Out in the World - Myanmar

2006-01-09T14:35:00.000-08:00

I took this picture in Ruili, the launching point of a trip from China into Myanmar. The girl in the picture is Burmese (in the sense that she is from Myanmar), and she was the first I saw with the yellow paint on her face. This is called Thanakha and is used as a beauty product, as a cleanser, and as sunscreen. Much of the time women and children just smear this on their arms and faces. Sometimes, however, there is much more thought put into the application, and to a wonderful effect.

2006-01-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

This guy had almost no meat on his bones, and a number of scabs on his legs and face. He was filthy as well, and I could think only this: heroin, AIDS. I saw a few wrecks of people in Ruili.

2006-01-09T14:26:00.000-08:00

Two Burmese women in Ruili. I could not shake the feeling that the younger one is a ringer for Hillary Swank.

2006-01-09T14:24:00.001-08:00

This girl was working at a restaurant. There was something about her eyes and her bearing that made it hard to look away from her. She never said a word.

2006-01-09T14:24:00.000-08:00

Big momma! She had a gigantic laugh, though you might not guess it from this picture.

2006-01-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Ooh...this guy was tricky. He came up to me on the street - a street full of Burmese run restaurants, and invited me to eat with him and talk about teaching (he is an English teacher). He introduced me to some of his students and spoke a little (very little) about his government. More he talked about Islam. Then he took me to a jade shop run by his nephew and kept saying he wanted to give me a gift, pick out a bracelet and maybe some earrings for my girlfriend. I kept telling him I had no money to buy anything because I had already sold all my RMB for Kyat. He did not seem to understand that. "I do not want to make a profit," he said. "This was is very nice don't you think." After a half hour of this is the shop I took out the 100RMB I had left and said "This is what I have and I need it for my hotel and food. I can't buy anything." After that he had to go in a hurry, and my first long encounter with a Burmese man was not what I might have wanted it to be.

2006-01-09T09:31:00.000-08:00

The first picture I took in Myanmar, on the road from Ruili to Lashio. This was outside the restaurant I ate lunch in, one of a few women and girls selling fruits.

2006-01-09T09:30:00.000-08:00

A young boy nibbling his lunch, just around the corner from the restaurant.

2006-01-09T09:29:00.000-08:00

A monk's robe hanging to dry.

2006-01-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

The first portrait taken in Myanmar.

2006-01-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

Stuck in school.

2006-01-09T09:23:00.000-08:00

Young monks on a swing.

2006-01-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

A monk passing on the sidewalk...there were two of them. They were the first I had seen in Myanmar and I was interested to see that they were wearing red robes, as opposed to the orange worn in Laos.

2006-01-09T09:15:00.000-08:00

A farmer at work.

2006-01-09T09:14:00.000-08:00

One of the first pagodas that I saw in Myanmar..the first of thousands.

2006-01-09T09:12:00.000-08:00

The first pagoda I visited in Myanmar.

2006-01-09T09:10:00.001-08:00

A closer view of the pagoda.

2006-01-09T09:10:00.000-08:00

Besides pagodas, there are a lot of Catholic and Presbyterian churches in Myanmar...I was surprised by the number.

2006-01-09T09:07:00.000-08:00

There plenty of mosques as well.

2006-01-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

Cute baby.

2006-01-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

This woman was with the mother of the baby in the previous picture. This was one of the few instances, in either China and Myanmar, where women came to me and asked me to take their pictures.

2006-01-09T08:55:00.000-08:00

This woman was very elegant, as many of the women in Burma are.

2006-01-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

The pink shirt contrasted so much with this child's skin that she appeared even darker than she really was.

2006-01-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

I had read that there was a lot of diversity in Myanmar, but I was still surprised, especially when I walked around Lashio's "downtown" area in the late afternoon...it seemed northern Myanmar was more mixed than the south, especially in Lashio, Hsipaw, and Pyin U Lin.

2006-01-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

May I help you?

2006-01-09T08:33:00.001-08:00

Love the hair.

2006-01-09T08:33:00.000-08:00

Indian man.

2006-01-09T08:31:00.000-08:00

After my long walk, I took one last picture, this looking out over Lashio from my $8 a night hotel room.

2006-01-09T08:27:00.000-08:00

This boy was vere persistent in getting me to take his picture!

2006-01-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

I should have been closer to take this picture.

