Sometimes, it's too easy to forget

The_Traveler · Feb 19, 2014

Sometimes, it's too, too easy to forget when one is traveling and seeing sights that just overwhelm the senses with beauty and interest, that the locals who hound you to buy trinkets and t shirts, etc. actually have lives that are incomprehensibly different than ours.

This is just one view of the plains of Bagan, an ancient city that has about 2000 temples on one vast alluvial plain formed by the Irriwaddy River when it was even larger than it is now.

The squarish building in the foreground is for meditation and it is an indescribable feeling climbing up the narrow inside stairs that have been worn by more than 1000 years of bare feet. (Pardon the quality; this was my first trip with my first dslr.)

This was taken during my first visit in 2005. These ahead are Italian bus tourists.

The person with the hat is my oldest son, a joy to travel with. The man to his left is a guide that we engaged for the day. At every one of the stops we were surrounded by a group of women who wanted us to buy pots and souvenirs.

This young woman spoke enough English, Spanish, Italian and German to engage tourists. She only went to three grades of school because she needed to work. Her future was to sell to tourists and get married and raise a family. We bought a couple of pots and made her day.

oldhippy · Feb 19, 2014

Nice set. Interesting place as usual. Like the last picture, as that girl is so relaxed. Later Ed

The_Traveler · Feb 19, 2014

There is an interesting anecdote from this part of our trip. We had engaged a taxi for two days and, on the third morning, the same taxi had driven us to the airport which was a single low quasi-new building about the size of a 7/11 (but with fewer amenities) and a single airstrip. As it turned out the plane from Yangon was going to be late, two hours because of fog in Yangon, and so we were just sitting on the steps outside. Our driver came over and asked what was happening. When told, he said he would take us to see places that tourists didn't go. I asked how much and he said that it was 'not for money but for friend'.

So for a couple of hours we visited small temples, met the temple-keepers who lived with their families in little attached huts and, in general, were treated like friends. Incidents like this are why I love Southeast Asia and the people.

binga63 · Feb 19, 2014

nice work Lew

JerryVenz · Feb 19, 2014

Lew,

I rarely hear travel photographers talk about the plight of the locals--they take their pretty pictures, ignore the local living conditions, and move on.

When my wife and I took our first cruise in 2005 one of the ports of call was Costa Maya--Majahual--and we went inland 1-1/2 hours by bus to the Mayan ruins at Chacchoben. That trip really opened my eyes to the poverty, and living conditions on THIS side of Mexico--way different than on the other--Pacific--side in Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and the like.

So, I like your images but I just wanted to say I REALLY LIKE that you bought some of the locals goods--putting money directly into their hands!

Stevepwns · Feb 19, 2014

Did you take the pics down? They arent loading for me.

DarkShadow · Feb 19, 2014

Very interesting read and nice set to go along with it.

Derrel · Feb 19, 2014

Stevepwns said:
Did you take the pics down? They arent loading for me.

Here's what I see, Steve. I'm using my imagination, and envisioning everything in B&W...

DarkShadow · Feb 19, 2014

All in color and showing fine here on safari browser.

yahgiggle · Feb 19, 2014

It must have been awesome been there and seeing all of that, nice set by the way

The_Traveler · Feb 19, 2014

Nope, didn't touch the pictures and they load for me just fine.
It's not so much poverty, that isn't the prime issue.
Their societies are different, their expectations are different and its very enlightening to become aware of differences in issues that I/we were just unconscious of previously.
I always travel (or mostly) by local bus and that gets you packed in with locals for a long time and it is natural to make friends without language.
When you ride in close (very close) proximity to people, you get to inspect them, and they you, and that builds a kind of funny intimacy.

The Westerner is a German teacher that I traveled with for two days along with an Italian woman.

And of course the opportunity for a local to get a shot of a tourist up close was a source of great amusement.

And when the truck bus gets a flat, everyone gets off and mills around. All these people were on that little bus.

This little girl was next to me for 2 hours and watched my every move with great intensity. I took her picture and showed her the lcd, no response from her but her mother loved it.
I usually bring a collage of my grandchildren and that was passed around to 20 people to see. At that time, Western children were never seen this far out of the tourist swarm.

This all took place on the road to Pindaya, a town in the Southern Shan States in Myanmar to see the Pindaya Caves.
These pictures, and a lot more decorative ones, can be seen on my site here
If travel is interesting, write articles about travel on my blog here.

DarkShadow · Feb 19, 2014

These are really really good. :thumbup: The little girl sipping a drink is so cute.:mrgreen:

The_Traveler · Feb 19, 2014

Another incident from that same day.

We had gotten off one bus at a crossroads in a truly crap hole town called Aungban in order to get the truck/bus to Pindaya.

The town had nothing but a few stores, some long distance taxis and some trucks parked around.
And no one spoke English except for a very few words.

I knew another long ride was ahead and I had been drinking a lot in the heat so I needed to find a toilet.
So I finally got up the nerve and used my phrase book to ask the lady in this store where there was a toilet.
She pointed around back and I saw a long building, stepped inside and walked down the corridor.
There were very little rooms, not more than cubbyholes, on either side.
I figured it was some sort of truckers hotel.
Once through the building, I found the bathroom successfully and retraced my steps.
This time I looked up at the wall near the entrance and saw pictures of about a dozen young woman and a price list.

I had been directed to one of the local brothels.
When I went back out to the front, the woman proprietor had a big smile, said something to the crowd and everybody laughed.

I clasped my hands above my head like Rocky - and the crowd laughed again.

AlanKlein · Feb 19, 2014

The_Traveler said:
There is an interesting anecdote from this part of our trip. We had engaged a taxi for two days and, on the third morning, the same taxi had driven us to the airport which was a single low quasi-new building about the size of a 7/11 (but with fewer amenities) and a single airstrip. As it turned out the plane from Yangon was going to be late, two hours because of fog in Yangon, and so we were just sitting on the steps outside. Our driver came over and asked what was happening. When told, he said he would take us to see places that tourists didn't go. I asked how much and he said that it was 'not for money but for friend'.

So for a couple of hours we visited small temples, met the temple-keepers who lived with their families in little attached huts and, in general, were treated like friends. Incidents like this are why I love Southeast Asia and the people.

Nice story. And pictures. Must have been a great trip.