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Myanmar, previously known as Burma, what a surprisingly amazing place. We booked this holiday to get out of our comfort zone of easy beach holidays in the Maldives. There were several times when we wondered why we did it, travel in Myanmar consists mainly of long, sometimes tedious journeys on outdated transport systems. But now, in hindsight, we realise that this was the only way to truly get a feel of how the country and people are living day to day. And by far, more so than any other holiday we have had, the people are the most memorable thing we brought back with us. They are totally charming, polite, honest, resilient, hard working and most of all truly happy people. Their sincerely happy smiles, some of which we thankfully managed to capture in our photo's, are what we mostly remember and will stay with us forever.
We all know, or think we know, about the bad old days of the Burmese regime, so we obviously had a few reservations about what we were letting ourselves in for, but as it turned out, Myanmar must be the safest place we have ever been to. There is zero crime here, 85% of the country are buddhists and all the people seem to be true to Buddha's teachings of compassion, honesty, right mindedness, right living and non-harming to any living thing. Admittedly, although the country is now a democracy, the military still retains a certain amount of power, so I guess there is still an undercurrent going on albeit out of sight of the regular tourist. However, all the people we spoke to are so much happier now, they are more or less free to speak openly, without fear of reprisals and they all feel positive about the path the country is on now.
As for the landscape, what can I say, there is nowhere like it on earth! Outside the cities the whole country seems to be in some sort of 200 year old time warp. The people are mostly farmers on small plots of land using ox carts to plough the fields and living in houses made of bamboo, wood and matting. The wierdest thing is most of them have solar power, mainly for a bit of light and to charge their mobile phones! Everyone is on their phone here.....just like the rest of the world I guess. Also, there are temples, pagodas and stupas everywhere you look, especially in Bagan, which is like the Mecca of Myanmar. We were there for the Full Moon Festival where thousands of Burmese monks and Myanmar people gather from all over the country to celebrate for three days at the Ananda Pagoda in Bagan. After possibly days travelling they stay awake for most of the three days and nights watching entertainment which includes dance, theatre, chants, recitations and singing as well as stand up comedy. Amazing belief.
A word about One Stop Travel & Tours the Myanmar company we booked with. We found them via recommendations on Tripadvisor and so glad we used them. They never asked for a deposit, they booked all our hotels, train & boat journeys, balloon ride and one internal flight all on an email handshake! We just paid them in US Dollars on arrival, saving us thousands on UK travel brochure rates, and they never let us down once. The guides were all good guys and always there to greet us at the various destinations on our tour/trek, sometimes waiting hours when the transport was late. A special thanks to Leo our Yangon guide and Eaint at the One Stop office. After leaving our Nikon Coolpix A camera charger at home we trawled the shops of Yangon eventually finding a replacement.......only to leave it plugged in the wall at our next hotel in Mandalay! We were now a ten hour boat journey away in Bagan, but a call to Eaint at the One Stop office and they got it to us two days later just before we moved on! A huge thank you to all at One Stop as this holiday produced without doubt our most amazing photographs ever!
Myanmar has been open to mainstream tourism for five years now, a lot of the people speak English now so it is relatively easy to holiday there. We are so glad we went there before it really changes, there is still a huge amount of charm and old worldliness about the place that you will not find in any other country. If you are prepared to switch off from the 21st century and just accept it for what it is you will be richly rewarded with amazing memories of a landscape like no other and a fascinating people who are genuinely happy to see you.
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To view the rest of my Photography Collection click on Link below:
www.flickr.com/photos/nevillewootton/albums
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Photography & Equipment sponsored by my web business:
We are UK's leading Filter Specialists, selling online to the Plant, Agricultural, Commercial Vehicle and Marine Industries.
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PLEASE NOTE: I take Photographs purely as a hobby these days so am happy to share them with anyone who enjoys them or has a use for them. If you do use them an accreditation would be nice and if you benefit from them financially a donation to www.sightsavers.org would be really nice.
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London Permaculture photos getting an airing in the new edition of Graham Burnett's Permaculture: A Beginner's Guide.
The new second edition of Graham Burnett's classic "Permaculture: A Beginner's Guide". Now revised, updated and with colour, photos illustrating permaculture in practice join Graham's artwork.
Available for a very reasonable £8 (+ postage) from the man himself at his inspiring Spiralseed site.
Ann, a yellow Labrador Retriever is a Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide in the Hearing Assistance Program.
February 9, 1991. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, subjects of the CBS movie "Lucy and Desi: Behind the Laughter."
This is scout, a miniature horse that works as a guide horse. I saw him and his partner at the Cincinnati airport and asked if I could take a picture as I had never seen a guide horse before! Yes, he did get on a plane!
Two of our guides on the specially chartered outbound flight to Hamhung. On this flight there was a total of 5 passengers...
Travelling like a VIP North Korean style - It's the only way!
