Kyaiktiyo
Friday, December 5, 2008 at 9:44AM
[chuck] in Dharma, Kyaiktiyo, Mon State, Myanmar, boulder stupa

The Golden Rock pagoda at Kyaiktiyo in Mon State is one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Myanmar. The gold-leaf encrusted boulder balances precariously on the edge of a cliff at the top of Mt. Kyaikto and looks like it should start rolling off at any moment. It apparently doesn't, however, because of a single, precisely placed, strand of Buddha's hair enshrined in the stupa on top.

Hiking up the mountain to the pagoda, I stopped at a small roadside "pharmacy" to look at the medicinal plants and medical preparations.  My favorite item was the elephant's tooth. [NOTE: I had a full beard in those days].

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