Exploring Myanmar with My Parents: The Sacred Land Of Buddhist Monks

The traveler was active; he went strenuously in search of people, of adventure, of experience. The tourist is passive; he expects interesting things to happen to him. He goes 'sight-seeing.'

Daniel J. Boorstin


As I am a travel freak, I love to explore new countries. During my childhood, my father used to organize family tours in holidays. Three years ago, my parents celebrated their 30 years of marriage. At that time, I felt that taking my parents to a religious country like Myanmar can be the best gift from me in their 30th anniversary. My parents like the Buddhist culture; thus my choice for taking them to Myanmar was the best decision.

An Outline of Myanmar


Image by sippakorn yamkasikorn from Pixabay

Myanmar, previously known as Burma, is the sacred place of the Buddhist with golden temples, monks wearing orange robes, ancient monasteries and also it has wonderful natural landscapes. This country is not only a pilgrimage land, but it also hides a lot of adventurous things for backpackers and family tourists.

 As soon as we reached the Yangon airport, we smelled the real essence of Buddhist culture. We did not spend much time in unpacking our luggage in the hotel. We decided to explore Yangon from the very the first day.

Yangon: Garden of the East


Image by Alistair McLellan from Pixabay

This city is the former capital of the country. It is the most attractive place of Myanmar. My parents were completely impressed by the beautiful lakes, shady green parks, and temples. We had our lunch in a restaurant. The food was delicious. Our first visit was to the Shwedagon pagoda. It is one of the sacred sites of Yangon. This pagoda stands on the Singuttara Hill, northern side of the city. It is the golden symbol of the country and is 2500 years old. We took many pictures of the pagoda.

 My parents enjoyed visiting this pagoda. We explored the surrounding place of this shrine. During our stay in Yangon, we also visited other religious sites like Sule Pagoda, Botataung Pagoda, Shri Kali Hindu Temple and St. Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, the largest church in the country. Our next visit was to Bagan.

Bagan: The Temple City


Image by Martine Auvray from Pixabay

This city is the heart of ancient architecture. It is located in the upper regions of Myanmar. I was mesmerized by the beautiful ancient temples of this place. There are more than 2000 temples in Bagan, and we wanted to see each of them, but we decided to visit some of the important ones like Shwezigon Temple, Ananda Temple, and Mahabodhi Temple. We spent more than two days in Bagan and explored the entire place in the hot air balloons. Viewing the temples was thrilling. Our next destination was Mandalay.

Mandalay: The Economic Hub


Image by Matthew Hulland from Pixabay

We reached this town by plane from Bagan. It took only 30 minutes. Though, this city is full of chaos, dust, people and smoke everywhere but the natural scenic beauty of this place attracted us. We visited the Ubein Bridge in Amarapura village; it is the largest teak bridge of the world. We also visited the Maha Muni Buddha Temple and offered our prayers.

Puta-O: The Gateway to Himalayas


Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

Though this place is famous for climbing, the travelers can experience the natural beauty also. We spend last two days of our tour in this peaceful town. We explored the forests and enjoyed the delicious food and cocktail in the restaurants. As my father love adventures, he enjoyed this place. We again went back to Yangon from where we started our journey and took flight to our homeland.

I am thankful to the Myanmar travel agency for the custom tour plan they made for us. We enjoyed Myanmar in our way, and I had made my parents happy. A big smile on their face is a great satisfaction for me. This journey will always remain in our mind forever.

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