Burma, Laos, Vietnam 2003

Travel in Burma is a concentrated experience. After just two days of being in Burma, I felt like I had accumulated several weeks' worth of travel experiences. You don't have to go to any particular place to experience this in Burma; just being there itself is so radically different from any of the other 20+ countries I have visited, that you inevitably accumulate stories and first-hand accounts of what most people would consider "idiosyncracies".

For example, to take a five minute ferry ride across the river, foreigners have to fill out an immigration form. I'm not joking. This applies only to "foreigners" who must pay $1 and visit the immigration office, complete with immigration administrator who looks at your passports.  He makes conversation (he's obviously a lonely guy) and then approves your immigration form. Of course, by that time the ferry is already gone, but nobody is in a rush in Burma. You just wait 15 minutes until it comes back from the other side of the river.



Here are some photos I took of the Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, the capital city of Burma (aka Myanmar).



Here is a photo from the village of Twante, which is across the river from Yangon. Visiting this village really was like going back in time. You see a lot of primitive transportation, dirt roads, etc.


The main attraction in Burma, besides the country itself, is Bagan . Click the link for more info, but here are some of my pics from Bagan. The woman in the picture on the right is making lacquerware. The white stuff on her face is called "tanaka". It's very common to see children and women in Burma wearing tanaka on their face. I was told it's a skin protectant.

One of my favorite parts of Burma was Inle Lake. Here are some photos I took from Inle Lake.