Stanley Park and totem poles (Throwback post)

Stanley Park, Vancouver

One of the main tourist spots in Vancouver is Stanley Park.  And with good reason.  We rented some bikes from EzeeRiders in Robson Street, one of many rental shops near to the entrance, and took a look around.

Stanley Park, Vancouver

Sat on the coastline, you can cycle around it quite easily, with nice views and the odd statue or bridge along the way to keep you interested.

There is an aquarium which is supposed to be quite good, but we were more interested in the totem park.



Stanley Park, Vancouver

The totem park has collected together a number of First Nations' totem and house poles.  The totem pole was normally placed in a prominent place for gatherings, whereas the house poles, as the name suggests, were placed either side of the doorway into a home.  The carvings on them usually specifically refer to, and sometimes depict, the occupants and their ancestors.



Stanley Park, Vancouver

When you see a collection, you can tell the difference because the house poles are flat and undecorated on the rear, which went up against the house wall, whereas the totem poles are carved and decorated all the way around.



Stanley Park, Vancouver



Vancouver

Stanley Park, Vancouver

Stanley Park, Vancouver



Vancouver MOA

We discovered more about the poles and the First Nation's traditions and culture at the Museum of Anthopology.  This was an excellent museum, and we could have spent days looking through the many drawers of artifacts about people and cultures around the world.



Vancouver MOA

Instead we took a short tour and focussed on the First Nations people of Canada.  It is an excellent museum and well worth a visit.






Vancouver MOA

Vancouver MOA



Vancouver MOA

Vancouver MOA

Vancouver MOA

Bago and a big Burmese Python

En route from Yangon to Bago, we stopped off at the Taukkyan War Memorial and Cemetery. Over 30,000 people from Commonwealth countries died in service during World War II; the memorial shows the names of 27,000, while 6,374 are actually buried here.


It is a beautifully designed cemetery and memorial, and the place is immaculately maintained, with lovely frangipane trees.

We arrived in Bago in time for a quick lunch at a small place at the side of the road, and then we all took out the hotel's bicycles to see a few of the local sights. Not being a regular cyclist, I can't say that I felt overly comfortable on a bike with a hard saddle, only one gear and some pretty lousy brakes, but thankfully most of the way the traffic wasn't too bad, so I survived - though I had an incredibly sore bum by the time we got back.

Our first stop was the Shwemawdaw Pagoda, which looked OK from the outside, but whilst some went in, we found a cafe. We also found a few puppies, which kept us occupied for a while.

The next stop was supposed to be another pagoda, which I forget the name of, but that went out of the window when I mentioned that I had read that Bago had a snake monastery, where they had a huge Burmese python. With a few directions from locals, we made our way up the quite bumpy track, where we were greeted by lots of the people who lived along it.




We reached the monastery, and sure enough, there was the snake. The monastery keeps the python because it is believed to be the reincarnation of a former abbot. It is said to be around 120 years old, and at over five metres long, it may well deserve its claim to be one of the biggest snakes in the world. It takes five monks to move it.

From here, we went back to where we were staying, with the intention of going just a tiny bit further up the road to see the Kyaik Pun Paya, with a huge Buddha facing out in each of the four directions. However, by the time we got back to road, my backside hurt so much that I couldn't bring myself to do that final bit, and turned into the hotel and got a head start on the beers instead. Nic carried on to it, but didn't take a camera, so no photos.

P.S. very sad to see the recent flooding here