Though it’s another hot and humid day, we are ready to return to this magic city of Rangoon.
The old name for this city is Rangoon, Burma, instead of its present Yangon, Myanmar.
We are sailing out at 3 p.m. - earlier than originally planned because of the tide on the Rangoon River. The river is quite shallow. Captain Gundersen told us that for most of the afternoon as we journey down the river we will only have six feet of water under our keel. There is no margin for error.
We have two stops today and will be back on board well before sail out. Our first stop is at what is considered to be one of the wonders of the religious world, the Shwedagon Pagoda that towers 326 feet about the city or Rangoon. This is the centerpiece of the city.
According to legend, the pagoda enshrines relics of four Buddhas. The main structure is covered in gold plate and encrusted jewels. Pilgrims for centuries have brought precious gems to enhance the beauty of this sacred place.
Our bus pulled around to the west entrance to the shrine. We left our shoes and socks outside the entrance and walked to an elevator bank and rode up to the shrine. Pilgrims walk up more than 100 steps at the front entrance of the Pagoda but we took the lazy way.
Upon exiting the elevator, we walked across a bridge leading to the main shrine on the cool tiles that feel refreshing to us. According to our guide, it is a tradition of the Buddhist faith to tour a pagoda clockwise. Now we are back in the sunshine. Some tiles are black and they are hot.
The opulence of the Shwedagon Pagoda is incredible. With the sunshine reflecting off the tall golden structures, it’s an awesome sight. All around the principal stupa, is a cluster of smaller stupas, temples, shrines, prayer halls statues and religious images. There are no words to adequately describe its beauty.
There are lots of young monks and nuns here with us admiring the beauty of this holy place. The monks dressed in the traditional saffron robes and the nuns, also with shaven heads, are dressed in pink robes. They are all so young. Their religion, Theravada Buddhism, calls for its followers to serve in religious life twice, usually for a three-month periods.
We are fortunate to see a sort of parade for two very young boys who have just been accepted into monkhood. It’s a family affair with all the family proudly walking through the temple. The boys are dressed in brightly colored costumes with sequins, have powder on their faces and lipstick and walk under a canopy. It’s like our young people receiving confirmation or having a bar mitzvah. There were photographers taking pictures for the boy’s families. The young monks even posed for us.
After close to two hours, we reluctantly leave feeling there is still more to see but our time is limited. We once again load into the warm elevator. As you can imagine, by this time our feet are really dirty and I hated the thought of slipping my filthy feet into my white shoes. When I walked from the elevator over to where I had left my shoes, they weren’t there. I did manage to locate them beneath a bench not where I had left them. A young fellow motioned to me that he had been taking care of my nice shoes and would I like to have my feet washed. I agreed. A little old lady took me by the hand into a washroom where she rubbed and hosed off my feet and towel dried them before I slipped my shoes on. She was delighted with the tip of a dollar. These people are quick to smile and make us feel very comfortable and welcome.
Back in the bus, we are off to our final destination the Chauk Htat Gyi Reclining Buddha statue. It’s one of the largest images in Burma at a colossal 230 feet long. The Buddha is bedecked with eyeliner, lipstick, and painted finger and toenails. According to our guide, this is to give him a look of health. Naturally, we needed to once again shed our shoes and socks but this time there was no place to clean my dirty feet. On board the bus, we received little paper towels to do the job but it certainly wasn’t nearly as nice. This Buddha though very interesting couldn’t compare with the grandeur of the Shwedagon Pagoda.
We arrived back to the ship in time to have a late lunch in the Lido casual dining room on deck 11. We sat up there as we sailed out of port. We passed a small fishing village where the people are living in shacks. The villagers lined the river bank as our ship passed by and waved to us. We were reluctant to bid them farewell.
At dinner, our tablemates all shared their adventures before we went to the Queen’s show lounge to see another wonderful show. Tonight’s performers were the multi-talented Guses Family. Tomorrow is a sea day. I think I’ll do some laundry in between attending the lectures and other activities that are planned.