Bago

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While waiting for our Indian visa to get sorted, we decided to use the extra time to spend an overnight stay at the nearby small town of Bago. The main draw for visitors in this relatively rustic region is the dozens of unique temples and statues that are scattered in its small area. There are some old sites but there are also many newly built creations to set our eyes on. We arrived in the late afternoon, planning to use the following day to hire a tuk-tuk to explore them. However, on setting out for food, we were informed by helpful tuk-tuk drivers that if we were to go later that afternoon, we could see all the sights but avoid having to pay the heavy government fees that are lumped on them, since their counters close at a certain time. How could we refuse? Adjusting our plans, we agreed to this and set out a few hours later. Our helpful guide mentioned to us that people in the city like to help tourists in this way so that they could direct visitors money towards the public charity boxes rather than the hefty charges going straight to the government.

One of the more interesting sights was the massive reclining Buddha. You could hardly get the whole thing in one picture! It was nice seeing the Buddha feet so large since we could have a good view of all the symbols placed there. These set of images are known as the Buddha footprint. There was a temple also that was similar in structure to the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. Although it was not as spectacular as Shwedagon Pagoda, it did boast having the tallest central spire in the country.

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