Th è Mar points to the pagoda as she recites its story (Pic: Nyunt Win) WITH winter approaching, the evenings in Nyaung Oo near Bagan were starting to feel cooler. However, the dropping temperatures did not stop pilgrims from converging on the town in their thousands for the three-week Shwezigon Pagoda Festival in early November. I visited the pagoda one night during the festival with a friend, walking among the waves of people crowding the pathways between food stalls and the pilgrims heading towards the pagoda platform where a Buddhist sermon would be delivered later in the evening. As we reached the platform, a young girl approached and offered to be our guide in exchange for some pocket money. No sooner had I nodded my agreement than the 14-year-old girl, named Thè Mar, began reciting the “Nine Wonderful Characteristics” of the pagoda like a parrot. Although I already knew the story, I listened to her words in silence. While she spoke, we sat down at a corner of the pl