Foot and Fire

It took me a year to prepare for my summer vacation with seven other friends at this remote culture-rich ancient country. I have nothing but search engines, and backpacker's hotel are hard to find because Yangon is surrounded by five-star hotels which maintain topnotch websites. Hmmm, is this a remote country? I suspect that it is not. As months went by, when the Mayanmarese leader forged an agreement with our president to make the travel among Filipinos in Myanmar visa-free, I was elated; I saved some dollar notes and some expense in going to the capital, Manila (This eliminated the Yangon airport exit fee of crisp ten dollars too!). One of some interesting buildings in Yangon. Upon arriving at the airport, we passed by the immigartion officer's counter and I observed that the Myanmarese greeters outside are visible. They reminded me of our close-family ties too. These greeters must have abound perhaps because of the upcoming Thinyan festival, their New y...

A vacation to Myanmar is not about food or shopping or art. It is about religion, observing Myanmarese culture and way of life, it is about walking barefoot (and eventually accepting it!) in each house of Buddha. Arriving in Yangon, one is welcomed by buildings, old and new, big and small. But being in Yangon means one can visit Mayanmar's oldest pagoda (and the world's!) called Shwedagon Pagoda.  *** English writer Rudyard Kipling who is best-known for his "Jungle Book" is said to have had set foot in this Pagoda in 1889 and exclaimed that, "Up till that sight my uninstructed eyes could not see that the land differed much in appearance from the sunderbuns, but the golden dome said: 'This is Burma, and it will be quite unlike any land you know about.'" (Wikipedia) No wonder about that, because the Shwedagon's crown or umbrella is tipped with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies. Immediately before the diamond bud is a flag-shape...