Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar. The earlier picture from the front may not be able to present how grand is the Shwedagon Pagoda is. The side view, taken from the Kandawgyi Palace Hotel balcony may able to illustrate how magnificent this pagoda is. The Shwedagon Pagoda has the main dome at the centre, surrounded by approx. 64 smaller pagodas. Constructed (& probably still adding* ...) with a mix of traditional & conventional methods over the centuries, added with tons of pure gold and thousands of diamonds, religious artifacts & Burmese precious gem stones for decorative purposes. Today, the Shwedagon is not just a symbolic icon of Myanmar, it is also a showcase to illustrate the deep passion and devotion of religious Burmese towards this very oriental form of belief. Each time, as long as it permits, foreign visiting political VIPs were invited to this truly heritage landmark of Myanmar (2001, Chinese visiting Premier Jiang Zemin was here...). Frankly, the best view of the Shwedagon Pagoda may not be at the premises itself. The Royal lake & Garden at the far end with its lush greenery can be one good location to take some good pictures. Below are a few views that show the distinctive Pagoda from distance. In fact, every corner of Yangon can see the Pagoda. During this trip, I switch between two hotels. Originally, I have chosen Dusit-chain Lake Inya Hotel Resort which is further away from the city (but it has CLASS-A facilities). The subsequent days I moved to Kandawgyi Palace until the day before I left - I moved back to Lake Inya because it is simply a very nice place to stay. Hotel Nikko is probably another good place to stay but it was located at another end of the Royal Lake. Anyway, these 5-stars accommodations are mainly target at foreigners but in Yangon, cheap hotels with "compromised" facilities are plenty too, you don't have to stick any of them. For those who may be curious to find out how looks inside the premises of this Pagoda, you can take a CLICK HERE. Lastly, looks like UN has mixed up political issue with preservation of historical heritage, until now, Shwedadon Pagoda & the equally aged location of Pagan (Bagan) have not been included in UNESCO's list of selected sites yet. * Supplements: The 10 Parts of Shwe Dagon Pagoda 1. The Diamond Bud (Sein-phoo) 2. The Vane 3. The Crown (Htee) 4. The Plantain Bud-Shaped Bulbous Spire (Hnet-pyaw-phu) 5. The Ornamental Lotus Flower (Kyar-lan) 6. The Embossed Bands (Bang-yit) 7. The Inverted Bowl (Thabeik) 8. The Bell (Khaung-laung-pon) 9. The 3 Terraces (Pichayas) 10. The Base Table of Contents on Each Parts Part   Diamond   Gold   Precious Stones Bud   4,350 pieces, weighing 2,000 ratis   9,272 plates of 1 foot square, weighing 5004 ounces   93 pieces Vane   1,090 pieces, weighing 240 ratis   unknown   1,338 pieces Crown   unknown   1,065 gold bells   886 pieces Credit & Source of Reference:: Myanmarnet travel

The historical structure of the Kandawgyi (or Kan Daw Gyi) Palace Hotel and the Royal Lake Garden presents a very ideal location for photography of the Shwedagon Pagoda. Day time, the best timing at either the morning or the evening. You'd need to walk (if you can) or take a taxi across the other end of the lake (entrance fees applied again @#**%*^! don't understand why ..) but you can avoid by going into the restaurant and exit from its front - which is the main entrance.			The Chauk Htat Gyi Pagoda just next to the Shwedagon has an reclining Buddha image - one of the largest images in Myanmar.

Shwedagon Pagoda, segment two

Shwedagon has a dormain and website on its own, but strangely, the content is rather weak, but you can take a browse. The dormain is http://www.shwedagon.org