2006-01-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

In China it was sometimes difficult to find coffee. In Myanmar it was never a problem (finding good coffee, though, is another story...)

2006-01-09T08:16:00.000-08:00

As I was walking to breakfast I saw this woman and asked if I could take her picture. She said, "Yes! Please wait, though!" And then she adjusted her head scarf, came outside and offered a big smile.

2006-01-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

This girl was watching over me while I ate noodles for breakfast.

2006-01-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

This guy was sitting on a chair on the sidewalk, his lips stained red with betel-nut.

2006-01-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

This Chinese man was sitting with the man in the previous picture.

2006-01-09T07:59:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of ethnic groups in Myanmar. It was nice to see, especially in Lashio, the interactions between them.

2006-01-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

You want to take my picture? Get out!

2006-01-09T07:54:00.000-08:00

Before I took a bus to Hsipaw, I spent an hour or so walking through Lashio's market. The following portraits were taken there.

2006-01-09T07:53:00.000-08:00

The outfit this woman is wearing reminded me of one of the ethnic minorties I encountered in China. Her clothes were filthy and she seemed a little bit lost, like perhaps she was a bit mentally decapacitated.

2006-01-09T07:49:00.000-08:00

What is she thinking about?

2006-01-09T07:47:00.000-08:00

A jovial young woman selling fish.

2006-01-09T07:46:00.000-08:00

This girl just jumped out at me. It was not often in Myanmar or China to see someone with teeth as even and as white as these.

2006-01-09T07:40:00.000-08:00

I took one picture and was joking around with some people. As I said good-bye and turned to walk away I almost ran into this man. He was bent over and carrying a big woven basket full of vegetables on his back.

2006-01-09T07:38:00.000-08:00

This woman had been encouraging another girl to let me take her picture. When I pointed the camera at her she just laughed.

2006-01-09T07:37:00.000-08:00

Happy woman.

2006-01-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

About the time I took this picture, I realized my water bottle had been leaking onto my pants, making it seem as if I had been unable to control my bladder. A bit embarrassing, but thankfully nobody laughed at me too much. I had to hurry back to my room and change my shorts, and then get a cab to the bus station. From there I took a bus to Hsipaw.

2006-01-09T07:29:00.000-08:00

The drive from Lashio to Hsipaw was going well. And then it wasn't. We pulled over to the side of the road and there we sat for hours and hours. At one point a large convoy of military men sped by in a variety of nice cars (often jeeps with soldiers holding machine guns standing up in the back, their faces masked). I thought this was why we were stopped. As it turned out it was because a bridge leading over a river was injured and in the process of being repaired. After waiting for four hours I decided to walk across...otherwise I would have been spending the night on the bus. Nothing like walking across a plank of wood twenty or thirty feet above a river with a big backpack weighing you down.For what it's worth, Hsipaw was probably my favorite place in Myanmar...slow-paced and friendly.

2006-01-09T07:22:00.000-08:00

Most of the people on my bus decided to pass the time sitting in the shade of trees lining the road. In other buses, people stayed inside - and I don't know how. Incidentally, later in the trip, on a bus from Pyay towards Ngapali Beach, I rode in a bus that was crowded like this, the burlap bags being full of onions and the Burmese being loathe to open the windows (they thought it was too cold). That was part one of a bus journey that goes down in the top three of worst journeys in my travel career.

2006-01-09T07:18:00.000-08:00

At least while I waited I was able to enjoy a bit of nice scenery.

2006-01-09T07:16:00.000-08:00

As it turned out, Hsipaw was just across the river. This means that I spent about 4 hours before making the decision to start walking. I only found one guy who could speak English (none could speak Chinese) and he told me it would probably take an hour to walk to Hsipaw from where our bus was waiting. In reality it took about 15 - and (and for part of that I joined three women in hitching a ride with a tractor to take me to the guesthouse..

2006-01-09T07:12:00.000-08:00

Both days I was in Hsipaw, I passed the last moments of daylight sipping tasty cappuccinos at "The Black House," a just-opened (one day old the first time I visited) owned by an Australian ex-pat. The house's deck looks out over the river.

2006-01-09T07:10:00.000-08:00

It grew dark early in Myanmar, by about 4 the daylight was fading. The streets were pretty busy around dusk...in most places there were no functional street lights so once it was dark, it was very dark. I think I saw a well-defined Milky Way in at four different places across Myanmar.

