food

The man top left is selling grain for bird food, also

hanging right in front of small bird houses in Yangon,

where the street food is too.

daily

After a few weeks somewhere new, I usually have a series

like these, (not all in focus) which seem later to evoke

still lives or daily life..

By the way, am not roaming the web much lately,

so I'm not adding links I've visited.

bamboo

The most astonishing plant in my friends' garden

was the bamboo. I'd planted some at Bangalow so knew

how eager it is to spread, but theirs has also doubled in height,

at least. Straight lines contrast well with the

tropical exuberance. Or maybe it just gives a (false)sense

that you wont be taken over.

Might post some more Burma photos in a few days.

old friends

Visited some old friends, hadn't seen their garden for

years, it's a great spot in the hinterland with

bromeliads on tree branches, flowers & ferns..

mature trees, lotus & papyrus in the dam

& a lovely creek, the kind that platypus might enjoy.

only men

Many paya have an area of shops close by, this one has

cool marble floored walkways. Only men can add gold leaf

to the large buddha. I don't recall ever reading that

in what the buddha taught, although he did supposedly say

that women could not be enlightened.

Well, who could be?

The head of this buddha is wonderfully beautiful,

though the body is lumpy with gold.

Possibly could have been more of a shopper in Burma, except

the overwhelming feeling was 'we have too much stuff already'.

If I go again, I'll stay longer in the Mandalay area,

& countryside.

palace

The city palace in Mandalay is a reconstruction, not

very sympathetic, the old one burnt down. The island it's on is

used as an army base (tatmadaw). I liked the tower design, & there's

a small museum with a few artifacts & some antique

photos, not supposed to take photos.

monastery

It's really impossible to give a sense of these places: at first there

is the fairy tale silhouette, then you see more of the detail,

(flying elephants & horses!) plus the surrounding trees;

there's the solidity of a large timber building,

& then into the dark interior where the gleam of gold

gradually becomes buddhas, ornaments, doors, pillars...

it's superb.

folk art

Most of the paintings like these that I noticed were in difficult

positions for photos, & flash was useless. Often there were

interesting family photos in offices, restaurants etc, I felt a bit

awkward photographing them, there were quizzical looks

when I asked.

orphanage

In Mandalay I visited an orphanage within a monastery complex.

The children were from all over Burma, some from the

deadly Nargis cyclone, others with only one parent who could

not otherwise send them to school, as well as some ethnic

minorities from the far north.

gold teak

At this teak monastery I had the sense of finding the

gold heart of a teak forest.. it was almost deserted, quiet but

for the floor boards; while the exuberant exterior has

faded with time, the interior glimmers with gold.

It may not all be gold leaf, & in fact the space is lit only

by doors & small windows, I saw more detail from the flash,

though that never gives the true look of dim shine, does it?

I wonder whether it produced wood carving monks, or

was it all built before they came? There was a series of

panels with jataka tales. A really uplifting space

amarapura

At the sunset end of the day we went to the bridge

at Amarapura: Ducks being herded home, people fishing

in the lake ~ standing chest high ~ lots of movement

on the old teak bridge yet a quietness too,

it was gorgeous.

across the river

More extravagantly carved teak. Sometimes, inside, it's gilded.

Outside the carving is weather worn, still fine inside

The posts & pillars are whole trees.

Two other places (maybe Mingun), I loved the leaning tower.

Now & again there's an unexplained detail: I don't know the

meaning of the creatures with double hind quarters,

maybe they are Nats, though they decorate Buddhist pagodas too.

ruins

The names won't mean much if you've not been there: more

interesting sites around Mandalay. Some were small, &

it gave a slight sense of stumbling upon them by chance

in the jungle..

Whenever there was a hill you could see that

the forests & fields are studded with pagodas,

& other buddhist ruins

full moon

Still there were full moon celebrations, the lion had a part.

The icecream cones were luminous pink & lime, the bullocks

were resting beside their taxi carts, at the river. There was a big

earthquake in Turkey while I was in Burma, sobering to

see earlier remains of seismic activity.

carved forests

We saw parts of the 'ancient cities' via the taxi/tuk-tuk,

boat, & horse cart, passing many small villages & compounds

of bamboo cottages, & some great trees, all interesting.

One pagoda aimed to be the tallest, but an earthquake,

or king's death intervened.. I forget which.

The teak monasteries were astonishing, carved all over,

inside too, except it was so dark, hard to see.

Whole forests of teak, but such a memorable use of it.

mandalay

From Inle lake I flew to Mandalay, & stayed at the delightful

Peacock Lodge, it reminded me happily of the old

raj places in India that I rented or stayed at, lovely hosts too.

One day I shared the GH taxi with another guest, we

visited several interesting sites up hills, & further away.

