The four faces of Buddha

Just as you would imagine, your typical Myanmar Buddhist temple is a haven of serenity. Even the occasional clang of a sacred bell that adherents make only adds to the atmosphere of calm reverence as the chime’s reverberations pulse gradually into silence. The waft of incense is a gentle call to respect the site’s tranquility under the watchful eye of a golden Buddha. This is the kind of face of Buddha that most of us would think of in imagining…

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Myanmar: blessed be the tea house

If the pub can be said to be at the heart of British social life, the same can be said of the tea house in Myanmar. Both may have a male focus but the tea house has none of the drunken bravado of its counterpart, as Buddhism tends to frown upon a lack of sobriety. Sweet, milky tea is dispensed to the masses from the early morning, usually to some time in the afternoon. It is where tales are told,…

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Myanmar: escape from the Lonely Planet

The most useful characteristic for a traveler that is rarely mentioned, is having a nice fat arse. Not for any reasons of sexual allure but to provide cushioning on substandard public transport. Staying within the confines of the guidebook routes in Myanmar is demanding enough on the posterior as it is but never was a point so sorely made than after twenty-eight hours on a motor boat up the Chindwin river, in the north-west of the country. If you are…

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