Olympus OM-2N | Kodak Plus-X
I had gently questioned our guide Than Htun about distributing candy; trying not to offend, I mentioned the problem with keeping teeth healthy, and in a roundabout way explained I wanted to discourage creating a begging culture.

I was feeling extra-sensitive about this because the Swiss family I'd met the previous day said their guide had also brought candy and they'd bought additional candy to distribute directly. Since I assumed we were visiting the same villages, the explanation that "they only have one piece when I come, once a week," didn't really wash.

But how to argue? Htun got great pleasure out of distributing the candy, and had a child of his own so it wasn't that he didn't know the responsibilities of parenthood. The children were surprisingly respectful; they gathered around eagerly but waited their turns.

As for the teeth—with the Chin men & women taking the countrywide betelnut addiction to the extreme, perhaps the occasional sweet wasn't going to be their children's biggest problem.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Kodak Plus-X
Son of one of the tattooed ladies, also showing off the grandkid. He asked me (through Than Htun) if I dyed my hair to get it so black. Than Htun laughingly replied that this is what Chinese people look like! The man said he wished more Chinese people lived here so he could see them more. Again laughing, Than Htun told him to rent some kung fu DVDs.

Gravely, the man said that he did not get the same happy feeling from movies as he did from seeing me in person. Hmm.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Kodak Plus-X

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Kodak Plus-X
There are no government schools in Chin State. These villages pool their resources—along with donations from outsiders—and build their own schools, hiring teachers from Mrauk U. Generally these young teachers are not doing this for purely altruistic reasons, but due to their own difficulty in finding work at a government school back home. These teachers were just 21, 22, and 25 years old; and as the 21-year-old held the only university degree in the group, she was in charge.

The small one-room school was split into classes, duties shared by the three teachers. The best performer of the older students helped teach the young ones. While teaching is never easy, these three had a pretty good setup...not sure if they were actually paid less than teachers who deal with more students alone, though.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Kodak Plus-X
In elusive Chin State, women are famed for their tattooed faces. Traditional reasons vary slightly, from the Chin women being so beautiful that the menfolk tattooed their faces to disguise their beauty from marauding Burmese, to mothers tattooing their daughters in fear of the King taking them as concubines.

This woman was one of the younger ones, and with her still-vivid tattoos and penchant for ear spacers (while some of the other women let their stretched holes gape freely), seemed to quite accustomed having her portrait taken.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Kodak Plus-X
In elusive Chin State, women are famed for their tattooed faces. Traditional reasons vary slightly, from the Chin women being so beautiful that the menfolk tattooed their faces to disguise their beauty from marauding Burmese, to mothers tattooing their daughters in fear of the King taking them as concubines.

These legends are centuries old, so in recent times people did it simply because everyone else was doing it. And now...everyone else is not. In the village of Pan Paung, this woman was the oldest remaining tattooed lady at age 70, while the youngest was 60.

Sharp as a tack, this one. When asked if the tattooing hurt, she replied that it actually hurt twice...because she had to pay to have it done.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji Reala
On the long boat ride to the Chin villages.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2N | Fuji Reala
These girls were collecting water from a reservoir behind this stupa, and after I'd come down from my long photo shoot with the Stupa Boys, also asked eagerly for a picture.

The metal jars they carry are imported from Bangladesh, which shares a small border with Myanmar and does major trade in Maungdaw. Rakhine State shares more similarities—including people—with Bangladesh than other parts of Myanmar. The jars are used for the practical purpose of carrying water, but add a touch of unique beauty to Rakhine State.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Canon A630
I don't even know where that puppy has been—not a monastery dog, just a puppy some aspiring stage-mother type shoved into the monk's arms—and I'm sure that monk already has a mother, but seriously. Can I have this?

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Canon A630
The little monk was only 5 years old and not particularly reverent yet. Why he and his friends were so eager to be photographed doing kung-fu poses in the chamber with the Buddha statue was beyond me.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2n | Fuji Reala
On my third day in Mrauk U, I met the stupa kids. This family lived below a stupa that apparently was not important enough to have a name but was just as lovely as most in Mrauk U. As I climbed the steep crumbly steps, two of the boys aged 5 and 7 eagerly raced after me. This began perhaps a solid hour of photo and video shoots, soon joined by a 5-year-old monk friend from the monastery below.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2n | Fuji Reala

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2n | Fuji Reala
There were actually 3 structures up here...not sure which was Shwegutaung or if the name denoted a mini-complex of sorts.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2n | Fuji Reala
This young monk and his assistant ran up as soon as they saw me wandering around the pagoda above his monastery. He didn't speak English but babbled at me in Rakhine in a friendly manner, telling me the name of this pagoda was Shwegutaung and pointing out a few others. Feeling terrible that I'd forgotten my digital camera as they were eager for pictures of themselves, I quickly whipped out my beautifully-photographed "Myanmar Blueprint" guidebook instead, to show them photos from around the country while they patiently corrected my pronunciation of various towns.

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Olympus OM-2n | Kodak Portra 400NC
Win Win worked at Golden Star hotel, and soon after I'd settled in she started asking me, "do you looove the sunset?" Uh, sure? Who doesn't? Well, if I "love" it so much, I should go up to Haritaung with her. Apparently she was supposed to work until 7pm but received special dispensation to take a long break with me. Maybe because I was the only guest.

For some reason, as we left the hotel, she said, "Myanmar people are very poor. Me too!" Said with a little giggle too...what did it mean?

After viewing the sunset, she asked me, "do you love mon di?" OK? She took me to a nearby noodle soup stall, where the mon di was tasty but without any spice—perhaps you have to ask for it but there wasn't enough English spoken either by the cook or by Win Win to make this clear. Grateful for the company, but also thinking about her earlier statement about being "poor," I prepared to pay for both of our meals, which probably cost 500 kyat total. But Win Win was quicker than I was...

Posted on Jan 24, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)