A long climb (for me) to the top for this paya at Sagaing, a splendid

view of the Irrawaddy. The city is big & kind of messy,

the trick is to get up early, before it all starts up,

& the light is at an angle

treasure

Many sites at Bagan had dim mysterious interiors,

&, in October, lots of big old green trees

There were intriguing paths off through the greenery,

nearly always someone selling quite interesting stuff, which

I didn't see in other towns, & occasional gilded treasures.

I might go back one day, I really liked it.

Of course the real treasure is the Burmese people.

chance

The chance of being somewhere just as the light

changes, don't you love it? There was heavy rain between me

& the large pagoda. In the village this lady right

was a Burmese Vermeer.

laid back

At Inle lake I stayed at a small hotel with separate cottages,

so pleasant, & not cut off from the village nearby, a laid back

place. The Princess Garden hotel.

There are markets around the lake, in 5-day rotation,

the ladies were there, & the boys with their snazzy haircuts.

& a teak monastery.

Here are more during the festival - didn't I see those faces

in Mexico, or Guatemala? You can see how they balance

at the back of their skiffs, & row with one leg.

The rattan houses use different patterns in their weave.

Depending on your interests, it would be easy to spend more

time here, & at Bagan. It's really quite different at other

times of the year, too.

Not all places in Burma are open to foreigners.

eleven

Back in the here & now, it's the supposed 'big' date,

though it's not 11/11/11 everywhere on the globe..

'the end of the world as we know it'.. that gives quite a lot

of wriggle room, though am happy if the more optimistic

meanings come to pass.

The Petrea vine is flowering in my garden.

inle lake

More from the festival at Inle lake, in Burma; I took a lot.

north

I flew to Inle Lake after a few days in Yangon, there was

a big annual festival happening ~ boat races the

day I was on the lake, a great spectacle: the misty mountains

all around, the sunrise, the stilt houses, the amazing balance

of the leg rowing, & of course the colourful boats, one or more for

each village. Boats full of villagers too.

Our boatman took us to his house, made from woven bamboo

on stilts, the lake is not so deep. A simple place with

zero excess. The water looks clear, & there are floating

gardens in another area, I saw very healthy looking tomatoes.

horse and cart

Was fortunate to find a horse cart driver via my friends,

such a sweet & easy-going man. He took me one afternoon

to his village to meet his family top left, & to see their

festival. His horse was well cared for. I thought their

children so good looking, especially the girl, right.

If you stay near old Bagan, ask for cart number 173.

The extra drive to my hotel, near New Bagan

was a bit too far, 6 kilometres, though he did it.

Stayed at the Kumudara, a good place, great staff,

surroundings dotted with pagodas, even a pool.

One night there was a cloudburst, accompanied by

an extremely loud & scary noise like an alarm,

it took me an hour to realise it was about

5 million frogs, it continued for 6 hours,

but gradually became more melodic.

by horse

My lovely horse cart driver in Bagan top left.

There's about 250 in the area I think. Life must get very

sparse in the off season. If they are from the same village

they all know each other, & shout greetings as they pass.

It was very wet one day, which made it bumpier - water

quickly covered the holes in the road, not so good for

photos, though generally it was easier to stop.

vistas

I went to some of the main pagodas & temples, but

there are thousands, each with it's own charm &

half sensed history. It was still raining a lot.

Though not the most sophisticated, these were

my favourite buddhas, beatific smiles ~ & twins!

& yes, these are still the small files..drat.

art history

Still with the small photo 'mistakes', these are from

Bagan, where I stayed for several days, taking a horse & cart

sometimes to get around the amazing profusion of

pagodas & ruins.

Some are extremely old, nearly all have been shaken

by strong earthquakes (a big one in 1975), many have been

partially restored by Unesco or local artisans.

Some must have been superb in their day, with extensive

wall frescoes, it's an amazing art history museum, really,

with distinctively different styles, influence from all

directions. Its wonderful to get an extensive view & realise

just how huge this centre of Buddhist culture was.

mirrors

Mirrors are frequently used to decorate walls

at Shwedagon & many other paya, I love them

almost as much as the gold-leafed Buddhas.

Hopefully I took enough large ones to play with.

I was several days in Yangon, then to the 'usual'

Inle lake, Mandalay, & Bagan. Had to cancel the

Bangkok sector at the end of October because

of their awful floods. It was an unusually heavy

& long monsoon across Asia.

Shwedagon

The Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon is breathtaking.

I went several times, there was always more to see

& something different happening.

As well as a place for devotion, people use it as a

place to meet, rest, meditate: it gives a wonderfully

complete sense of how alive Buddhism is there.

If you plan a trip to Burma, find a hotel nearby, the

downtown area is another story.

home again

The plane landed a few days ago, am nearly back in the body..

Took many photos in Burma, still sorting them.

These 2 are from the wondrous Shwedagon pagoda.

Dismayed to find that I fixed a setting in the smaller camera

incorrectly, so a lot are too small for what I'd planned.

Guess I'll have to figure another way to use them.

Or not.

Am still thinking what to say about the experience;

The people are beautiful. It also felt like my heart

was breaking several times a day.