From Nyaungshwe we drove to the Shwe Oo Min Pagoda Cave. The cave located near the top of a Limestone ridge houses an amazing collection of Buddha statues. To get there we had a nice walk around Pone Taloke Lake followed by a climb up to the cave. Along the way we talked about Buddhism, reviewing some of the basic tenants. I find myself attracted to some of the principles, especially those which deal with karma, mindfulness, and the impermanence of life.
At the entrance of the cave was the archer and the spider. It was a bit Disney like but the cave was the real thing. I've never seen so much gold leaf. I inquired about why so many Buddhas and whether Buddha would be be happy with how his image was being used. I never really got an answer to that one. It was part of the culture.
From the cave we hiked to the village that Te had spent time in
as a child and was friends with some of the people. We visited a green tea
processing house and stopped by the monastery. At the monastery we got invited
to tea with some of the monks. One of the monks had returned to the
monastery later in life. He had a charismatic personality. Before becoming a monk he had been an electrician who had been married seven
times.
Green tea is one of the exports of the area. The tea is sorted according to quality of the leaf. The monk gave us a present of his favorite tea.
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