sparkle palace

We had one last wish before we left Dawei for points south, and that was to see the reclining buddha. C Thu picked us up in his trusty car and we headed for the pagodas.

Rainbow Buddha is housed in a spectacular hall of mirrors.

 Even the surrounding figures have a lot of character.

The walls and pillars are jeweled.

 You can learn more about the Myanmar calendar, based on the day of the week you were born.

Everyone was there, and delighted to see us.

Even the walls of this old temple have been preserved.

It's very grand.

Right?

They're building an ugly shelter to protect the Buddha from rain. It looks like cosmetic surge

My favorite part is the soles of the feet.

But the front is still pretty impressive.

Then it was off to the glitzy pagoda complex in downtown Dawei. We were racing against time but intrigued by this stupa, completely wrapped in bamboo.

The rest of the complex is quite new, with fresh gold paint and statues of lots of cool creatures and guaradians.

And this secret vulcan, hidden away in a glittery temple.

A school group happened to be at the temple's museum at the same time as us. They looked up in amazement, apparently never having seen a white woman so close.

And then it was time for the trip south, crammed in a mini-van with 12 other people, luggage on the roof. It took 7 hours with a couple of stops, a gorgeous rainbow, and a transcendent sunset. These young rubber trees were all the more charming as we sped past them.