2006-01-09T07:07:00.000-08:00

This was the first time I saw an ox-cart. I would see many more around the country, even on the beach.

2006-01-09T07:04:00.000-08:00

The driver of the ox-cart..

2006-01-07T17:28:00.001-08:00

For some reason this boy reminds me of an American actor, but I can't think for the life of me who.

2006-01-07T17:28:00.000-08:00

Just about all the graves in this cemetery were for Chinese people. The cemetery was about a ten minute bike ride from my guesthouse, and is the starting point for a hike that leads to a pretty impressive waterfall.

2006-01-07T17:25:00.000-08:00

To get to the falls is not easy. It is recommended that you ask one of the young monks at the monastery next to the cemetery to lead the way. It took maybe 45 minutes to get there. My guide could not speak a word of English but he liked to laugh with me at my clumsiness when I almost fell a few times.

2006-01-07T17:23:00.000-08:00

While we were walking it was still quite foggy. It did not clear up until just before we reached the falls. Along the way we passed a few forgotten structures.

2006-01-07T17:21:00.000-08:00

The path to the waterfall was not always easy. At times we walked through knee deep water. At other times we had to cross bamboo bridges that were two planks wide and bent almost to the water with each step (a real balancing act, and my feet were too big so I almost fell into the water). Other times, like this, nature threatened to swallow the path.

2006-01-07T17:19:00.001-08:00

Up close to the falls. This is only the bottom part of it...the water must have been falling at least 35 meters. The water at the base was clear blue and cool. I was tempted to strip down to my boxers and go for a dip but then I decided not to. There was a pretty nice little current as the water kept running down another little drop.

2006-01-07T17:19:00.000-08:00

On the way to the waterfall we only passed one farmer.

2006-01-07T17:18:00.000-08:00

My first glimpse of the waterfall.

2006-01-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

While I wonder around and take pictures, my guide rests on a rock and takes in the falls.

2006-01-07T17:14:00.000-08:00

After taking a picture of the monk watching the falls I waited until he turned around and asked if I could take one with him looking at me.

2006-01-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

I saw this on the way back from the waterfall. Wasn't sure if it was abandoned, if it was just a place to escape the sun, or if maybe someone lived there.

2006-01-07T17:09:00.000-08:00

On the way back from the waterfall.

2006-01-07T17:03:00.000-08:00

I was on my way to visit the Shan Palace, one of the few actual sights in Hsipaw. It is closed now though because Mr. Donald, who had lived there, was arrested for unlicensed hosting of tourists and now has a thirteen year jail term. Good old Myanmar.

2006-01-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

As I was riding my bike over this rough dirt path towards some Shan villages and the river, I stopped to watch these two kids have some innocent fun.

2006-01-07T16:53:00.000-08:00

This was one type of house found in the Shan villages near Hsipaw.

2006-01-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

As I was coming back from the river and a small village, I stopped to hop over a small creek and stumble into the fields to try to take some pictures of these women. They were a lot of fun. One of them could speak just a tiny bit of English and she was even a little flirtatious.

2006-01-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

Similar to a few photos I took in China.

2006-01-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Late in the afternoon, after I had biked through some villages Shan villages, and after I had stopped to chat with the women in the previous pictures, I snapped one last photo of a field worker.

2006-01-07T16:45:00.000-08:00

Burmese writing on a fading stone wall.

2006-01-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

There was not much to do at night in Hsipaw. Things were pretty quiet by 8 or 9 - the main thing for guys seemed to be to watch EPL and do some betting. This is a peek into one of the shops in town, around 7:30 PM.

2006-01-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

The train from Hsipaw to Mandalay. Foreigners pay $4. Must pay in US currency. Highlights of the ride: Women carrying baskets of food from stop to stop, to be sold on the train or while waiting for the next load of passengers and salespeople to board. The women would never stay on for more than one stop and they were always chatting with each other and laughing. Also, putting a little boy up onto my lap so he could see out the window. He was standing barefoot on my thighs. His feet were filthy because his sandals were falling apart. His mother looked withered and beaten down, her teeth falling out and black. At first she was angry at the boy for bugging me, then she sighed when I smiled and said it was OK. Meanwhile a Finnish woman took a picture of us and now I wonder if it is out on the internet somewhere.

