab to Yangon's number one destination - the Shwedagon Paya.

Our guidebook compares Shwedagon Paya to the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower - an icon that symbolizes an entire city. Really, it's a religious site. The Shwedagon Paya is a Buddhist temple, a most sacred of spots in Myanmar, which is 87 percent Buddhist and takes its faith very seriously.

Shwedagon Paya's most obvious structure is a gold, Hershey's-kiss shaped tower. This bell-like structure is called a "zedi" and it is covered in real gold-leaf. At it's tip, it is covered in gold plates. Stuck in the tip is an umbrella-type hat called a "hti". This hti is dipped in gold. Various gold and silver bells hang from the hti, as well as jewels (as in 1,100 diamonds). In the middle of the hti is an orb studded with 4,351 diamonds. As if that weren't enough glitter, the upper most point of the hti carries a 76-carat diamond. This is one decked out dome! In fact, the amount of jewellery on this single tower seemed nearly obscene when we considered the poverty we'd walked though a few hours earlier. A stroll through the Vatican, however, could produce similar thoughts about the distribution of wealth.

According to legend, this gleaming gold bell stands on top of eight strands of hairs plucked from the head of Siddhartha just a short while after he'd reached enlightenment and become a Buddha. While the bell does stand center stage at Shwedagon Paya, it is not the only structure there. All the way around, the central tower is surrounded by smaller pagodas filled with images of the Buddha. And all the way around this ring of smaller pagodas, are more temples and prayer pavilions.


Many of the outer structures are covered in mirrored mosaics. Bodhi trees (the tree under which Siddhartha gained enlightenment) provide shade against the stong sun. And the entire place is busy with people - people walking, people resting, people praying. We made it half way around before we needed to seek shade. As we sat and took in the gold, the glitter, the bright colors and the people all about us, Quang said, "This doesn't feel holy. This feels like Disney Land."

Disney Land-ish or not, Shwedagon Paya is still a religious site. As it has been at all the other Buddhist temples we've toured in Asia, we had to leave our shoes at the door. After more than an hour hiking it about the temple complex in bare feet (which is all outdoors), we were both more than a little disgusted with our feet.