Shwedagon at night
Yangon,
Myanmar
You cannot visit Yangon without going to Shwedagon Paya, the most sacred of Buddhist religious sites in Burma. The golden spire of the main stupa at Shwedagon Paya is visible from most areas in central Yangon and draws you in. The solid cone-shaped stupa is built on Singuttara Hill 190 ft above sea level on a 12 acre platform and soars 322 ft above its base. The site is vast and fascinating and filled with devotees. Each entrance has a long covered walkway up to the base platform. Pillars line both sides of the walkway behind which are shops selling religious icons, flowers to place at their favourite temple and other souvenirs. As foreigners, you need to pay an entrance fee of $5 each as soon as we reached the main platform. The fee entitles you to multilple entries on that day. The sight of the Paya lit up at night is majical and certainly worth a return visit.