Questionable Karma in Myanmar

Unlucky “Good Luck” Birds

Buying a Bird’s Freedom for Merit in the Next Life

A Myanmar woman set up shop on the steps to the temple, a cage of restless, rustling birds besides her. A strange place to sell pets, I thought, removing my shoes and socks to gain entrance to Shwedagon Pagoda. The pagoda is both a tourist attraction and active temple, adorned with 27 metric tons of gold leaf, thousands of gems, a 74-carat diamond and somewhere in the maze of…