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+1
It is quite ordinary but it provides one with the experience of monks walking down a long walkway at11 am, to be bestowed by donors (rice or money, from mainly the locals). Tourists generally just take photos, but it is very crowded. I chose to go to the other end of the walkway to avoid getting pushed by the crowd.…
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Date of experience: February 2019
1 Helpful vote
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Get there for 10.30. See the prep of the food then here the call for lunch and the monks line up. There is a big rice bowl so you can make an offering, or bring some food, pens, pads (as they are also there to learn) and you can offer it on the way in. Fabulous to interact with them where most places you are kept away from monks. Loved it! …
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Date of experience: October 2018
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If you're going on your own that's what you should know, 11 AM at LATEST. Otherwise you miss the lunch, which is a kind like a procession and the most interesting thing. Monks get up very early having their breakfast around 5-6 AM. The lunch is the main meal and by tradition, it must be completed until noon. After that they're only allowed to have fruits, tea and water. Gathering in line of several hundreds (our tour guide told us that more than 1000 monks live there) monks and their procession collecting food and eating in a vast hall is really an impressive scene. At first I expected it's a tourist stuff, presuming they will ask for some kind of donations. None of them did. It's their every day routine and you're welcome to participate and watch for free. If you have by yourself any snacks, sweets, fruits,.. you can offer and give them when passing by, but you're not obliged to. Saying that, I felt uncomfortable when they sat to have lunch and bunch of us stood there at the entrance door watching them and taking pics. They don't pay attention, they're used to it, but imagine yourself having a meal with such audience. So, I took few pics and left the hall not to intrude them. Apart from that lunch ritual you can wander around the monastery complex, see their dormitories (from outside through windows), learning classes, praying halls etc. It's a nice, educative and totally free attraction. Count on around 1-1,5 hrs for visit.…
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Date of experience: March 2018
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We were there with a small child , the monastery is not so special and the monks parade feels authentic in a way but the whole thing feels very torusitic there are better things to do in Bago
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Date of experience: February 2018
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Nothing wrong with the monastery; it's interesting and beautiful in many ways. You are made very welcome to walk round and see life in the monastery it's just that the lunchtime or should I say the second and final meal of the day is sometime of a spectacle with a number of tourists lining up watching the 300 or so boys and men line up and take their meal. I felt a bit intrusive to be honest. What was better was getting out of the way and seeing and speaking to the people in the kitchens and also in the main hall where a number of the younger boys were preparing for exams at small desks lined up in rows. Interesting place, worth looking round for an hour but intruding on whilst they eat is a bit much for me.…
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Date of experience: February 2018
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