PHOTO FRIDAY: "FACES AND PLACES" EXHIBIT IN WASHINGTON

Bridge Crossing in Burma

Since it's Friday and last night was the opening reception of our first-ever photo show, Faces and Places, above is the first print that sold--a shot of two novice monks crossing a handmade bridge near Lake Inle in Burma. 

Thanks to everyone who made it out and helped us open the show, which will be running through Dec 1 at the upstairs gallery in Shaw's Tavern in Washington, DC. 

VIDEO: DEBATING MONKS

Of all the amazing things we witnessed while in Tibet, the debating monks at Sera Monastery, less than two miles from Lhasa, was the most surprising.  

Normally our interactions with monks involved sitting, praying, chanting, and the occasional bicycle ride. Seeing monks in full "debate mode" was indescribable. 

As part of their studies, young monks are given a topic to debate for three hours, taking turns changing positions on the topic. It may look a bit frightening, but the slapping of the hand is the young monk's way of ending the stating of each argumentative point.

 Lessons well learned, no doubt.

KIDS, CAVES AND CRUISING IN KAYIN STATE

These kids were very shy...as in, climbed up onto our motorbike to have pictures taken with us.

Happy kids, they're ridiculously contagious. No matter where you are, a group of smiling, giggling kids will light up your day, especially when they're giving you hugs, kisses, and hi-fives for no good reason whatsoever. 

Once Liz found the puppies, the boat ride was forgotten. The
bus was almost forgotten too until Kip pulled her away.

It all began with a broken down ferry. We really wanted to take a boat trip up the Thanlwin River from Moulmein, where Rudyard Kipling visited and composed some prose. Unfortunately, the ferry that the guide book said made the trip is out of service. Permanently.

But who needs boats when you have a bus station (read: empty lot) complete with puppies and local women selling all kinds of snacks from baskets on their heads. Plus, monks take the bus, so it must be good.

A Burmese woman sells fruit from the basket balanced          

           on her head.

After a short two hour ride through parts of the beautiful countryside of the Mon and Kayin States, we arrived at Hpa An (pronounced: Puh Ahn). We had almost forgotten we were in a country where the government demands extreme, totalitarian control of its citizens, until we came upon an English translation of a billboard we had seen in several places (see below).

A multi-lingual billboard that explains the goals
of the Myanmar government. 

Seeing as how we had no intentions of disintegrating the union, or national solidarity (at least for the moment...we had just arrived, after all) we decided to see some of the sights around the area, of which there are more than two. 

And, since we missed out on our scenic ferry ride, we were lucky enough to find a willing boat driver to take us out for a three hour tour on the river, past river villages and many pagodas best viewed from the water. 

View from the river of one of the many golden stupa topped islands.

With our river cruise behind us (gladly, as our boat turned into a sieve halfway through) we opted to explore the countryside on a motorbike, one of our favorite things.  We are glad we took advantage, since the government recently restricted motorcycle use by foreigners in most areas of the country due to "safety concerns."

We may have gotten lost a few times on the back roads, but there were always plenty of villagers who, though they spoke no English, pointed us in the right direction. Kip even tried to ask this new baby goat for directions, but couldn't get a straight aah-aah-aah-answer.

At last we arrived at the Kaw-goon Cave, one of many limestone caves in the area that are religious sites. This cave, with statues and carvings dating back to the 13th century  has its own monastery, koi pond, and numerous Buddha statues.

Kip gets a closer look at the intricate wall carvings of Kaw-goon Cave.

As we set off for another one of the area's caves, we spotted the tip of the gravity defying Kyauk Kalap pagoda above the trees. As impressive as it was from afar, it was even more so up close, enhanced by the groups of brightly colored monks that were laughing in a group at the beginning of the bridge. 

Monks cross the bridge over the lake to their island monastery.

And, to make this temple even more amazing, was our welcoming committee of local kids in traditional Kayin dress. We got lots of hi-fives, and were even asked to pose for a few photos. We chatted for a while, and Liz impressed them with her ever growing knowledge of Burmese (about 5 phrases), which they found hilarious. 

Kip poses with this awesome group of fun kids.

They sent us off with hugs, kisses (for Liz), and more hi-fives. What can we say, we love this place. 

PHOTO FRIDAY: HAPPY MONKS IN MYANMAR

On a tiny island on a tiny lake in southern Myanmar, atop a needle-like column of limestone there sits an ancient golden pagoda where holy men still go to worship. Below the stupa numerous monks live, including the crew seen crossing the old concrete bridge above. All the guys seemed happy to see us, shouting out a loud "Mingalaba" as they approached. One even gave us a thumbs up. Despite all the hardships the people of Myanmar endure, we have never been greeted with anything less than a smile and friendly word. It's a habit we're trying to learn ourselves.

SE ASIA'S MOST RELAXED CAPITAL

Kip and friend Chris check out Vientiane's Patuxai Arch.

Compared with the sprawling Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, Laos’ capital city Vientiane seems like a small town. While KL has soaring skyscrapers like the Petronas Towers and KL Tower, Vientiane’s skyline features few buildings more than five stories tall. Instead of glitzy shopping malls the former French-ruled city has tiny mom & pop shops selling everything from custom-tailored suits to old stamps from decades past. But what Vientiane does not have in height or glitz, it makes up for in charm and tranquility.

Together with a good friend of Kip's from Norway traveling with us for two weeks (hey, Chris!), we would soon explore on foot numerous Buddhist temples and countless placid streets along the Mekong River. However, we agreed unanimously that our first stop must be a visit to the brewery of Laos’ most well-known product, Beer Lao (which holds a stunning 95 percent market-share of beer sold in the country).

When, after a 30 minute tuk-tuk ride to the Beer Lao brewery, we learned sadly they no longer offered tours (our very innocent tuk-tuk driver promised us they did) our entrepreneurial chauffer suggested he drive us back into town to the city’s lone bowling alley, where we could sample the product first hand (we later learned even the often-stodgy New York Times suggests going bowling while here...who knew).

While the closure of the Beer Lao factory tour didn’t keep us from learning about the flavors of the national beverage, we certainly didn’t do much to represent our nation’s bowling prowess (none of us even broke 100…being shown up by a little girl’s birthday party in the next lane). In the following days, however, we did manage to see some of the other amazing sights beyond the alley. 

An official sign posted on the Patuxai Arch describes it as a "monster of concrete." Marketing help, anyone?

Patuxai, the victory gate modeled on the Arch d’ Triumphe in France, is an impressive sight surrounded by what must be some very sacred grass. The 50-foot tall arch was supposedly built with concrete donated by the United States to build an air strip for delivery of foreign aid. Instead, Laos built this concrete monstrosity (their words, not ours!).

There is also a large stupa in the center of town where many Laotians believe lives a seven headed dragon that once protected the city. The stupa is called That Dam (pronounced Tawt Dam). This results in many of the restaurants/hotels/bars to be named after it, including “That Dam Bar”, “That Dam Restaurant,” etc. Obviously, we found this play on words highly entertaining, as evidenced by this photo.

One of the most important sites in all of Laos is the wat (temple) That Luang. It’s a long walk from the city center, but the shine of the gold in the sun is worth the trek. On the day we visited, there were many monks hard at work in the baking sun.

 

Monks hard at work outside a temple in Vientiane.

That Luang

After Vientiane we're headed across the Thai Lao Friendship Bridge and onward to Bangkok for a few days to sort out our visas to some very exciting places...if they let us in. Too cheap to fly, we've opted for the romance of the train.

But first, a toast to this lovely capital as we enjoy an unforgettable sunset on the Mekong.