Our second full day in Yangon.  It turns out that once a year the Sule Paya, the temple next to our hotel, has a holy festival once a year where they chant for 10 days, 24 hours a day.  Luckily we caught the last day of it.  3 a.m. has returned to the 3 a.m. one would expect.  Relative quiet!  

     I can not say enough about the friendliness of the Myanmar people.  This is one country where being a Westerner is still a novelty.  Especially Cynthia with her blond hair.  Today we went to the People's Park.  Several times goups of young women came up to us and asked us to pose in their photograph with them.  It is a novelty to be a novelty.  I remember that feeling in other countries, even Mexico, but that was 35 years ago.  Kind of fun actually.

     We visited the Shwedagon Paya today.  It is the most revered pagoda in Myanmar, arguably in all of S.E. Asia.  It was completely fascinating.  Not only the Temple(s) themselves but the actions of the people.  Where it cost us $8 to enter it is free for the people of Myanmar.  They come not to be tourists, as we experienced big time in Thailand, but to BE there.  They spread out their lunch in the shady spots, come with their families, pray, and respect the Buddhas.  It is relaxed, there are certainly a lot of people, but not near oppressive.  Gold, Buddhas, and the people of Myanmar rule the day.  I left feeling uplifted with a calm.  

     There are now three of us traveelling together and sharing the experience.  Cynthia and I, of course, and my friend for over 35 years, Kathy Wilson.  A fellow jeweler who is experiencing Asia for the first time.  The three of us have an easy presence together and three is a good number.  One more day to experince Yangon, then we hit the perverbial road.  Loving it all right now.      JB