vaga #3/13 Inle Lake temple “a”

Kyaung Daw pagoda

part XIII

Not only do I share the photos of this beautiful place, but also how to get there. It is not like a tourist bus that leaves you at the door. It is more complicated than that: I got to the temple via a lake canal. It is a 45-minute trip by boat, crossing over dykes by ramping over them; it was nerve-wracking as the passes were narrow. 

After the first few ramps, I relaxed completely. The man who drove the boat was no more than 19 years old.  I started with the trip to the temple, as I need you to know what I see and the parts of the environment where they live.  However, there was relatively little to see since it was pure vegetation.

This chapter will be more of a photo gallery. I do it in two parts because there are so many shrines. They are mainly solid, with no access to the interior. Beginning the way you arrive, it is not only a temple; it is a vast space full of shrines, with new ones built next to those already there.

They are gold, white, brick, cement, they look similar, but they are all different even to the slightest curve.

Each one has a plaque carved in marble. These markings are how they identify their loved ones in the cemetary. No one is buried here, and as you can see by the dates, it is still being carried out, and some are even from other countries.

All I saw were local characters and skinny dogs in the temple; I took photos, it is a sacred place, and I had to photograph their history secretly; I just kept the images of the monks. The 40 degrees of heat meant the ceramic floor was boiling hot. I entered wearing my well-known sandals, and the monks screamed at me to take them off … sacred place … I would prefer to walk on sharp rocks rather than burn my feet on the hot ceramic floor.

and I finish with this beautiful detail that was one of many