Iwerwaddy river...the lifeblood river of Myanmar.
Temples of Bagan.
sunset in Bagan
sunrise in Bagan the next morning, very dusty.
one of my favorite shots from the trip.
on the road from Bagan to Inle Lake, a lot of roads in Myanmar are lined with huge beautiful trees like these.
Rice farming at Inle Lake
Never did find out what those poles are for...
our boat ride through the villages of Inle lake, all the houses are on stilts.
the boat ride back...
getting dark, time for black and white.
sunset on inle lake
our hike up into the hills surrounding the lake and wetlands area
beautiful fields of wheat
more beautiful fields
sunset in mandalay
reflection in the iyerwaddy
a lone boat floats in a tributary of the iyerwaddy
lines and boats and ducks
people washing in the river
temples at the ancient city of sagaing
sailboat on the iyerwaddy
trucking the hay outside mandalay
it's gold, it's 72m tall, it's the shwedagon
shwe means gold in burmese
biggest reclining buddha in the world or some superlative. it's housed in a warehouse.
the symbols have to with all kinds of things... animals, elements, buddhist realms... i don't get it.
b&w buddha
optical illusion
buddha in the mirrors.
a buddha within a temple at bagan
outside a temple in bagan.
sepia bagan
golden ball and the iyerwaddy river in the background
flags and temples in bagan
love those flags...
climbing up the temple with the other tourists for sunset...
you can fit more of the temple in the frame if you tilt the camera.
gold and red paint all over the pagodas
street markets outside the temples
inle lake forest of pagodas
indein... a forest of pagodas resembling something out of indiana jones
pagodas and tress, and some trees grow off of the pagodas...
wear and tear... it happens when things get to be 700 years old.
the rolling hills and pagodas around inle lake
temple in sagaing ancient city outside mandalay
unfinished temple at mingun outside of mandalay... this sucker was supposed to be 3 times as tall if the king hadn't die when they were building it... an earthquake 20 years back caused the huge cracks in the structure... you can climb up to the top and have a look around.
the entryway to see the obligatory buddha.
colonial and mixed architecture in yangon aka rangoon
punch buggy white.
some apartments and municipal buildings
check out the license plate, they have their own set of numerals.
myanmar's version of three-wheeled bikes, a two seat pedicab plus driver
the streets in action.
apartment and storefronts
yangon traffic in the downtown area.
a suburb outside yangon, that we took the suburb ring train to
a city bus.
the iyerwaddy river in mandalay
mandalay traffic.
random parade car in yangon
people praying at shwedagon in yangon
people on the suburb train in yangon
people waiting at the train station with collected wood... the paint on their faces is for decoration and sun protection, it's called thanakha and is made from ground up bark of a thanakha tree.
man on train.
monk on train
people peering out the train, most of the trains and rails are the same as in 1950s imperial britain
man chillin in his doorway in yangon
asleep at the train station
people waiting at the train station
people are very good at carrying large objects on their head in myanmar
the most common form of transport in myanmar, overloaded pickup trucks with canopies
a man selling paintings outside a temple in bagan
a monk at his monastery in inle lake explains to us how myanmar used to import americans cars until trade sanction, then when the cars broke down they couldn't get the spare parts because of the trade sanction. so they started importing japanese motorcar. the monk was so funny, the way he spoke english and said "spare parts". he knows so much about the topic because his brother was a mechanic.
"spare parts" monk
boat paddler at inle lake.
he was very photogenic
fisherman on inle lake.
a bit hard to see but...they stick their oars in the water and use their foot to do a canoe j stroke, thereby paddling forward.
ok clearer now, he pushes the paddle with his foot.
making silk and cotton fabric at inle lake.
using lotus to make strands of fabric, later to be weaved into cloth.
the complex weaving machines
kids at a monastery in a village in the surrounding hills around inle lake.
the boys aren't so shy, they like making funny faces at us.
these kids actually from an early age spend time at monasteries learning about buddhism and vocation. but the monk said all they do is play, they don't listen!
happy woman selling veggies in mandalay
tourists at sagaing outside mandalay
the over loaded vehicles, very sustainable...
the boats and cars don't leave until they are full to the brim.
a nurse we met a monk's care facility in mingun
me at shwedagon.
matt on a three-wheeled bike in yangon.
kate and i on the pedicab.
having tea at one of the ubiquitous open air tea shops.
or try star cola, myanmar's version of pepsi
we are wearing our "longyi", the pants/skirt of choice for the men of myanmar, this man approved of our choice of clothing and our new president obama!
matt, rachel, kate in bagan
having fun at the temples in bagan
kate rigorously accounting and journaling
kate's bday pancakes!
me and a monk at inle lake.
rachel and kate among a forest of pagodas at indein.
we spelled "INLE" with our shadow...see?
myself, rachel, kate, matt (in his longyi)
the motorboat we took around inle lake, our most comfortable transport in myanmar by far.
tea and nuts with some villagers around inle lake
trying to be not miserable after all night bus ride
rachel being badass at the snake temple
kate and rachel with "cherry", the #2 kickboxer in myanmar.
matt loving the streetfood.
matt driving the pedicab
at an american style ice cream parlor in mandalay. not just for foreigners (although highly welcome), the locals love it too!
kate gets smeared with the local makeup
rachel at a temple in sagaing
matt eating flower shaped ice cream
matt in mingun
rachel and kate at our last dinner in mandalay
matt hanging on for dear life in mingun
rachel, enjoying life on top of the world's largest pile of bricks
kate in mingun
matt and his flowing longyi
matt and i at our last dinner in mandalay
the national cola.
pancakes and coconut on the street
sugar cane pressed into fresh juice
our best meal in myanmar was fleeting, at a 20-minute pit stop on an overnight bus ride to bagan
little shrimps for the shrimp cakes
rice cakes drying out in the sun.
minnows for fried fish cakes.
making the rice cakes.
grains and rices for sale in mandalay.
street salsa and veggies
the orange is the sourest star fruit ever, so delicious!
pressing sugar cane into juice.
address number on a house
the mosquitoes ate my ankles
inscriptions on a temple in bagan
our guesthouse at inle lake.
cutting bamboo for housing, roofing, and ceremonial purposes
little pants drying
in myanmar, it's not about what year you were born in, but what day of the week! i think i was born on a wednesday so i'm an elephant.
snake ritual at a buddhist temple in palay outside mandalay
weird tree bug landed on rachel's bag.
the snakes after their daily bath.
wear else do snakes get towel-dry treatment?
very weird... the march together to go perch on buddha. three snakes perched on a buddha is apparently a common imagery in buddhism.
ox carts, a common mode of transport in myanmar, for tourists and locals.
sweetened condensed milk, a staple in myanmar, mostly for tea.
