Myanmar

Oct 2013

Myanmar (or Burma as it was previously known) is predominantly Buddhist. Whilst there are other religions Buddhism has been around far longer as evidenced by the many amazing temples, stupas, pagodas and monks you see in the country.

Until recently (2010) it was ruled by the military and most the people were very poor. As a result not much as changed and traditional ways are still followed (although I think this will change now)

UPDATE: Guess I was wrong about things improving as the Military took control again and voilence erupted once more. 😞

Two boats sit on the lake near Mandalay as Om Pei bridge stretches out to the other side.

Monk Crossing — A monk crosses the road in the foreground. In the background stands an old colonial building

Overgrown — An old colonial building is overgrown with moss and small plants due to the extremely humid climate

Yangon Prayers — Two local ladies pray in front of a small temple in Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon

Shwedagon Pagoda — Some of the many templates and structures inside the Shwedagon Pagoda complex

Monk with Umbrella — A monk circles the Shwedagon Pagoda shading himself from the sun with a typically local umbrella

Taking a Break — Some buddhist monks rest in the shade of one of the many temples in the Shwedagon Pagoda complex

Monk and Pagoda — A monk poses in front of the main pagoda

Buddha Statues — A line of buddha statues in one of the temples

Fisherman — A fisherman with the typical local conical net used to trap fish against the lake bed.

Inle Boatmen — Several boatmen head out onto Lake Inle. As well as fishing some collect weed from the lake bottom, and transport people and goods between villages on the lake.

Cleaning House — A monk brushes away cobwebs in one of the monasteries on the lake

Silk Weaving — A young girl uses a manual wooden loom to weave silken cloth

Coloured Silks — The silk is dyed several shades using various plant and mineral extracts.

Hammer Rings — At this blacksmith shop, despite the instense heat, the metal is hammered out manually. The three guys with hammers each strike the metal in time

The High Street — A view down one of the waterway streets in a typical village on Lake Inle

Cheroot — Similar to a cigar, cheroots are popular with locals on the lake. In this workshop they make the filling and roll with leaves to create the finished item.

Golden Duck Boat — This bird is a symbol of the lake (more phoenix than duck). On special festivals is sails between the villages carrying buddhist items so locals can worship.

Silversmith — The majority of the manufacturing in workshops on the lake is manual. Here a worker in a silversmith engraves a pattern with a handheld drill.

Lake View — A small holding on Lake Inle. The locals grow a huge amount of tomatoes on the lake.

Lake Marker — A marker on the lake topped with the symbolic phoenix bird

Weed Fishing — Inle boatmen collect weed from the lake bed to use as fertiliser on their tomato fields. It often looks like theboat is going to capsize as they scrap it onboard.

One Leg Row — The boatmen on Inle Lake have a unique way of rowing their boats using one of their legs wrapped around the oar so their hands are free.

Market Day Parking — Many of the traditional long boats pulled up at the shore of the popular weekly market on the lake.

Puppets — A row of local puppets for sale in the market. These are sold mainly as souveniers now.

Bamboo Basket — A lady in local dress pays for her spring inions.

Head-dresses — The different colurs and styles of head-dress often relate to different clans and tribes inthe villages on the lake.

Fish Market — A local woman heads back to her boat with her purchases.

Transaction — The market is very colourful with the locals in traditional dress

Heading Home — A mother and daughter head home after shopping at the weekly market.

Stupa Entrance — The decorated entrance to a stupa

Hidden Statue — This buddha statue was hidden inside a large derelict stupa

Stupa Stupa Stupa — The Indein Pagoda complex is a site with hundreds of stupas. Many are in bad shape and falling down although attempts have been made to restore some.

Stupa Cleaning — A couple of locals remove weeds and plants growing from the stupas in order to stop any further damage to them.

Hotline to Heaven — A monk checks messages on his mobile phone.

Big Buddha, Little Buddha — A large buddha statue in a temple is access through an archway covered in hundreds of smaller buddha images

Catching the Breeze — Two young monks sit in the window of an old wooden style monastery

Monk School — Young monks learn and recite the buddhist history inside the monastery

Niche Worship — A small side temple in one of the monasteries contains hundreds of small buddhist statues in niches set in the walls.

Haircut — A monk helps another to shave his head.

Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery — Shwe Yan Pyay Monastery, just outside Nyaung Shwe, is a wooden monastery built in the early 19th Century. The teak wood building has unusal oval windows.

Train Snacks — A food seller passes produce up to those on a train as it waits to move on.

Victory — Two young kids at Aung Ban railway station. The stuff on their faces is a form of sunscreen and made from a soft wood paste.

Young Monks — A group of young monks run up a hill near their monastery

Hidden Statue — A status of buddha sits in the sun at the top of a set of dark mossy steps.

Kalaw — A view over Kalaw town - one of the many hill stations in the north.

Shield Bug — We found this brightly coloured bug during a trek up into the hills around Kalaw.

