thedude.com

It’s not that I’m getting tired of looking at these beautiful images - no one loves them more than I do. It’s just that I’ve run out of disk space, so tonight I’m adding a 1.5 terabyte disk to my Linux server. It’ll take a few hours to migrate the data off the old 500 gig drive, so tonight all you get is this crummy panorama that didn’t turn out well enough for me to post under ordinary circumstances. But don’t despair, I’ll make up for it soon.

In the mean time, if you just have to see more images, check out my Picasa photo album. It contains some images that didn’t quite make the cut on thedude.com, and it’s Cooliris enabled. (Cooliris is a MUST-HAVE plugin.) Also, if you are using the Google Screensaver, you can subscribe to my Burma album’s RSS feed here. If you do, you will automatically see my images on your screen as I update them. How cool is that?!

We raced to the ruins by horse cart, but arrived at the best viewpoint two minutes after the light had faded. I immediately made plans to return under better lighting conditions, and continued snapping anyway. There’s plenty to shoot. If nothing else, there are always children. There are more adorable children in Burma than there are pagodas. Of course, they all have something to sell, and we bought whatever we could carry. The money we spent went directly into the hands of the Burmese people who need it most, and most of what we bought will go directly into your Christmas stockings. :)

Disclaimer: When you see a shot like the one below, you probably imagine your brave photographer came across the old woman after trekking for hours through dense jungle to some remote village never before seen by a westerner. Well, I hate to disappoint you, but these days, smiling children and cigar-smoking women can be found anywhere a hapless tourist might appear in Burma. They’ll happily pose for you and wait patiently for a tip. I bought this pose for 1,000 Kyat - about a buck.

We spent just one night at Mount Popa. We both wish we had stayed longer, but we were not disappointed with our next stop - the lovely Bagan Thiripytsaya Sakura Hotel. Our room at the hotel has great views of the Irrawaddy River - Myanmar’s mightiest. There is also a huge inviting pool, and a very attentive staff. We’re glad that we have three nights here.

We got to our room just in time to hear John McCain’s concession speech. From this moment on, if we so much as mention the name of our new president-elect and we are showered with applause and smiles. This works everywhere we go in Burma. I call it the “Obama Effect”. It’s been a while since it felt this good to be an American overseas. Life is good.

We wound up later than day at in a spectacular bungalow at the Popa Mountain Resort. The resort is perched on the side of the mountain overlooking Popa Taungkalat - a 2,400 foot tall volcanic plug with a Buddhist monastery on top. We decided against climbing the 777 steps to the top, and instead got a massage.

(Thanks Steve and Grant! Without your lens and tripod, I could not have gotten this shot.)

We said farewell to the Governor’s Residence and took a short flight on Yangon Airways to the Bagan airport, where we were greeted once again by smiling faces.

(On a related note, I just saw this story on FriskoDude’s blog. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank our travel planner William for booking us on the only airline in Myanmar still able to obtain spare parts!)

On the long drive to Mt. Popa, we stopped at a local farm where Kelly took a turn making peanut oil the old fashioned way. We also saw how the male coconut trees were tapped for their flow of sweet toddy, which when reduced, yields a super-sweet brown sugar. Some of this sugar is eaten in this form with coffee or tea. The rest is fermented in large vessels and distilled into a potent liquor which tastes a bit like tequila to me. The large shot below shows the last step in making double-distilled version of this liquor - bottling. The gentleman used the lighter the to show us that this stuff burns like jet fuel. Naturally, I brought a bottle home.

Also known these days as Bogyoke Aung San Market, the bustling market in the heart of Yangon offers something for every kind of nut.

While in Bago, we checked out a performance by a group of dancers who are purportedly able to channel some of the 37 spirits (Nats) commonly worshiped in Burma.

The all-male dancers (Nat Kataws) impersonate these spirits and dance to a small, but unbelievably loud orchestra. Believers watch intently and often pin money on the dancers. The performances can go on for hours and involve lots of smoking and drinking, eventually causing some of the dancers to go into a trance.

To get the “full effect”, watch the video to the right.

There was much to see on the leisurely return trip from Kyaikhityo, (The Golden Rock). Here are a few of our favorites. Hover over the images for a brief description.

By the way, if you haven’t yet noticed, I’ve been updating my earlier posts, adding lots of new images and even some videos, so be sure to scroll down the page.

Back in Ingabo once again, a proud mother escorts her daughter - considered one of the most beautiful girls in the village - to the initiation ceremony.

I think it’s worth pointing out that this image was not staged - it was shot as it happened. Photo opportunities like this come at you constantly in Burma.

We survived the rest of our amazing trip and the 26 hour flight home, and we’re exhausted. Now comes the hard part - sorting through 4,539 images and getting the best of them up on the site. We are delighted to hear that many of you are waiting for more pictures, and I promise to deliver soon. But first, we’d like to thank a few people.

Thanks to Steve and Grant who were kind enough to loan me their expensive camera gear. I would not have been able to get some of trip’s the best shots without your lens and awesome travel tripod.

Thanks also to our friends who talked us into traveling to this amazing country in the first place. Don, Jum, Chris, Ben, Jerry and Tum - thanks for convincing us that a trip to Burma would be memorable. The trip proved to be everything you said it would be and more.

We’d also like to send a huge thanks to William Myatwunna and his crack team at the award-winning Good News Travels. William is articulate, professional, charming and extremely capable. He and his top-notch team managed to exceed our expectations through the entire trip. We consistently found ourselves in the best rooms in the best hotels with the best views. We felt like royalty. We can not recommend William and Good News Travels highly enough. Five stars.

But the highest praise goes to the guide William chose for us. We spent just two short weeks with Tun, but in that time we became incredibly close. We really looked forward to seeing him each morning - no matter how early. He quickly became much more than a travel guide. You might think we’re both nuts, but we really do miss him. We don’t know how we’ll face the morning without his smile and guidance. Thank you so much, Tun. Our trip was made magical by you.

On today’s return trip from the Golden Rock, we made a few stops. The last of our stops was in Ingabo Village where we happened upon the initiation rite for this 12 year old boy. Tomorrow he heads off to the monastery to do a stint as a monk, where he will live a life guided by by 227 strict rules.

But before he goes, there will be much celebration and dancing. After a blessing and feast, the young man is sent off in style on the back of a costumed dancing (or not) horse.

Some things are best described with sound and motion, and this was one of those events. If you’d like to see how the dancer moved and hear the band or if you’d like to see a non-dancing horse and some adorable kids hamming it up, click on the videos below.

I thought this might happen at some point in the trip, but it’s happening sooner than I expected. I already have way more pictures that I’d like to share than I can post from here. Trying to edit my images down to a few favorites is not easy. I’m averaging 400 or so shots per day - and that’s just because I’m so lazy. This place is a photographer’s paradise. I could shoot ten times as many images if I had the energy, and that’s no exaggeration. The sights come at you rapid fire. There is something to see in every square inch of this amazing place.

We took a break during our four hour drive over some of the worst roads imaginable and stopped briefly in Bago to visit the bustling market. I wish we could have stayed longer. The sights and smells were equally overpowering.

Later, it looked like we were in for disappointment on the way up the extremely steep hill to the Golden Rock. (More about the climb in a later post.) The weather turned very foggy, and for a while it looked like we might not even be able to see the rock, much less produce a decent photo of it. However, our fortune changed and just before sunset, the skies opened up to reveal one of the most spectacular sites we have ever seen. (Respect to Mark Downey for setting the gold standard for this shot.)

Continuing our streak of good luck, sunrise the next morning from our room at the Mountain Top Motel was the most beautiful either of us had ever seen.