Shwedagon Paya, the fairest of them all

We walked around 30 minutes northwards from the Bogyoke Aung San Market, stopping intermittently for a sip of iced sugar cane juice. It was 3pm; still 3 hours away from sunset, so even if we arrived there we still have to wait for a few hours before the sunset sets in. Flipping through my LP and its suggestions of where to visit in Yangon, we came across the Bahadur Shah Dargur, a.k.a the tomb of the last Mughal Emperor of India,which is located just a crow's flight from the Shwedagon Paya.

Reaching the tomb around 4 pm, we were somehow taken aback by this little tomb. It looks like a small mosque, except for a few small signboards in Burmese writing, and a fading portrait of the emperor. There were no other foreigners but us; the caretaker welcomed us and let us into the mosque, directing us to the tomb of the emperor (basement below the mosque) and the empress' (a room at the wing). It was a very different mosque from what we had seen back in Malaysia, as there were portraits of the emperors all around and candles and incenses scattered around the shrines.

From what we had gathered from LP and the inscriptions in the tomb, the emperor was exiled to Rangoon back during the British colonial era, and was buried secretly after his demise. His tomb remained clandestine until it was discovered in the mid 50s, hence this mosque / shrine was built for him.

We sat on the floor at the mosque's veranda, panting and sweating from the Yangon's awful heat, while waiting for time to pass by. And by 4.45 pm, we bid farewell to Bahadur Shah, and headed towards the Shwedagon Paya.

 

The southern entrance of this famed pagoda is guarded by a pair of giant Burmese lions; flights of stairs, with rows of vendors displaying souvenirs, joss sticks, flowers, religious materials, etc., welcome every visitor as they arduously push through barricades of peddlars. But as one victoriously reached the end of the flight of stairs, he or she would be greeted by the majestic sight of the Shwedagon Pagoda's golden stupa, with the hordes of pious Burmese locals like worker bees hovering around the nexus of the pagoda, in addition to clusters of tourists too. I could hear the mantra recitals loudly blaring in the air, probably there was some ceremony being held, and the locals gathering under the tents. sitting with their legs folded, palms held tightly and their heads bowed down in silence. Everything was just so solemn in the midst of chaos. 

 

Sadly, in the midst of my bewilderment, I dropped my camera and it was unrecoverable, despite the frenzy assistance of the local security officers and pagoda officials. It somehow dampened my mood a little for the day, and hence after snapping some sunset views of the pagoda, we hastened back to our hotel after dropping off in a local night market via a taxi, which charged us around 3000MMK (extra 30-50% after sunsets). 

 

The night market was really an authentic non touristy market as we could only see stalls selling vegetables, fruits, and Burmese food. No souvenirs at all. I randomly ordered something that seemed edible, which turned out to be fried vermicelli with an egg in it, then gobbled a couple of fried spring rolls, which tasted a bit similar to the Malaysian type. And to avoid constipation, I bought a couple of Mandarin oranges too.

 

We walked back to our hotel which was 4-5 streets away in pitch dark, as there were no street lights in Yangon, probably except the really busy areas like Chinatown. Still, it felt so safe, except for the numerous potholes on the road. Upon arriving to the hotel, I collapsed instantaneously after shower; it was such a tiring, satisfying yet frustrating day (since I lose my camera). 

 

Still, I can't wait for the next day to come, as we had already got ourselves bus tickets, costing us around 15000MMK to Bagan.