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| Arrival by boat at the gold and neon pagoda |
February 28, Wednesday Inle Lake, Myanmar
The Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda was impressive – and fun to arrive from the water. Lots of sellers
around the opening, swarming around you as you took your shoes off to enter.
The Phaung
Daw Oo Pagoda is the most famous pagoda in Inle lake region. The pagoda houses
five small gilded images of Buddha, which have been covered in gold leaf to the
point that their original forms cannot be seen.
Only men are allowed to offer the gold-foil onto
the Buddha Images. The five Buddha Images differ in sizes, the smallest is nine inches tall to
the largest eighteen inches tall. The solid gold mass reportedly makes the images
extremely heavy.
The
Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival is held annually every fall. A large boat with a Golden Hintha Bird creation is used. The Buddha images tour around the Inle Lake from village to village taking 18
days to cover the whole way.
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| Approaching the pagoda |
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| The Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda |
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| Giant royal barge used for fall festival |
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| Five Buddha statues literally buried underneath repeated offerings of gold leaf |
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Ken and Brian inspecting the gold leaf mounds - you buy a paper thin slice of gold leaf
and then place it in a layer on top of one of the Buddha "mounds" |
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| Maureen's unhappy face - no girls allowed, not fair! (see sign) |
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| Happy seller - I brought her Lucky Money by buying 3 necklaces and a singing bowl |
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| Girls hoping for more Lucky Money from us tourists |
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