My trip to Burma.

[yy]

Food is always one of the main highlights of any trip for me!

[Jasonkoh82]

Food is always one of the main highlights of any trip for me!

Haha but not those food that we don't get to eat often...

[billyboy]

People at the station where sitting on the track and moved only when the train was very close. This lady in one photo looks happy counting her money.Lots of people arriving here where also visiting Shwedegon as well as coming for the shopping, on the bridge is one man with his chicken feather dusters heading to the market, while two young ladys cross the track going some place. It was very busy here with more people on the tracks at times than on the station platform.

Billy.

[billyboy]

Some more from Shwedegon. One statue has pink toes while another has like a serpant in it's mouth and one of the many Monks at the Temple.

Billy.

[Betti]

Billy, when you take pics of vendors etc, do you go up to them and talk to them, or try to snap a shot without saying anything, from a distance? I am always struggling with this :-(

[Jasonkoh82]

Billy, when you take pics of vendors etc, do you go up to them and talk to them, or try to snap a shot without saying anything, from a distance? I am always struggling with this :-(

My guess Betti, one possible way I could think of is to use a zoom lens on the dslr. Maybe 500mm or more?

[billyboy]

Billy, when you take pics of vendors etc, do you go up to them and talk to them, or try to snap a shot without saying anything, from a distance? I am always struggling with this :-(

Hi Betti,

I do usualy go and have a chat or as Jason said use a zoom which i do sometimes. Or i usualy just smile or point at my camera and give them a thumbs up as if to say okay. When i was in Inle, i shared a boat with a French lady to go to see Tong Gee market, as we where walking up to the Temple we stopped and asked a couple of villagers if it was okay to take there picture which they said okay, just as we where going to take a photo this woman came from nowhere and litteraly barged us out of the way with her camera firing away on auto and never said a word then just walked away! We where appalled at her rudeness and the two girls who said we could take there picture seemed taken aback, if not a little frightened. I would certainly never do that. Most people seem okay for a picture to be taken i find, but i did notice in Burma the more older people sometimes said no whilst the younger ones all seemed fine.
Billy.

[billyboy]

I had two whole full days in Rangoon in all and seemed to cram a fair bit into my time there. I visited the zoo one day for a few hours, it was a nice couple of hours strolling around with the animals all making all making there strange and different noises. The zoo gardens where very pretty with lots of flowers and all well planted. It was peacefull with Burmese families having a day out and a good few Monks enjoying some free time. I saw the most pretty of monkeys i have ever seen there, i was looking for him/her, and then i heard a little noise and noticed i was being watched! The monkey is the one in my picture. I laughed because his cage had no roof on and i think it just had a free run of the zoo before returning home to its cage. I can't remember the name of this huge bird in the other picture but it's colours where beautifull.

Billy.

[billyboy]

I think definately Shwedegon would have to be visited twice over say two days, if i go again i will do this and make it a morning one day and late afternoon or early evening trip the next day, there is so much to see and because in the confines of the Temple there is no breeze and the heat is intense. Thinking now i probably rushed about a bit to much to see it and to get back into some shade. It is just every yard or so there is something different to see or admire from the carvings to the Buddhas and to the magnificent architecture of the place. I spent hours there and it was not enough.Some rooms here are small, enough for only several people to pray while other rooms are huge and adorned with massive golden statues.

Billy.

[billyboy]

I sat at a small family run street vendors stall one day and had a nice spicy chicken and rice meal, this was inside the market in one of the many small roads there that branch of everywhere, it is quite a big place Bogyoki market.At the stall where i was it was mum and daughter cooking and serving and the younger brother cleaning up and helping.

Billy.