Morning ancient cities cultural tour

1. Mahagandayon Monastery - An insensitive but interesting tourist attraction (not our choice). At 10.15am, 1000 monks begin their procession to their lunch rooms via the path of tourists. Some people had donations; biscuits, packaged cakes, sweets, note books and money. The monks disappear into a building, deposit their donations and collect their simple breakfast.
2. Min Gun bell - Second biggest bell in the world but due to technical difficulties it never made it into a pagoda.
3. Mya Thein Tan - AKA the big white pagoda; bright stark white against the blue sky and the lush green background. We danced around other people for the shady spots, so we didn’t burn our feet. We encountered the first tourist hawkers, ladies following you (and embarrassingly fanning you as you sweat profusely).
4. Temple in a rock - No shoes and midday heat so we dashed the 50m inside. The tiny alter inside is a tad underwhelming compared to the rock.Read more