Not a great image, not even a good one but I wanted to share an encounter we had with a Mr. Bone.  

We chatted to him for quite a long time in the afternoon then he told us if we found him again when it was  dark he would show us the diamond orb on the top of the hti.   He took us to a very precise spot on the platform and told us exactly where to stand and sure enough bright and white the diamond glittered for us.  An inch in any direction and it disappeared.  Not content he marched us to another spot where with a bit of maneuvering we were in just the right position to see it again but this time a brilliant green colour.   And finally the spot where is shone a glorious red.  

Magical, I couldn't help myself, I just had to give him a hug. 

 We had no tripod and this is the only shot that was even remotely usable.

When darkness falls the illuminated stupa casts a golden glow over the city, the giant Chinthes, half lion half griffin guard the gates and the last word goes to Somerset Maugham:

"The Shwe Dagon rose superb, glistening with its gold, like a sudden hope in the dark night of the soul of which the mystics write, glistening against the fog and smoke of the thriving city".

Maha Wizaya Paya

I noticed this pretty paya opposite Shwedagon in 2002 and the fact that is also known as Ne Win's Paya may have had something to do with my not making time to visit at that time.  

Fast forwarding to 2005 it looked like this and once again, I did not visit.

I wonder where the man coming out of the door in the covering is going?