Myanamar(Burma)

I toured Myanamar(Burma) in the summer of 1996. It's, of course, a controversial tourist destination due to the (I'm quoting a citizen here) "*&#^%in government."

Aside from that I found the people of Myanamar, the Burmese, Shans, and others, surprisingly happy with their lives. This Westerns may find hard to believe in a country in which most have may only two sets of clothes to wear day and little else. Travel, though, always challenges your expectations.


The Myanmar National Anthem


At the Sule Pavillion in downtown Rangoon I checked my shoes...and couldn't find them. It turned out there were five or six shoe check places. The Pavillion shows where the Burmese spend their money on their Buddhism.

The Strand Hotel once one of the top 3 in Asia (with the
Raffles). Sommerset Maugham stayed there, but I didn't.

The interior of the Botataung Pavillion,
Rangoon shows impressive glasswork.

The Rangoon River connects to the sea and would make a reasonable port for export. Of course, now only a few governments will even admit to trading with Myanmar, due to its famously pathetic human rights record.

The "Royal Lakes" formerly housed the British residency.

The artist at the Karaweik Restaurant
in Rangoon with Big Bird.

The Burmese express their Buddhism in an ornate way.

The Burmese Golden Age lasted from 800-1250 when they built the city of Pagan and dominated today's Myanmar. This impressive guard looked outwards from the city but apparently didn't warn them about Ghengiz Khan who burned, looted, and sacked the city abruptly (but temporarily) ending Burmese hegemony within Myanmar.

After the sacking of Pagan by the Mongols, The Burmese built Ava and several later capitals on the banks of the Irawaddy while they rebuilt their society.

The brochure claims 100 Buddhas.

This "lake" only occurs in the rainy season. During the
dry season, you can walk from one side to the other.

Of many temples at Pagan, most experts consider the
"Wedding cake style" Ananda the most spectacular.

This all-wooden monastery at Pagan makes an
interesting contrast to the stone structures.

Sunset falls on the Irawaddy.

From this hill above Mandalay the Buddha proclaimed that some day a "great city" would arise below (if you believe the Burmese legends).

Only the Ava Bridge crosses the Irawaddy.

Hawkers try to sell to travellors on this boat on the river.

Pagan abounds with pagodas.

Bupaya Pavillion offers a nice view of the river.

Grrrrrrr.

I took this picture from atop one of Pagan's temples. Note the truckload of young Burmese. With crops in the ground, they hired a truck to visit all of the temples around the Pagan area. Young boys and girls often use this type of trip to mix and meet one another.

This Burmese "Rosetta Stone" shows the earliest known example of written Burmese. Okay, I admit it resembles a phallic symbol.

These potted plants show the general driness of the climate of Pagan. Only advanced irrigation made a (very) large population possible.

In Burma far more travel in this manner than by car.

The Irawaddy Princess actually now
functions as a floating restaurant.

Early Burmese worshipped nature gods called "Nats" (no, I'm not making this up), subsequently incorporated into Burmese Buddhism. Supposedly, the Nats resided here atop Mt. Popa.

This monkey seemed harmless. A moment later he jumped on my back and attacked my backpack in a search for food. My appearance apparently "Shocked the Monkey to Life." "Eep. Eep."

The small temple at the top of Mt.
Popa shows typical architecture.

Here, I'm above the level of the clouds. That means
I've looked at these clouds from both sides now.

This shows Mt. Popa from a distance.

This road leads back into the uplands. The
ethnic Burmese dominate lowland Myanmar.

The uplands belong to other peoples. This Moslem temple in Kalaw perched halfway up to the Shan Plateau, shows that not all those in Mynamar adhere to Buddhism. Only some 60% speak Burmese.

This Sikh Temple served some immigrant
Indians who ran businesses in Kalaw.

This boat sails on Inle Lake on the Shan Plateau.

The market works this way: If you see something you want, you float over and trade for it. Note the various costumes. The Shans here trade with non-Shans hill tribes many of whom speak unrelated languages more closely related to Aboriginal Australian or Chinese.

In the distance, note the "Floating Temple"
which sits in the middle of the lake.

Inside you can see a cat that performs for potato
chips. That's not good when the chips are down.

The Shans grow crops with soil anchored to the lake bottom. As far as I know, only the ancient Aztecs used a similar system.

The Shans, like the man shown here, tend to look like
darker, bigger Thais. They speak a distinct form of Thai.

The military dictatorship makes life grim, but sometimes provides moments of purely unintentional humor. The sign here states: "Love your mother and respect the law."

This group parades around the city of Thazi
with their Buddhist image requesting donations.

This penultimate view of Myanmar shows a
cow and a rice paddy, a pretty fair summation!

The sunset signals the end to my trip to Myanmar.

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