Myanmar

Myanmar is a country where Theravada Buddhism runs bone-deep: some ninety percent of its people are Buddhist, and the sound of alms bowls at dawn and the sight of monks everywhere on the streets form the backdrop of life. Most men enter the monkhood for a short period at least once in their lives; the thanaka paste women smear on their faces and the longyi sarongs men wear are the most striking sights on the street. On the Bagan plain, more than two thousand pagodas spread out to the horizon, while Yangon's Shwedagon Pagoda, sheathed in gold leaf and studded at its tip with thousands of gems, is a sacred mountain in the hearts of all Myanmar people. The Myanmar people are warm hosts, greeting others with palms pressed together; teashop culture flourishes, and a cup of pulled tea with a few small dishes is the centre of everyday social life. A bowl of mohinga (fish noodle soup) is the national breakfast, and fermented tea-leaf salad is the grand finale of hospitality.

Myanmar has three seasons — cool, hot and rainy. November to February is the cool season, with temperatures mostly between 20 and 30°C: the best time for Bagan, Mandalay and Inle Lake, and drifting over Bagan's thousand pagodas in a hot-air balloon at dawn in the cool season is an unmissable seasonal special. March to May is the hot season, fiercely hot, with inland areas reaching 40°C; in mid-April the whole country celebrates Thingyan, the Myanmar New Year water festival. June to October is the rainy season, when the southwest monsoon brings abundant rain, especially to Lower Myanmar, though Bagan, sitting in the central dry zone, is relatively dry all year round. The lighting festival on the full moon of the seventh Burmese month (around October–November in the Gregorian calendar), when every household lights lamps in offering to the Buddha, signals the end of the rains.

The core of Myanmar culture is the idea of "merit": building pagodas, repairing bridges, giving alms and supporting the sangha are all ways of accumulating good fortune for the next life. During the more than two centuries of the Bagan dynasty (1044–1287), kings and commoners vied to build pagodas, leaving a plain of endless towers. The Shwedagon Pagoda is said to enshrine relics and hairs of four Buddhas and is regarded as a national treasure of Myanmar. The Myanmar script derives from the Mon script, and traditional drama and literature are deeply influenced by the Ramayana; jade, lacquerware and cheroots are hallmarks of its material culture. The Bamar, Shan, Karen and many other peoples live here together, their festivals and dress as varied as a kaleidoscope. Beyond Buddhism, Myanmar people also venerate the traditional nat spirits, and the two have coexisted in folk life for a long time.

Land of ten thousand pagodas, Theravada Buddhism, thanaka paste, merit-making culture

Bagan pagodas at sunrise, Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, the leg-rowing fishermen of Inle Lake, sunset at U Bein Bridge, sunset from Mandalay Hill

• Myanmar tourism board
• Wikipedia: Myanmar