2006 trip to Myanmar (formerly Burma)

Myanmar, the "Golden Land," is a mostly Buddhist country. It was conquered by the British in the 19th

century and subsequently incorporated into its Indian Empire. It was administered as a province of India

until 1937, finally gaining its independence in 1948. Since 1962, the military has controlled the country,

even failing to turn over the governmental power to the opposition party that won a landslide victory in the 1990

general election. We have enjoyed the people everywhere in Asia but have found the people in Myanmar to be

especially delightful.

Where in the world is Myanmar?

In Myanmar, we only visited four cities, Yangon (formerly called Rangoon) the capital, Mandalay, Bagan,

and Inle Lake. We also spent a bit of time at Bangkok and Chiang Mai in Thailand

It has been suggested that we don't show enough pictures of ourselves, so, here are the two of us - taken

at the moat surrounding the Palace in Mandalay.

This is the name of a traditional sunscreen/makeup quite frequently used by the women in Myanmar and sometimes by the men.

The makeup is made by putting water on a rough plate and rubbing a piece of Sandalwood on the plate. The sawdust created turns

into a paste and is put onto the skin - usually the face. The Sandalwood paste has a nice fragrance. The paste is believed to be a

sunscreen but it is also thought to make the wearer attractive.

A banana seller in the Mandalay market with painted cheeks.

Another seller in Mandalay.

A 13 year old vendor outside one of the temples in Bagan. The locals refer to the kids hanging around temples as

"Mosquitoes" due to the fact that they can become pests

We took a 12 hour boat ride from Mandalay to Bagan. The boat stopped briefly to drop off some people and these

vendors came from the shore trying to sell items to the passengers.

Yangon was called Rangoon under the British rule and is the capital. Yangon has a very famous Pagoda called Shwedagon, shown below.

Shwedagon Pagoda is 98 meters high (around 300 feet) and is covered with solid gold plates while the top is encrusted

with diamonds and other precious stones. This Pagoda is seen as the most sacred of all Buddhist sites in the country, which all the citizens

hope to visit at least once in their life. The original may date back to the 6th Century but in earth-quake prone Myanmar it has been rebuilt

many times. The present structure dates to 1769.

This is a detail of the gold plates.

Rudyard Kipling, in his poem, made "On The Road to Mandalay" famous. There is a magic in the name but perhaps the following quote from

Maugham is more suited to reality.

"First of all Mandalay is a name.  For there are places whose names from some accident of history or happy association have an independent

magic and perhaps the wise man would never visit them, for the expectations they arouse can hardly be realized."  W. Somerset Maugham,

Ch 7 of "The Gentleman in the Parlour".

Moat around the Mandalay Palace. Built in 1857, the moat is about a kilometer long on each side and 70 meters wide. The Palace

itself burnt down at the end of WW2 and a few buildings have been rebuilt.

Mandalay street scene; Note both men and women wearing a wrap around type of sarong called a "longyi".

Mandalay street scene

A trishaw is a bike with a sidecar. The sidecar has a front and back seat with the passengers sitting back-to-back as seen below.

Gasoline is rationed and this is the lineup each morning to get a liter or two. You can also see Lynn on the back seat

of the trishaw.

Ken in the driver's seat, Lynn in the front facing seat and our driver in the back facing seat.

Just a people shot.

Inside the Mahmunni Pagoda

Sandamani Pagoda in the foreground and Mandalay Hill in the background.

Mythical beasts at the foot of Mandalay Hill.

Bagan has an astonishing # of Pagodas and Inle Lake is gorgeous click here to see some pictures