Monasteries, pagodas, a palace and a big bell

Sunday

What a full-on day. By the end it was a real test of memory and I may have failed!

First we drove by a moat behind which had been the royal palace, but a lot had been destroyed in WW2, so the beautiful wooden monastery, Shwenandow, had been moved to another site, which we visited. The whole thing was covered with intricate wooden carvings. We then went to another monastery outside of which was the world's largest book which is actually the Buddhist scripture carved on 729 marble slabs, each housed in a separate white structure. These were organised around a Buddha which had disco lights flashing around his head. The walk up to it had wonderful mirrored tiles, and at each end a pastel pink and white ornate archway.

Then it was the royal palace, now inhabited by the military. We climbed a high tower to see the complex better. There were many small buildings for the concubines. After visited a place where we watched the process of making gold leaf, we had lunch in a very local place. The food was good, though we have no idea what it was.

The last visit was to another Buddha covered in gold leaf, but this time his face was not added to. In fact every day at 4am a monk would wash it with rose water. Only men were allowed close up, to add the bits of gold. The guide this this was not discrimination.

Next was a very pleasant boat up the Irrawaddy to Mingun, a village with what was to be the biggest pagoda in the world but the King died before it was completed, and it was subsequently damaged in earthquakes. We paid £1.50 to get a ride in an lx cart which was very "shoogly" but fun. Next up was a pagoda that looked like a white iced wedding cake, then an enormous bell, the biggest uncracked one in the world.

You can imagine how well we slept!

this is the Royal Palace from a high tower