Unforgettable Myanmar
Myanmar is the land of happy people!
My name is Lyudmila. This year I was lucky enough to visit a wonderful country where time has stopped for 100 years, where they value their culture, where they smile just like that, where almost everyone sings when they work and is always ready to help, although they are not at all rich, but rather poor, but that doesn't matter at all here. What can I say, this country cannot but amaze. This country is for gourmets. Ask at least one friend where Myanmar is located, and I am more than sure that not everyone will answer you. When you say that this is Burma, most often people say “A-A! ! and begin to remember. But gourmetism, of course, lies not only in the name of the country, because it is a treasure trove for those who like to touch something real, not fake. Not a fake culture, which for many years that the country was closed from the whole world, still exists in this country.
This is not Thailand, which over the years of globalization, tourism, has left a faint trace of individuality. And it feels good when you return home (back, we flew through Bangkok). I won’t say that this is bad or good, it’s just that the country is changing because of the desire to earn money and who knows, maybe Myanmar will also soon lose some of its individuality; It is not for nothing that the younger generation more and more often prefers jeans instead of loungi (traditional Burmese skirt). So hurry up while it's still there!
Also, I think gourmets will appreciate the number of temples, monasteries, stupas and pagodas that our group and I managed to see thanks to the organization of the Expedition ITC travel agency and, of course, thanks to our guide Andrey. You won’t remember all the temples, but their number is amazing, there are so many of them that you don’t understand why there are so many temples, is there really so many people who would go to these temples, but it turns out that there are and they are even building new ones.
But this is their attitude towards religion, Buddhism, which plays an important place in the life of every Burmese.
Among the places that struck me, first of all I would like to single out Mandalay Hill, which struck me not so much with its beauty, but with its special energy and a sense of freedom. Also, an interesting place is Kuthodo Pagoda - the largest stone book in the world, listed in the Guinness Book of Records, and in 2013 included in the UNESCO list. On the third day of the tour, we went to Moniwa (to the northwest of Mandalay), we really liked the Thanboddhay temple - where there are 580.000 Buddha statues. After lunch, we went to the Po Win Daung cave temple, where Buddha statues are carved from solid rock in the caves; there is not much information about this place and it is difficult to get here, so there are few tourists here, and the place leaves a strong impression even on experienced tourists.
Next, the visiting card of Myanmar is Bagan.
The number of temples is amazing, I have not seen this in any country in the world; of those that left a strong impression: the Ananda Temple, the Shwezigon Pagoda, the original frescoes in the Sulamani temple. There were other interesting temples, but unfortunately, I didn’t remember the names, the full list of attractions and the program itself: e-x. com. ua/ekskyrsionnaya-programma-po-myanme Inle Lake deserves special attention: boat trips and observing the unhurried life on the lake - relax and restore after a busy six days of excursions. A lot of good photos have been made special on Inla, this place is a must to visit. And of course, Shwedagon struck, there is so much information and rave reviews about him, so I won’t dwell on it in detail, this is the first temple I went up to by elevator.
The Myanmar people believe that for their karma, you need to build temples, become koins (children who become monks of the monastery and eventually become monks), become monks several times in their lives, constantly read mantras. There is still something we need to learn from these people - this is their optimism! They appreciate what they have and are not upset by what they do not have. Perhaps - this will pass, along with the development of the country, globalization and an increase in living standards, but for now it is so! It is worth traveling to Myanmar, both for cultural and spiritual values.
