Hugo: A Dog For All Seasons (all ©)

In Old Burma: Rangoon's Shwedagon Pagoda

To salute Aung San Suu Kyi's newfound, relative freedom, some shots of the magnificent, mega-sacred Shwedagon Pagoda, taken in 1986. (Click on first pic for slideshow; all ©)

Handy little known fact: when spoken in Burmese, "Myanmar" and "Burma" are pronounced virtually the same.

                                             

The inspiration: I saw this photo in v.5 of the 'Lands and Peoples' series as a kid. I had no idea of the actual size of the pagoda - 368 feet high - or that it was covered in gold leaf! Kipling called it "the winking wonder". I call it THE GOLDEN 'GOON!