Bago is a bumpy 2 hour train journey from Yangon. The old British narrow gauge track meant that as soon as the train got up some speed it would shudder and rock from side to side. We travelled past rice paddies full of water - it was very wet and in some spots there was water on both sides of the train tracks.
Bago was a former capital of Myanmar and for its size had a large number of gaudy religious sites.
The feet of a reclining Buddha
The Burmese python at the Snake Pagoda - purported to be the reincarnation of a famous monk. It was in snake heaven with devotees arriving to give it money, a dedicated chanter reading it poetry and a pond for an afternoon dip. On top of this it got regular chicken meals.
Views of some of Bago’s many temples
Temple art
Meditating monk
Nat (spirit) dancers
One of the temples had a section dedicated to nat (spirit) worship - some animist belief predating Buddhism. It looked like a lot of fun with an orchestra of drums and cymbals creating a huge din while gaudily dressed dancers (transvestite/transgender) whirled around until they fell into a trance and had to be assisted to stand. Meanwhile the surrounding crowd also danced and some also went into a trance-like state or had convulsions. The principal dancer wore a cow head headdress and the nat figurines in the background looked like people wearing cow head headdresses. At various intervals the monks came out and threw 50 Kyat notes (equivalent to 5 cents) into the air sending the crowd into a frenzy.
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