Mandalay

Some shots from our time in Mandalay. Check out Austin's blog (sequential-one.com/blog) for some great photos of the night market.

We tasted grapefruit for the first time in months at the above fruit juice stand.

Mandalay at night.

Homeless children scour the streets for anything that can be resold.

These boys in particular have collected some rusty knives which they are cleaning up and sharpening.

An alternative method of drying clothes.

This man had a terrible growth on his face that no doubt could be quickly fixed back home.

Pick-ups transport people around Mandalay.

A vendor selling bus tickets, among other things.

We walked by this man at 10AM and then again at 4PM and he hadn't yet moved.

Caught photographing!

She'll have to wait until she's five to ride this motorbike.

At the night market in Mandalay you can get just about anything from Bibles to betel nut.

A baked goods vendor at the night market, one of the few with photogenic incandescent lighting.

-- Will

Jetty

After five days in Bagan, we decided to start moving on to Mandalay. We were told we could take a slow ferry that would take two days and one night. This sounded interesting as it is the choice transportation for locals. When we got on board we were informed it would take two nights and three days. Considering that the bus to Mandalay was cheaper and only took eight hours, we opted against taking the ferry. This worked out well in the end because we ran into some travellers we had met in Yangon the week before.

Young boys play by the waterfront.

A teashop employee poses for a photo.

An older man and young boy wait for the ferry.

One thing we've noticed about the Burmese is that they spend lots of time with their children.

A young girl carries a basket to the ferry.

Lecher meisje!

Women washing their clothes near the boats.

We met these two gentlemen in a village near the jetty.

Yet again we stumbled across a group of kids playing soccer.

Sunset at the jetty.

-- Will

Monks and Temples

Austin takes a nap

Older women can be seen smoking these huge cigars, generally packed with lots of wood shavings and very little tobacco.

A blind man takes refuge in the temple.

Novice monks in Nyaung U kick back.

Austin gazing up at Buddha.

An offering of flowers.

-- Will

Bagan

What's most impressive about Bagan at first is not the size or complexity of each individual temple, nor the condition, but rather the sheer number of them. There are pagodas or temples in every direction you look. Over a 230-year period, roughly 4400 were built. Earthquakes and serious neglect have brought that number down a thousand or two. What's even more striking is that many of these temples are in the middle of some farmer's field and so you see everyday life going on.


















Temple at dusk.

























Cattle meander through fields dotted with temples.


























The toddy tree produces a sweet fruit used to make alcohol.


























A temple surrounded by toddy trees.

























A novice monk walks past Shwezeigon with his alms bowl.



















A young shepherd boy runs through the field.



























































We met this family on our way to the temple in the background.


























A young boy demonstrates how to eat the toddy fruit.


















Temples at sunset.






















































-Will