iKombazana

My friend Marilyn from South Africa






The story of the Buddha's life

The 23 ton Maha Ghanda Bell. The British tried to ship the bell to London but dropped it in the river. After weeks of trying to raise it, they finally gave up, and told the Burmese if they could raise it they could have it back. The locals raised it using bamboo

As the sun set the colors were incredible!




Something I will always remember, watching the sun set on Shwedagon Paya

Waitin' for my train for the 14 hour overnight ride to Mandalay

Rural Myanmar



Dining Car, don't have the chicken and rice.....


The soccer hooligans(kids) were everywhere


Royal Palace wall and moat


Priorities!

Local handicrafts

Rice For Sale

Tourists!

Entrance to Mandalay Hill




The Temple at the top of Mandalay Hill




Someone To Watch Over Me

729 stupas, each containing a tablet. Considered the World's Largest Book. Basically the Buddhist bible.

One of the tablets

Studying

The longest, and oldest working teak bridge in the world. 1200 meters end to end

Traffic on the bridge


View from half way across

Local transportation

Beautiful, peaceful, and serene

When water levels are down, the restaurants pop up



Dinner?


The surrounding landscape was amazing

Local schoolgirls on their way home, checking out the fishing

The Mahamuni Image. One of only five images of the Buddha cast during his lifetime. Around 546 BC. Solid bronze, 13 foot high, 6.5 tons, covered in 2000 years of gold leaf, 6 inches thick.

Applying gold leaf to the entire temple


He didn't look happy

Wish I could do that!

The local hospital

Sagaing Hill was incredible


Beautful tile work was everywhere

Something you don't see every day

Even the water supply for the many monasteries was ornate

View from the top




The Golden Land

From the 9th to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Pagan, the first kingdom to unify the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. During the kingdom's height between the 11th and 13th centuries, over 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas and monasteries were constructed in the Bagan plains alone, of which the remains of over 4000 temples and pagodas still survive to the present day.

Local Transportation

Shwezagon Paya

The pile of busted marble statues

Locals

Not sure....Was in the most remote place down near the river

Local kids followed me around for hours, and took me places I would have never found on my own.












The view from my balcony

In the heat of the day, this was heaven

Once I realized the enormity of Bagan, there was only one thing left to do...Rent a mountain bike! $1.50 a day

Inside almost every temple were 1000 year old murals and Buddha images

Even the gates were beautiful

4000 temples in a valley the size of Monterey Bay

Most were more than a thousand years old

On top of Shwesandaw Paya, looking towards Dhammayangyi Paya

Time for re-gilding

Miles of trails, thousands of temples, and no one there but me

Along a bend in the Ayerwaddy River

I told them I was checking out, I came back to this

On my way to the beach

This was tough duty

Local fruit stand

The only place I saw Tabasco!

The air was 90, the water was 80, perfect!

Watching over the bay and a guide for the East India Company ships to come in

Typical squid boat set up

Squid Lights On The Horizon


Tied Up For Bad Weather

My favorite restaurant

Amazing how they get these heavy wooden boats around with no motor

Hmmmmmmmmmmm........

Drying the days catch

Mmmmmmmmm, more squid than you could possibly eat!

They used the oxen to pull the boats up onto the beach for repair and unloading, and then back in.
Who needs a Travelift when you have these?



She came running out so I would take a picture of the baby. Most of the women her age chew Bettlenut. Over time it rots the teeth, and turns your mouth red. Even the monks use it. Supposedly medicinal....and a nice buzz

Your upscale Myanmar Fishermans house

The food was cheap, delicious, and you can't beat the view!

The sunsets were amazing. Looking over the Bay of Bengal towards India

I had lunch here, 6 out of 9 days! About two hours walk down the beach from my bungalow

More local transportation

The Burmese Beach Boys. They had no idea who the Beatles or the Rolling Stones were, Zhaw, with the other guitar, was the only one who spoke english, but they knew all their chords, played all original songs, and had never seen anyone flatpick before. We got along great!

The daily grind

After three nights of this, Zhaw's mom, who ran the place and was the cook, refused to take my money for the lobster and prawns. I still had to buy the Burmese wine..Good Though!

This is why I was booked for three days, which turned into four, and then into six, and then nine...etc.

Coconut Whiskey. There's a reason it's still full.

Free Breakfast Buffet, brought to your bungalow.

Local temple with Stupa

Not a bad place to have breakfast every morning
Ngapali Beach, and the people of Lin Thar Village left an impression on me like that of the people and area around Luang Prabang, Lao. One of the most special places on this planet. I will definately be back.

The monks I met, trying to cover up their gazillion dollar camera equipment! Made mine look like a toy



8500' Doi Inthanon

All the temples were beautifully decorated for the festival.

The parade that night



At the monastery north of Chiang Mai



Trully Incredible!

Hi All tried to email from here in Myanmar but it won't work, just lettin' everyone know all is good, havin' a great time. see ya around Christmas!

Bo, Kent, Eli and I gettin' a little downtime after Ted and Nattaya's wedding

Haad Chiang Rai

The 'Small River Shrimp' on the menu turned out to be REALLY Fresh!

I ordered 'em, I ate 'em.

