Destinations

I noticed that there was a guy on the trip who was showing off his pictures.  I tried to act not too interested but I was.  I have been involved with photography and what I was seeing was some serious National Geographic quality.  I was so impressed and I started to spend some time with him.  Both him and his wife were wonderful people.   I enjoyed getting to know both of them.

I would watched how David looked at things and later when we were reviewing his pictures, I realized how he looked at him.  I learned more from him on that trip than I had learned in any of my photography classes.  It is about the light, it is about what the subjects are focusing on and how a few seconds make the the world of difference between a good picture and one not so good!

He self-published a book of photographs that are just stunning.  I look at my pictures and think were we on the same trip?  Definitely and inspiration!  Check out his book!

http://www.blurb.com/b/5291899-the-road-to-mandalay

We gathered on the Sun Deck for our final hoorah.  The Hotel Manager again introduced the staff.  We toasted and then they sang a song for us.  The next thing I knew they were playing Abba and the Senior Citizens were dancing like it was 1975.  I hear a lot of people hating on Abba but watch what happens when the DJ plays Dancing Queen.

Before I could escape, a conga lined formed.  For the record, I did not join it nor was I tempted.  There was some crazy dancing going on and I wondered if the locals were sitting on the riverbank opening a beer longing for the old days before they brought the tourists in.  Life in Myanmar will never be the same.   Some of it is for the good and some of it is not!

Continue reading →

It was the final night on the boat and our final hurrah.  It was Pat’s Birthday and her husband had been planning a surprise for her.   I had gotten to know Pat and Dan along the way and really enjoyed getting to know them.  They were great to travel with!

Continue reading →

One of our last stops – Mahamuni Buddha Pagoda.  I remember when I took a tour of Italy.  By the end, I didn’t care to see another cathedral.  I am OK with this being the last pagoda of our trip.

I had seen a lot on this trip but this afternoon’s stop at the orphanage was the most moving stop of all.  The orphanage was an all boys orphanage.  We went in and met the children while they were at school.  The children sang song for us and we took pictures.  They loved seeing their pictures on our cameras.  They were able to speak some basic english and we were able to ask them their age, their names and to show us their books.

Not all of them were parentless – some of them had parents that couldn’t afford to take care of them for various reasons.  We didn’t get all of the stories but we were told some of them will go back to their families at some point.

The tour guides translated a lot of the conversations that was going on and there was something about looking at these kids and they were laughing and talking about their friends and their bunkmates.  Here they were with very little earthly possessions and family yet they were typical boys. Continue reading →

After the Palace we stopped by the Kuthodaw Pagoda aka the world’s biggest book.  It is the biggest book because there are 729 leaves and 1458 pages carved in marble.  Each of the 729 leaves are stored in its own little building making this the world’s largest book.

While in the Pagoda, I was trying to get a picture of the lotus flowers.  Someone else from the boat was standing in front of them and was trying to explain to someone how work her iPad to take her picture.  This had gone on for sometime and I decided to circle back.  The next thing I knew the woman was running after me calling my name.  She explained that it had gotten stuck on video and she fixed that but now when she went to take a picture of something the camera was facing her instead of the other way. Continue reading →