Month: July 2015

Shwedagon Pagoda

Shwedagon Pagoda

In the center of Yangon (aka Rangoon), Myanmar/Burma’s largest city, is the Shwedagon Pagoda, a massive golden stupa and the most holy Buddhist site in Myanmar.

Shwedagon Pagoda

Pictures do not do justice to the Shwedagon Pagoda: it is over 320 feet tall and covered in plates of solid gold. You read that right, this is not gold leaf we are talking about here, but think bricks of gold. It is said there’s more gold on the Shwedagon Pagoda than was ever contained in the vaults of Fort Knox.

Shwedagon

According to sources, the top is a crown tipped with 5,448 diamonds and 2,317 rubies, including a 76 karat diamond at the very top, but good luck ever seeing it — this thing is so huge that no matter where you stand, it’s difficult to make out its spire.

Interestingly, the Shwedagon Pagoda isn’t what you imagine from a holy site. Although pilgrims and the faithful can be found praying throughout the temple, the overwhelming atmosphere is festive and sociable. I was stopped by no less than 10 local Burmese who wanted to know where I was from and what I thought of Myanmar.

Shwedagon Pagoda

To get to the pagoda, you enter at the foot of a hill and must walk up a large, interior set of steps flanked by merchants. The photo above is only one of at least two or three such corridors. If you look below, you can see the exterior of the corridors climbing up the hill — this gives you some sense of the scale of the pagoda.

the-prodigal-dog_shwedagon_pagoda2

Most of this climb is done barefoot (no shoes or socks) due to the religious prohibition of footwear inside temples. For those visiting, plan ahead and bring a plastic bag to carry your shoes in. After exiting, a couple of wet wipes will also go a long way to make your world right before putting your shoes back on.

Shwedagon Pagoda

If you’re going to Myanmar, the Shwedagon Pagoda is a must-see, unlike any other place in the world. If you’re looking for other images of this beautiful country, click here to visit our Myanmar page with a full list of entries.

National Mall Sunrise

National Mall Sunrise

Reflecting back on the past week’s festivities with the 4th of July, today’s post will focus on something much closer to home for those in the U.S.: a National Mall sunrise. To be more precise, this sunrise on the National Mall happened a couple of years ago, back when the Washington Monument was covered in scaffolding (which I’ll discuss later).

National Mall Sunrise Washington Monument

On this particular day, I setup shop on the western end of the Mall, near the Lincoln Memorial, on the edge of the reflecting pool. This allowed me to get the sunrise framed by the Capital as well as the Washington Monument. As a stroke of dumb luck, it also happened to be a beautiful sky.

National Mall Sunrise Washington Monument

For those interested in planning a National Mall sunrise themselves, here are some answers to common questions I had when researching this trip:

  • The Mall is open to visitors 24/7
  • Tripods and other camera equipment are allowed (although larger equipment may be restricted inside confined attractions, such as the top of the Washington Monument. Check the official website for details on specific attractions)
  • The National Mall is under the purview of the National Park Service, and is routinely patrolled by park rangers. Even with expensive camera equipment in a dark, deserted part of a major city, I never felt unsafe. That said, use your better judgement as you would anywhere.
  • Parking is abundant around the Mall. Although it fills up quickly during the day, you shouldn’t have any issues if arriving at or before sunrise.

National Mall Sunrise Washington Monument

And, last but not least:

  • Dogs are allowed and will almost certainly try to chase the ducks in the reflecting pool.

National Mall Sunrise Capital

As you’ll see here, scaffolding covered the Washington Monument — this was part of a repair process in the aftermath of an earthquake that hit DC a few years ago. Personally, I liked the look of the scaffolding, thanks to the brick-like design they adopted for it. If you do too, then there is also another set of scaffolding currently covering the Capital dome, and it’ll be there awhile longer.

Sunrise national mall

If you’re planning to make a day your National Mall sunrise, I suggest you also look into going up to the top of the Washington Monument. If you’re on the Mall for sunrise, you should have enough time to pick up a coffee or quick breakfast (depending on the season and when the sun rises), then come back to pickup tickets, which are given away for free. I’ll write about that experience in a separate post.

National Mall Sunrise

There are, of course, many other sights to be seen at sunrise on the National Mall and the surrounding area, including the Vietnam, Korean, MLK, and World War II memorials, which are all within walking distance.