Shwedagon Pagoda: Covered with 90 tons of gold and diamonds in Myanmar

Shwedagon Pagoda: Covered with 90 tons of gold and diamonds in Myanmar

By sdvthuongmai   2:42 AM   No comments:

 Shwedagon Pagoda is the architectural masterpieces of the Yangon city and the tower itself covered with inlaid gold, topped with thousands of diamonds and rubies.

Most Myanmar people dreamed once pilgrim to Shwedagon – the thousands year old temple situated on the hilltop Singuttara, Yangon, Myanmar. The taxi driver will bring international visitors to the south gate to buy ticket, while the Burmese are allow to freely entrance from the remaining three ports (East, West and North). The fare to visit Shwedagon Pagoda is 8 USD.

Before stepping inside pagodas in Myanmar, Buddhist devotees and visitors must remove shoes, sandals, socks and walk barefoot only. You should be prepared plastic bags to keep your shoes because Shwedagon Pagoda is very large, you might enter at one gate but head out another.

Being the golden symbol of the country Myanmar, the Shwedagon is more than 2,500 years old, believed to be launched before the death of Shakyamuni Buddha. The tower and the curved roof os the pagoda are prominent on the blue sky, brings a sense of majesty to the sacred land of Myanmar.

The main tower of Shwedagon Pagoda is 99m high, and surrounded by 1,000 small towers keeping many sacred treasures of Buddhism. At the corners around the temple put binoculars, allow visitors to sightseeing with a closer observation. Though experienced the wars and natural disasters, the Shwedagon is still the world’s most superficial pagodas.

Shwedagon’s golden tower is the most spiritual sanctuary of the Burmese people. The tower is plated with spire gold while the top is also fitted with thousands of diamonds, rubies, sapphires and gold rattles. The most notable thing is that on a towering spire lit by 76-carat diamond. According to estimation, the temple is plated with up to 90 tons of gold.

Most of Myanmar people come to the pagoda in the afternoon. They wear traditional costume and bring the trays votives in groups of young and old.

Nearby are two lines of young walking and cleaning the pagoda courtyard under the command of a leader.

The pagoda has many altars and Buddha statues also covered with gold. This is a place for worshiping of the monks and the Myanmar people. From Yangon airport, you take a taxi to the Shwedagon Pagoda. It would take half an hour with prices ranging 5000-7000 MMK (8 USD).

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The Hot Trend of Travel in Myanmar

The Hot Trend of Travel in Myanmar

By sdvthuongmai   2:38 AM   No comments:

 Nowadays, travel in Myanmar is gradually becoming one of the most favorite trend in the world because of its magical and pristine beauty.

According to estimated statistics of the tourism industry in Myanmar, the number of tourists coming to this country is expected to grow 150% by 2013 (about 1.5 million foreign tourists). However, tourism infrastructure is shorted severely.

Mr. Quoc Anh (44 years old, Hanoi) said that it was difficult to find accommodation in his Myanmar travel and he took a lot of time to find a suitable place to stay overnight in the resort on the Inle lake.

The price of travel services have increased twice a year

The price to take a taxi from Heho airport to Nyaung Shwe village was also very expensive as well as it is hard to find accommodation in Inle lake.

The hotels here are still shorted and have expensive price. If you have read Myanmar Travel Guide published by Lonely Planet (the most prestigious private publisher in the world who majors in travel) in 2011, you will see that the price for tourist services have increased twice fold comparing to previous years. 

Even in the hot weather, there are still more and more tourists coming to Myanmar, especially Inle lake – a favorite destination in this land. According to a travel agency in Vietnam, the price for Myanmar holiday packages has increased about 38% comparing to 2011.

Highly increase in revenue

Basing on the statistics of Ministry of Hotels and Tourism (Myanmar), the tourism industry has given dramatic income for the country in recent years, which increases to 67%, about 534 million USD comparing to 2011 (319 million USD). 

Also, according to estimated figures, there are about 1.500 tourists coming to Nyaung Shwe town and Inle lake while there is total of 1.200 rooms at both 45 hotels and guesthouses in the region.

In Bagan, there are also about 600 -1.000 tourists coming every day and there is a total of 2.500 rooms at 80 hotels provided for tourists. Many of backpackers have to stay overnight at several restaurants or monasteries because they can’t book the hotel room.

It is predicted that the number of visitors will continue to increase in the next years. However, tourist services and tourism Infrastructures still have not met the demand of many visitors yet. There is only total of 28.291 rooms at the hotels in the whole country.

