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| Huge reclining Buddha in Bago |
The town of Bago is about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from
Yangon, or a little more than an hour’s drive depending on the driver, and
really constitutes more of a daytrip rather than a weekend affair, unless you
really like seeing religious sites.
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| Downtown |
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| Shwemawdaw Pagoda |
To get there tourists have a number of options including
private car, local bus or the train, all of which have their own advantages and
disadvantages. Some intrepid expatriates have even ridden their bicycles to
Bago in a day. Once there, visitors can choose to hire a three-wheel
motorcycle taxi for about US$ 20 a day to see the town’s sights. Similarly, you
could hire a motorcycle for about half that fee and either drive yourself fi
you feel game, or have a driver take you around. There are so many different
religious sites to explore that it’s best to have a plan before setting out.
Reaching more than 100 meters up into the sky in Bago is Shwemawdaw Pagoda,
where you’ll likely be asked to pay a $10 for Bago Region and architectural
zone fee. The stupa’s design is fairly typical of those seen around the country
but with one key difference: on the northeastern corner there is a section of
an earlier stupa, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1917, jutting out.
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| Hinthagon Pagoda |
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| Hintha Bird or Brahmin duck statue |
No journey to Bago would be complete without a visit to the
Hinthagon Pagoda, which is located behind Shwemawdaw atop a hill. The emblem
for Bago Region (formerly state) is the Hintha Bird, or Brahmin duck, and
according to legend the hill that houses the pagoda was the only point of land
still dry as a flood swept the plain. A pair of hintha birds was stranded on
the hill and as the waters rose ever higher, the male duck told his mate to
climb above onto his back to escape the water. Most of the hintha statues in
Bago show a smaller bird perched atop the larger bird to represent the legend,
with popular sayings suggesting that a man who marries a woman from Bago will
forever be subservient to his wife.
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| Huge Four Sitting Buddha Image |
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| Snake Temple |
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| Places to visit in Bago |
Other “must see” sites include the 55 meter long
Shwethalyaung reclining Buddha image, the four seated Buddha images at Kyaik
Pun Paya that face each direction of the compass; the Four Figures Paya, which
also has four images – this time standing back to back, Maha Kalyani Sima, or “Sacred
Hall of Ordination” that was apparently built back in 1476, the reconstructed “Kanbawzathadi
Golden Palace” from 16th century and the Snake Monastery, which is
apparently home to a monster python.
ref; Simon Whiting
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| Kanbawzathadi Golden Palace |
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| Teak post museum , inside the palace | | | | | | |
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