Wat near Chiang Saen. 160 Buddhas

Downtown Mae Sai, Myanmar Border

Remains of 12th Century Temple, Chiang Mai

Every Temple Was Guarded By Nagas, Chiang Mai

Golden Buddhas, Grand Palace, Bangkok

Wat Chet Yot at sunrise, across the street from my guesthouse, Chiang Rai

Carved Teak Elephant, Mae Fah Luang, Chiang Rai

Local Critter, Tha Ton
This thing was the size of your hand with a long proboscus

Longtail Boat Trip, Kok River
From Tha Ton near the Myanmar border, downstream to Chiang Rai

Hand Carved Stone Elephants, Buddhist Monastery, Tha Ton

Real Elephants, Ban Ruam Mit, Kok River

I stuck out my hand and he put his trunk in it. I scratched him behind his ears, he lowered his head and rubbed up against my shoulder. Just like a big happy dog.

Haad Kruad Beach, Koh Phangan Island. Absolute Serenity.

Mae Fah Luang Art and Cultural Center, Chiang Rai

Koh Tao Island

Giant Buddha, Wat Plai Laem, Koh Samui Island

Another View Of The Giant Buddha

Another Very Large Buddha

Koh Samui Yacht Club

Mexico? Koh Samui Island

Yum! Market at Mae Sai, Myanmar Border

Keepin' The Neighbors Out, Mae Sai, Myanmar Border

The Monk Who Blessed Me With Long Life and Happiness

My Favorite Restaurant, Haad Chiang Rai

Bob's Big Buddha, Tha Ton, Northern Thailand

Arriving Koh Tao

Local Accomodations

Dive Fleet, Koh Tao Island

Local Transportation

More Longtail Boats

Morning Walk

Where I stayed, Koh Tao

Ao Mae Haad. The place on the far left is where I had breakfast every morning.

Movie Night?

So I'm sittin' here on Sairee Beach, Koh Tao Island, and it is truly amazing! As Zeke told me how much cooler Koh Phangan is than Koh Samui, and Zeke Johnson was right, Koh Tao just blows you away! It's a half hour ferry ride to Phangan from Samui and then another 1.5 hours out on a high speed catamaran to Koh Tao. Tropical paradise, I reccomend it highly! Been here since monday afternoon and gonna stay until I catch the ferry back to Samui for the flight to Bangkok saturday night. Fishin', divin, kayak fishin' which was unbelievable yesterday, and the snorkeling is absoulutely beautiful with marine life like Hanauma Bay in Hawaii. The kicker was last night at around 10 o'clock a tropical storm blew through and it just poured for an hour and a half. 98 degrees and commin' down in buckets! Sittin' in the Apnea Bar (Ha!) with a bunch of Aussies watchin' rugby and drinkin' Singha while it just dumped. Everything was just wet and sticky when we woke up this morning. Right now it's a little overcast and has kinda cooled down. Thank goodness, I'm too used to Monterey Bay weather. Rented a Hobie 16 and went sailin' this morning in the leftover storm winds. When it's not stormin' it blows maybe 4 kts this time of year, not really sailin' weather, but Dan at the rental place told me the storm should bring good easterlies...and it did!. Tonight is movie night at one of the local pubs on the beach, they spread out a bunch of lawn chairs, hang a sheet between a couple palm trees on the beach, and project on to that. It's The Mummy Returns tonight. Ha! Don't know, just gonna walk down the little cobblestone path that runs the length of Sairee, about a mile, and see what turns up. Nothin' but bungalows, restaurants, bars, and watersports shops. Like I said....Heaven.

http://www.bowthongresort.com/images/bow-thong-resort.jpg

Quiet and Reflective

My Bungalow

Evening On The Beach

Morning On The Beach

This is one of the most relaxed places I've been. Just got finished with an early set at Hadd Gruad, right next door to the place you told me about Zeke. Hans, the guy that owns the place is a big Beatles fan, and has a house guitar. You can imagine where that went after the spicy Thai soup and Chang beer! Good Day Sunshine! Gonna head over to the Dragon Hut tomorrow for a day, and then on to Koh Tao island for the fishin' and divin. I'm gonna be scooter trash again tomorrow, 'round the island, and then some down time on the beach. Hey Martin, how does that UFO song go? I've never been around so many un-smiling German tourists in my life. Hey , In My Life.....another for the next set!

So...anybody check my girl? I heard the tsunami made it up there.

Flyin' In

Just Sounds Nasty

At first I thought it might be Rum.
Turned out to be gasoline.

As far from the water as you can get on Koh Samui island

Ahhh..Back to the Beach

View from my balcony, Bo Phut, Koh Samui

Stepped off the plane here in Koh Samui about two hours ago, got hit by that wall I used to get hit with every time we flew back to Hawaii! Whew, nuthin' like humidity. Good though, makes 94 feel like 84.......I think. Took an hour to get out of the grass hut they call an airport, into the minibus and got dropped off in Bo Phut, otherwise known as Fishermans Village. Sounded good, got a bungalow on the water with a swim up bar, and four star restaurant on the beach for 25 US. Yeah, a bit pricey, but I just got here and didn't want to stress. Didn't want to head to Chaweng (Schwing!?), the party central part of town cuz apparently the drink of choice is a kids sand bucket filled with ice, a can of coke, a can of Red Bull, and a bottle of whiskey. Looks like it's for the younger crowd. Oh, and Rave music till dawn. I think not! Really nice here, lots of sailboats goin' by, gonna rent a motorbike tomorrow and tour the island. Thanks for hookin' me up with yer buddy Zeke, I'm headin' out to Koh Phangan monday for a little down time and some fishin'. I asked how the fishin' was and somebody asked me 'how big fish you wanna catch?'.

Sounds good to me.

Sittin' on the balcony outside my room, in Luang Prabang, Laos, havin' a Beerlao, and checkin' out the map to try to figure out where to go next. Nothin' better!

$10.00 a night for the room, got my laundry done for $1.50.