Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon

I've discovered that finding time to be a tourist when you're working full-time is hard. But then it also seems weird to be dropped somewhere and start working without any cultural context. 

After my first day working in the actual office, I walked over to Shwedagon Pagoda. The pagoda supposedly contains eight hairs of the Buddha. The famous stupa is covered with gold plates and is encrusted with 4531 diamonds. This place probably inspired the word "bling."

Rushing over after work didn't have me in the right mindset to visit a religious site, so I felt strangely disconnected from what I was seeing.  I might suck it up and pay the entrance fee again so I can go when I'm in a better space and after having read about the history and rituals. Then maybe I can circumnavigate it in the proper direction. 

It seems like I don't have as much time to blog as introspectively as I normally do when I travel (another unfortunate consequence of full-time work), so I'll let the photos speak for themselves. 

Leogryphs protect the pagoda

Sweeping up the marble. Shoes are forbidden.