Traditional Dress 1 — A local lady in the hill-top village we visited on our trek.

Traditional Dress 2 — A couple of ladies in traditional dress.

Weaving — A local woman in the hill-top village near Kalaw shows how she traditionally weaves cloth.

Lunchtime — The hill-top village we visited on a trek happened to be having a festival. During the celebrations everyone sat down to lunch together.

Kids Will Have Fun — Two young kids run through the paths in a village near Kalaw with their kite.

Onion Cleaning — These ladies are removing some of the papery sheels around onions by tossing them in special bamboo baskets.

Two Little Boys — A young monks walk through the pillared entrance to one of the temples.

Stilt Houses — A typical village with houses on stilts sits on the bank of the Ayeyarwady River.

Mother and Daughter — A mother holds her daughter and sits looking out of the boat window.

Jungle Temples — A temple complex sits amongst the green jungle on the banks of the Ayeyarwady River.

Local Taxi — A local man sees if anyone wants a taxi, pulled by oxen, as the boat arrives at the bank.

Mingun Bell — At 90 tons, the Mingun Bell reigned as the largest ringing bell in the world until 2000, when it was eclipsed by the 116-ton Bell of Good Luck at the Foquan Temple in China

Wedding Cake Pagoda — Like the Taj Mahal in India, this pagoda was built as a beautiful mausoleum by a ruler for his wife.

Shwe Inn Bin Monastery — A typical wooden monastery with the stone staircase leading up to it.

Mahamuni Paya — Ancient tradition refers to only five likenesses of the Buddha, made during his lifetime; two were in India, two in paradise, and the fifth is the Mahamuni Buddha. Its a very holy site in Mayanmar.

Mandalay Hill — A view of Mandalay Hill from near the Royal Palace complex. The water in the foreground is the moat around the palace.

Palace Pagoda — The majority of hte Royal Palace was destroyed during the war. The building here now are replicas only and are empty inside.

Helter-Skelter — Some of the buildings inside the Palace complex in Mandalay. The round building is not a helter-skelter but a watch-tower.

Flowers in Her Hair — A local girl in one of the temples stands looking out of the door. She's wearing jasmine flowers in her hair and the sunscreen paste on her cheecks in in the shape of a leaf.

Monastery Detail — Carving on the roof line of one of the monasteries.

On Top of the Hill — Two monks look out over the city towards the Ayeyarwady River from the top of Mandalay Hill.

Sunset Over Mandalay — The sun sets over the Ayeyarwady River in Mandalay with several of the pagodas in the city in the foreground.

Mandalay Hill Twilight — A view down from the top of Mandalay Hill towrds the Royal Palace.

Om Pei Bridge — Two monks cross the bridge

Morning Alms — Four monks wait beside a stall to see if the owner has anything for them. They cannot ask for anything and are only allowed to wait a maximum of a couple of minutes before moving on.

Grabbing a Bite — Two young monks grab a bite to eat at a local stall.

Laughing Ladies — Two local ladies outside a shop laugh as I and another traveller try to ask them to smile for a photo.

Stone Monastery — Most of the monasteries are made from wood but this one at Inwa is built from stone.

Health and Safety — Workers carve buddha statues from stone blocks. There's little in the way of health and safety and they get covered in the fine white dust but have no goggles or masks.

House Boat — Locals watch as the boat docks at a small town on the Ayeyarwady River. The men wear the traditional Longi wrap instead of trousers.

Field of Temples — A view across the plain at Bagan showing just a small fraction of the hundreds of temples and stupas in this area.

Mini-Monk — A young monk runs through one of the temple complexes

Buddhist Symmetry — A large temple in Bagan contains an inner corridor with Buddha statues on each side.

Place of Worship — Inside one of the older small temples

Bagan Temple

Ananda Pagoda 1 — An old temple at Bagan famous for its four huge standing buddha statues.

Ananda Pagoda 2 — A series of internal corridors circle the four standing buddhas. The walls of the corridors are full of smaller statues.

Temple Carving

Giant Reclining Buddha — In one of the temples there are a collection of buddha statues that are so huge they barely fit within the spaces they were built in.

Buddha in Red

Stupa Buddha

Road to the Temples

View from the Top — Looking out through a doorway near the top of one of the larger structures on the plain.

Stairway of Light — A series of candles burn on the dark steps down inside one of the temples.

Lacquerware — Bagan is also famous for its lacquerware which is produced in workshops and some of the local villages.

Staining and Cleaning — The lacquerware bowls are stained and cleaned on a small manually powered lathe.

Primary School — One of the local schools in Bagan.

Goats and Temple — A local woman grazes her flock infront of a temple.

Intricate Decoration — Many of the temples contain beautiful painted decoration on the walls inside.

Stupas Galore — Bagan is a plain about the size of Manhatten Island (New York) but it contains more temples and stupas than there are Medieval Cathederals in all of Europe.

Sunset Over Bagan

Twilight Temple — One of the larger temples at Bagan is lit up after sunset.