Myanmar - Kalaw to Inle trek

[Jimbojack]

Thank you everyone for your comments on my previous posts. I'm doing a major update to my site so I'll have a lot more pics to post in the next few months :

These photos are from a 3 day, 67 kilometer trek that Aggie and I went on between the city of Kalaw and Inle Lake. This was one of the highlights of the trip. I will eventually write in a lot more detail about the villages, people, customs, etc (when I find the time).


Old Skoda and sacks of potatos, Kalaw. This car, out of commission for years, must have had a very interesting history....how did a Czech car get to Myanmar anyway?




Local scenery




Hinkhar khone, Palung tribe village
















Rail tracks, the concrete reinforcements have to be used to strengthen the tracks. The rail minister stole from the railway budget, instead of the hardwood needed for the tracks, cheap, soft wood was used. It lasted a very short time, and now needs to be replaced in parts by concrete.




Eating dinner by candlelight in Taung Lar, Danu tribe village




U.N. educational posters, adapted to the region by teaching to count using water buffaloes. Taung Lar village




Various photos






Field of chili peppers




Various photos






Pa Ho tribe woman working in the field. The Thanaka (makeup) on her face is very common in Myanmar.




A very relaxed cow




Pa Ho village, the women here cultivate and dry chili peppers before selling them in local markets. Some go as far as Mandalay or Yangon




Three generations of the Pa Ho, Mother, daughter and grandson. Drying chilies are in the background




Young monk




Pa Ho village school




Lanscape




Dunn village (Pa Ho tribe), this woman's baby is only 14 days old




Landscape






Man helping his Ox on an uphill road




Small shrine for offerings to the local Nat. Maynmar has 37 Nat's, or spirits, going back to the old Animistic beliefs. Locals believe a Nat resides in the valley pass between two mountains.




Near the shrine there is a warning for the Ox-cart drivers, "Drive slow, there is a Nat here!"




Monastery at Pae Tu Bauk, a Taung Thu tribe village. With the permission of the chief monk, we spent the night in the main hall of this monastery.




In addition to the 72 year old chief monk, the monastery had only 2 other very young monks. Here they are warming up in front of a fire with their two friends. In the background are our sleeping mats and a small dinner/breakfast table.




The chief monk warming himself in front of a small fire




The monastery from the outside




Landscapes






Local people making bricks for their houses. A couple of families work together to make the bricks, afterwards dividing them among themselves






Taung Thu tribe women








Flower in a field




During the dry season many people send their water buffaloes to Inle lake for about 4 months. They arrange this with people who live by the lakes, no money is exchanged. The family receiving the buffalo can use it to plow land during this time, but must take care of it and feed it. At the end of the dry season the buffaloes are returned to their original owners and start working on those fields in preparation for the planting of new crops.








Small spider ;)




Woman making coconut pancakes, Indein




Local man showing his protective tattoos, Indein. The tattoo design is different for everyone and depends on what the Astrologist says is lucky/protective.




Boat trip around Inle lake




Local fisherman, instead of arms these fisherman row using their legs






Around the lake








You can view the complete series from this page:
http://www.jimbojack.com/Southeast_Asia.htm


I hope you enjoyed these photos as well, I'll post another series soon!

[zentrickster]

I'm speechless.... actually I was reduced to saying wow as I scroll through and view each of your pictures....

Could you share with a nOOb what sort of lens selection you took with you on your jaunt? Which lens you favor? Which lens you took the majority of the shot with?

Your photography kung fu is strong..

Amazing photos...

[Jimbojack]

Originally Posted by zentrickster

I'm speechless.... actually I was reduced to saying wow as I scroll through and view each of your pictures....

Could you share with a nOOb what sort of lens selection you took with you on your jaunt? Which lens you favor? Which lens you took the majority of the shot with?

Your photography kung fu is strong..

Amazing photos...

Thanks, I'm glad you liked the photos. Most of these have been taken with a Nikon d300 + 17-55 f2.8. I also took with me a backup body (d200) and a 70-200 VR, 50mm 1.8, and Sigma 10-20mm, 30mm 1.4 and a 150 macro. It all fits in my lowepro computrekker backpack, it's heavy but I have no problems carrying it.

I really like the d300 + 17-55 combo, it's good for landscapes, portraits, and fairly good in low light. I did use all of my gear at different points of the trip.

Oh, I keep both my Nikon bodies set on the "Vivid" setting, I like the color saturation I get with it. I shoot everything in .jpg

Hope that helps

[Art Scott]

Reallly nice set....asfor the Skoda in Myanmar.....well probably one of 2 ways realistically.........car theft is huuuuge in the Czech Republic....if the cars are goingto be sold in Russia or points east (like Georgia) most will be high end German or Italian.....if going to a lower income are east then even the Skoda can fall victim.....
The other possiblity is that it was to be recycled (not many Salvage yards in Czech....) but if it still somewhat ran....then they are caravaned to somelow income country and sold.....a lot of them go for a boat ride to South America......the laws for cars in the C.R. is kinda cool...doesn't materhow old a vehicle is as long as it doesn't smoke or leak ANY fluids or it is not rusting.....if any thing like that is found during an inspection you are given a short period of time to fix or recycle the car.

Wasn't trying to hijack

A third but unlikly possibility is..........a Czech tourist drove it there to give to a family member................

[Jimbojack]

Originally Posted by Art Scott

Reallly nice set....asfor the Skoda in Myanmar.....well probably one of 2 ways realistically.........car theft is huuuuge in the Czech Republic....if the cars are goingto be sold in Russia or points east (like Georgia) most will be high end German or Italian.....if going to a lower income are east then even the Skoda can fall victim.....
The other possiblity is that it was to be recycled (not many Salvage yards in Czech....) but if it still somewhat ran....then they are caravaned to somelow income country and sold.....a lot of them go for a boat ride to South America......the laws for cars in the C.R. is kinda cool...doesn't materhow old a vehicle is as long as it doesn't smoke or leak ANY fluids or it is not rusting.....if any thing like that is found during an inspection you are given a short period of time to fix or recycle the car.

Wasn't trying to hijack

A third but unlikly possibility is..........a Czech tourist drove it there to give to a family member................

Well, the thing is that this car is quite old, I'm guessing it's from the 1970's or even earlier. With the strict Junta regulation on importing cars, it would have had to been imported into the country before they took place. So it would have had to been in the country by the mid 1980's or even earlier.

This just makes the mystery even more interesting. Also, this was the only Skoda that I've seen in the entire country...

[Qarik]

the monk in temple and the pot over the fire shot..holy f*ck those are good shots. excuse my french.

[Arvan]

Im so darn jealous of you! The place, portraits and all...I just darn love this series! i want to take photos like this, i need to take photos like this..Ohh