Rangoon, Myanmar

Today’s tour of Rangoon did much to illustrate how this nation is still developing.  Many of the secondary highways were dirt, and there were city intersections with no traffic lights.  It was good that we had police motorcycle escorts for the buses on our journey from the port to the city of Rangoon. 

The primary site was the Shwedagon Pagoda in the center of the city.  We had a short stop for shopping; jade and gems (such as emeralds and rubies) are a specialty of this region. 

Here are a few of my photos from the sights of Rangoon today. 

It was early morning as the ms Amsterdam made its way up to the port (Thilawa) that services Rangoon, Myanmar. 



We had a little music and dance to greet us as we arrived today.  We're to have a show of Myanmar music and dance on the ship tonight.

All across SE Asia this is how families travel from place to place.

Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Myanmar

No shoes, no socks, no knees, no shoulders:  Those are the rules for entry into the pagoda.

You take an elevator to get to the top of the hill where the pagoda is 190 feet above sea level. 



Here I am at the pagoda, and those tiles were hot on my tootsies.  It was 103 degrees.

You can see that the pagoda/temples were busy with Buddhist worshippers taking time on a Tuesday afternoon to pray.

These boys are novices in the Buddhist tradition. 

Most are of the Buddhist faith in Myanmar, but there are Christians, too.  This is the Immanuel Baptist Church that faces the town square.