To get there I went to get a trishaw but they didn't understand "Shwedagon" I walked back into my hotel and got someone to write it down. They told me I cant take trishaw there cos they not allowed in the area. I went back to the trishaw riders and showed them and one said "Shweeeedago" I said "you F ing ****** you said nearly the same as me and you don't understand me?" We are talking about the NO1 sight in all Myanmar, everyone who comes here goes there. Some of these ******* are just trying to be difficult. So I got a cab.
They claim Shwe Dagon is 2500 years old but has been rebuilt a few times due to fire, earthquake and bombs. It costs $5 to get in, unless you jump on the back of a tour party. There are 4 huge stairways up to the stupa or you can take the lift. It is 322ft tall and dominates the area. When it was first built it was stone and in the 15th century Queen Shinsawbu donated her weight in gold (88lb) which was beaten into golf leaf and used to cover the structure. Her son in law went even better and donated 4 times his own weight and that of his wife. Over the years it has been plundered and pillaged by all and sundry, they even had pro democracy rallies here. The platform covers 12 acres. When you get to the top you are hit by the dazzle of gold. The place is massive and more gold than Kalgoorlie. The main stupa is surrounded heaps of smaller stupa's and temples, then,by a marble walkway and that is surrounded by bigger temples. All the temples have a Buddha in them, some have heaps in them.
The top section of the zedi is covered in gold plates, not gold leaf. The hti, the bit on the top, is amazing. It is studded with 1100 diamonds total 278 carats and 1383 other stones. The very tip top is the orb studded with 4351 diamonds weighing 1800 carats and the very very top is a single 76 carat diamond.
I got there in the early arvo and walked around trying to get some pics to show you the size and scale of the place. On the second lap I was looking for maybe better angles or something different. Then I sat for a while and thought I am here too early. During the arvo I talked to a monk for a while, we had a downpour for about 1/2hr and I did a couple more laps. It was getting a bit boring. There was a security guard at one praying station and the photographers seemed to be getting into position. I thought something was going to happen and maybe Aung San Suu Kyi was coming to pray. She prays at the Tuesday station. Nothing happened so back to boring. Talked to the monk for a while again. I was determined to get some photo's of the place lit up at night. just before dark 3 monks climbed the zedi and walked around it. They appeared to be looking for something but I don't know what. I didn't expect that!
Finally, after about 7 hours (6hr too long), it started to get dark and the lights came on. Again the place is very impressive but I've seen enough pagoda's now. Some of the temples were lit up like a 70's disco with flashing lights behind the buddha's After a while they all start to look the same.
When I came to leave I handed in my number to collect my thongs, you are not allowed footwear in the place, and the girl got them and said "donation." I said "that is extorsion and you are a thief". She didn't care she still wanted a donation. I told her she should be ashamed of herself to do this in a holy place. She still got the 5cent donation cos I wanted my thongs.