The Shwedagon Pagoda, a Buddhist temple that sits on a hill in the Myanmar capital of Yangon, has a tall spire that is covered with thousands of plates of gold and topped with more than 5,400 diamonds and 2,300 rubies, sapphires, and other precious stones.
The temple dates back more than 2,000 years.
Before 1989, when a military regime took over the government, Myanmar was known as Burma, and Yangon was called Rangoon.
Today, few tourists visit Shwedagon Pagoda and other ancient sites because of Myanmar’s reputation as a dangerous place for foreigners.
The Shwedagon Pagoda is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda for the Burmese with relics of the past four Buddhas enshrined within.
