Yangon and Kinpun : Welcome to Myanmar

Hey, sorry fo the late update but internet in Myanmar is like trying to find French Cheese with row milk....very difficult ;-) 

Even if everybody still think about « Burma », this country has a new name (Myanmar) since 1989. (Because Burma only refers to one tribe, and there are more than 100). Myanmar is “free” since 1948… the word « independent » is more appropriated because the government is still in the hands of the army !

After these few geo political explanations, let’s go back to our adventure ! We arrived in Yangon (before called Rangoon but it was the British name and after the independency, the country changed the name), which is not anymore the capital of Myanmar (Now it’s Napyidaw). Like most big cities, there is a lot of noise, of traffic (even if Yangon didn’t seem “traffic jammed”) and “few” sightseeing! (Thus the colonial area is nice to visit)

But discovering  the Schwedagon Pagoda is worth it. It is the most sacred site of the country. The pagoda is 99 meters high, covered by gold and incrusted with thousands of diamonds, rubies and sapphires. Hundreds of Buddha, a lot of gold and a peaceful place. We enjoy this visit even if the LED- aureole are a bit “too much”!

After these 2 days in the noise, we took a bus to the “Golden Rock”. The Golden Rock is located on the top of Mount Kyaiktiyo and it is also a sacred site for pilgrims. A 7,6 meter tall rock with a pagoda on top stands on the edge of the mountain at 1100 meters above sea level. The legend says that this rock only stands because of a Buddha’s hair. Male pilgrims put gold leaves on the rock.

We could have climb to the rock but we took the local way to go: a big truck where 50 people are put in…. Very funny!!!