Myanmar 2015: Day 19 - A Birding Break

Time for a little change of pace. We organized a trip with SST (actually an Eco-tour company) to the Moeyingyi Wetland, about an hour and a half north-northeast of Yangon, not including the hour to clear Yangon traffic.

However, SST, at my request, included some cultural stuff in the archaeologically rich town of Bago (a former southern Myanmar capital).

First was the Kaik Pun Paya, which consists of four 100 ft tall Buddhas facing in four directions

Our guide, Mr. Soe Min Aye said the the first three existed a very long time ago, the fourth is the Gautama Buddha worshipped today, and the fifth and last, when he arrives, will end the world - and that global warming, wars, Ebola (and maybe anything else you don't like, I guess) are a sign of the imminence of that development.

Next was the Shwethalyuang reclining Buddha, 168 feet long and 48 feet high, built by a Mon King in the 5th century.

We were most impressed by his feet.

Then the Shwe MawDaw, the tallest stupa in Myanmar at 376 feet - 46 feet higher than the Shwedagon in Yangon.

The large brick thing at the base is a piece of the umbrella that fell in an earthquake - actually a replica, no idea why to build a replica of a piece that fell off, but there appears to be some veneration of it.

Finally, a visit to a replica of a 6th (or so) century palace, on the site of the original...

and with portions of many of the original columns displayed.

The palace happened to be graced by the presence of a huge contingent of novice nuns, several of whom chose to be photographed with Dana.

Then it was time to head for the wetland. We checked into our quarters, the one at the far right...

with the best view (we were the only ones there)...

and after a short break set out for some birding.

We were a little dubious when Mr. Soe, our guide, called a whispered tern a harrier, but soon got absorbed in some fun birding:

1. Blue-tailed bee-eater