Bago

Bago is a town with little to interest the intrepid backpacker except for a 1200 year old reclining Buddha that has been so heavily restored it looks like its come straight from the 1970s. Our overnight stay was memorable only for the motorbike tour we took that evening and next morning. We hired 2 motorbikes with drivers and were taken round every temple in Bago. Hermann gave new meaning to the word paparazzi, by cruising along with an umbrella in one hand and camera in the other. I wore my lucky hat for protection and hung on for dear life, spending a fair amount of time with my eyes closed.We did visit a monastery at lunchtime, to see the monks prepare for lunch. They have to start at 2.30am as they need to feed over 1200 people. The dogs get the left overs and congregate when they hear the dinner gong. We also visited a Buddhist temple while a Nats festival was on. There is dancing and singing to a very loud orchestra of gongs and drums, with a different song played for each of the 27 natural spirits to invite them to receive thanks. It was deafening.