2006-01-07T15:20:00.001-08:00

I can't remember what this boy was smiling at.

2006-01-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

The inside of the train. Wooden benches, very uncomfortable. The train never went faster than 15 MPH, I think. Much of the time I sat on the door step (which was open) or with my head out the window.

2006-01-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

This baby was sitting near me from Hsipaw until the first stop. Very well-behaved and curious.

2006-01-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

This is the baby's mother. I am guessing she was not older than 17.

2006-01-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

I took this at the first stop. This girl was maybe eleven and had the short haircut that most of the younger girls in Myanmar seemed to have. She was sitting in the bench across from me for the first half of the trip.

2006-01-07T15:10:00.000-08:00

Leaning against the train.

2006-01-07T15:08:00.001-08:00

Trying to sell some oranges at the first stop.

2006-01-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

Peeking out at one of the stops.

2006-01-07T15:07:00.000-08:00

The last car of the train was stacked high with these burlap bags. In fact, the bathroom in our car was impossible to access for several stops thanks to all these bags. I did not envy the guys in charge of loading and unloading.

2006-01-07T15:06:00.000-08:00

One of the guys doing the hard work of loading and unloading the train.

2006-01-07T15:04:00.000-08:00

Another stop, another crew of salespeople. I should note that all train tracks I saw in Myanmar were pretty much hidden by grass. Also, at one point, we passed trees and flowers that grew so close to the tracks that you had to keep your head and hands inside the window. Sometimes the branches even came into the windows. It was a nice game to try to pull the flowers from the trees, though.

2006-01-07T15:01:00.000-08:00

This girl's expression crushed me. I wish there was not so much light coming onto her face.

2006-01-07T14:59:00.001-08:00

At one stop I got out and spoke with a man in the next car down. We joked a lot and laughed, and even though these women did not understand what we were talking about, they were laughing right along with us.

2006-01-07T14:59:00.000-08:00

This is the reason most people want to ride the train between Mandalay and Hsipaw - this old bridge. It is the highest rail bridge in Southeast Asia, or some such thing. This is about the only place you can photograph the bridge from. Soon thereafter, guards start watching foreigners to make sure they do not take pictures (a national security issue it would seem).

2006-01-07T14:57:00.000-08:00

At each stop kids from the closest homes would come out and see who was on the train, or they would try to sell things.

2006-01-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

I know this came after the bridge...the scenery was not stunning during the train ride but it was hypnotic. Instead of being blown away by any one sight, I just felt at peace the whole ride.

2006-01-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Pyin U Lin, a mountain station town that was once home to many British ex-pats. It is cool here, and very laid back. If you take the train from Hsipaw you should arrive in late afternoon. After taking a horse taxi (see later picture), you should have time for a nice little evening stroll before the sun goes down (this of course, only if your train is actually on time). I would then advise staying one more full day and then taking a morning pick up down to Mandalay (if you are going north to south). This building serves as a landmark in the middle of town.

2006-01-07T14:44:00.000-08:00

While most of the shops and restaurants are around Main Street in the center of town, the nicest thing to doin Pyin U Lin is to walk or bike around the neighborhoods which are dotted by these beautiful mansions (of course, it is easy to feel disgusted when one thinks about who probably owns these places now).

2006-01-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

I liked this building a lot as well, right on Main Street.

2006-01-07T14:42:00.001-08:00

This truck makes me think of bank robberies in Wild West America. In reality it was a bus.

2006-01-07T14:42:00.000-08:00

For some reason I really like this building. This on is on Main St. as well.

2006-01-07T14:39:00.001-08:00

One of the buildings off of the main part of Main Street in the center of Pyin U Lin. Near the center of town, along maybe a kilometer long stretch of road are an abundance of restaurants, some markets, clothing shops, and even, much to my surprise, an internet ready computer that could even access Yahoo hidden in the back of a store (there is a small sign out on Main Street pointing the way).

2006-01-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

While many of the buildings were quite lovely, the roofs just as often left something to be desired. But then again, practicality is the most important thing.

2006-01-07T14:36:00.000-08:00

One of several churches I saw around Pyin U Lin. This was the nicest of them. A man opened the church up so I could go in and there were notices about different improvement projects being funded by British parishes.

2006-01-07T14:34:00.000-08:00

Inside the church - beautiful in its simplicity, and evocative of a previous time with its wooden floors and low wooden pews.