Living standard at the level of about 1 USD

Many of Burmese have to accept to live far away from home to earn money. They are mostly women belonging to long – neck tribe in Myanmar. Weaving and sharing some interesting stories with visitors are the works daily of them. However, they only paid 30.000 Kyat (about 33 USD)/ a month equivalent to 1USD/a day. This means many Burmese are still living in the poor condition, although Myanmar travel is very developing nowadays. Ko Lyin (53 years old), a ferryman said that he got 3.000 Kyat (3.3 USD)/ boat tour/10 hours while travel agency got 4.000 Kyat. Also according to Ko Lyin, in the peak season travel, Myanmar always welcomes large tourists and vice versa.

According to statistics of Asian Development Bank (ADB) in 2011, per capita income in Myanmar is 857 USD / person / year comparing with Cambodia is 900 USD / person / year and Vietnam is 1411 USD / person / year. Especially, Myanmar has been applying open policy recently and expected as the hot destination in the Asia area, in which tourism industry will be a huge impact on the development of the country.

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Visitting the Bago City in Myanmar

Visitting the Bago City in Myanmar

By sdvthuongmai   2:19 AM   No comments:

 Bago City

• A city 80km north of Yangon

• An ancient city of Mon kingdom in the 13th century

• Another name is Hantharwaddy

• Be the capital of BagoProvince

• Famous for tobacco industry.

Bago, once known as Hantharwaddy when it was the capital of the Mon kingdom.Bago is located 80 km north of Yangon, the capital of Bago Province. Legend has it that Bago was discovered in 573 by two Prince Mon from Thaton, who looked out over a female hamsa(a myth bird) standing on the back of a male hamsa on an island in the middle of a large lake. In the past, Bago was an immense waters, one day the tide came down to make a small islet that could not enough for both birds, so the female bird stood on the back of the male bird on the islet.

The town’s main temple, Shwenawdaw, which hosts its annual festival in April, is one of the largest in the Myanmar delta.

There is a huge statue of lying Buddha Shwethalyaung, once hidden in the forest and discovered by railway engineers in the 19th century.

The unique position of this statue’s size has recently been replaced by the Myathalyaung Buddha statue at the southern end of the town, currently the third largest lying Buddha statue in Myanmar

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Top 3 The Most Famous Pagodas in Myanmar

Top 3 The Most Famous Pagodas in Myanmar

By sdvthuongmai   2:16 AM   No comments:

 Referring to Myanmar tourism, everyone will remember the golden temples with different architectural styles.

Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, is one of the wonders for tourists around the world. Dubbed as the land of Buddhism, in the ancient capital of Bagan, visitors can also admire the thousands of temples without boring. Sagaings Hill on the Irrawddy River bank is home to countless temples and monasteries with over 5000 nuns and monks living there. Every morning they bring bowls around the area to collect offerings. Most of the people here are monks, there are people becoming monks for at least a few months. There are many families who have to save money every year for their son to dressed up like a prince during the Shin-pyu ceremony when they are ordained at the temple.

1. Swedagon Temple (Yangon)

As the most famous and sacred temple in Myanmar, Shwedagon Temple, also known as the Golden Temple, is located in Myanmar’s capital Yangon. It houses the four most sacred treasures of the Buddhist religion including the stick of the Buddha’s teachings, a piece of Buddhist karmapa’s cloth, the water filter of the Buddha’s Naughty Buddha and the eight hairs of Shakyamuni Buddha. The temple is 98 meters high and is gilded with gold, located on Singuttara Hill, from where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Yangon.

There are four roads up to the temple from the foot of the hill. At each entrance, there is a guarded lion pair. On the east and south side, there are many of the shops selling Buddhist instruments and religious instruments. At the steps on the way to the south, there is a second incarnation of the Buddha.

The base of the tower is made of bricks, inlaid with gold plates. On the base of the tower is the patio where only monks and men are allowed to enter. Next is the bell tower, on the bell is the tower cap, on the tower caps are parts modeled as lotus petals. The upper part of the pseudonym is shaped like a banana flower and a crown, framed with 2317 rubies and 5448 diamonds. At the top is a flag-shaped wing and at its highest point is the diamond top mounted with a 76 carat diamond. Gold plated around the tower is thin gold leaves and is crafted by craftsmanship using traditional techniques.

2. Golden Rock (Mon State)

Located more than 200km from Yangon, the golden stone is located at 1,100m along with the small temple of Kyaiktyo, creating a unique monument complex. Golden Rock is well-known to tourists for its gold-plated surface.

If you want to get to Kyaiktyo Temple on the top of the golden rock, you must surely pass this strange golden stone. A strange stone with a very strange rule is that only men can get near the Golden Rock but women can only see the land from far away.

3. Shwezigon GoldenTemple (Bagan) 

Shwezigon is the second largest temple in Myanmar, built in the 12th century and is also home to the magnificent architecture like Shwedagon Temple. The temple is located in the ancient capital of Bagan, which was the capital of the ancient Pagan kingdom, which still houses thousands of large and small temples.

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