You couldn't get a TOPS list at Doe Hill so for some reason I listed the wagon consist on the right page! Barry Smith was another nice guy to work with and a working day with a 40 was never wasted!
Oscar helping Guide Dogs Wirral Fundraising Group to raise money and create awareness for this fantastic charity.
The modern day shot at Guide Bridge, only two platforms remain in use using two tracks, the sidings have been lifted and 25kv has replaced 1500 volts dc.
The long footbridge has been declared unsafe and is locked out of use. I could sense the ghosts of the Tommies and hear their unique sound, or something peculiar anyway - sadness also.
Operated by: Sportsman's Guide, South Saint Paul, MN
Unit Number: n/a
Body: Morgan
Chassis: Sterling
Notes:
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Seen in a loading dock bay at the Sportsman's Guide warehouse and outlet center in South Saint Paul, MN
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Please do not use this image without first asking for permission. Thank you.
art, wooden box, vintage wallpaper sample, glass rod, tree bark, assemblage, jewelry findings, fuse, metal tool guide, rhinestone
3.75" X 5.75"
Ibrahim, our assistant guide, was very handy at digging out Jeeps from the sand. Western Desert, Egypt
View from under the road bridge, looking towards Manchester, showing the branch on the left to Stockport. This has only one passenger train a week, in one direction only, a crazy situation.
Cllr. Michael White with the Mayor of Havering, Cllr. Pam Light and Centenary Champions Linda Harris and Margaret Henderson with Linda Taylor and Jan Knight planting an English Oak tree to mark the centenary of the Girl Guides movement.
At a local shopping centre, Pathfinders and Guides fundraise for Guiding Mosaic 2016 by selling Autumn, Chocolate Mint Girl Guide Cookies
Love those Golden Guides. This is a1995 edition of "Stars." From The Friends of the Library. I'm still looking for the older cover with the title in a bold yellow serif font.
Guide Friday
Some scans of recently discovered old 6 x 4 prints taken by myself back in the 1980s and 1990s. These were taken with my trusted Canon AE1 camera and at the time I didn’t think some of them were good enough to use however, I thought some might find them interesting and that I would now share them.
MOC based off the USN Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer.
This was a challenging build. Lots of rebuilding. Quite a few half-stuf offset tweaks. I'm not in love with the final result and am open to feedback.
From front (left) to back (right) in the top image we have:
* 5" gun
* Fore VLS farm
* Phased array radar and superstructure
* Two sets of smoke stacks
* 2x4 anti ship cruise missile cannisters
* Aft VLS farm
* Helicopter deck with tiny wee Helo
Bottom left image is a close up on amidships. I'm particularly pleased with the harpoon launchers. It's an elegant yet simple design.
Bottom right is a close up of the helo. I actually really like how this came out.
The newly-opened Cambridge Guided Busway, south of Cambridge station. There are no buses on this stretch on a Sunday.
Images of the Big 5 by Clare Smith.
For more information please visit the South Africa Field Guide project page of the Frontier website.
Can you tell that I like to research a place?
After reading about it for months, I am so ready to actually GO there. We leave on Friday.
If you study and research about the pregnancy weeks, you will find that the total weeks of pregnancy are 40. A woman keeps her baby for 40 weeks in her stomach and then the baby is born, but in many pregnancy cases, it is also seen that the babies are born in before the mother enters in the...
www.bestmommyblog.com/the-minor-differnce-between-the-bab...
ITALY’S – Guide to Archaeological, Architectural, and Cultural Heritage 2013: The Italian cities of Venice, L’Aquila, Rome, Pompeii, Naples, and the State of Sicily, etc, – “A Disgrace for Italy.” (04/2013).
Venice – Public Squares Covered with Ugly Advertising and Invasive Coke-Cola Machines; L’Aquila – Neglected and Abandoned after the Earthquake of 2009; Rome – A ‘Phony Rome’ for Lazy Tourist; Ancient Pompeii – Littered with Cancerous Asbestos; Naples – An Archaeological Supermarket Controlled by the Camorra mafia; & the State of Sicily – No funding for Archaeology, but, they now have ‘Etnaland’ – An Disneyland Theme Park.
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“…I didn’t, however, cover the dimension you mention: B’s [Berlusconi’s] handling (or mishandling) of Italy’s cultural heritage. I’ve done a little inquiring about the situation at Pompeii where, of course, one of the houses collapsed. But I’d be curious to know more if you have more information.”
~ Prof. Alexander Stille, Personal Communication (26 October 2012).
“…Corruption is Italy is still a big problem, and it will be until it is linked to Berlusconi, and I insist: [Arch. Federica] Galloni has been linked (and she still is) with Berlusconi’s party. The MiBAC doesn’t want widespread news of this to avoid compromising the news of the former business practices of Arch. Federica Galloni and Comm. Luciano Marchetti.”
~ An Italian Scholar and former Director-General with the MiBAC ,
Personal communication (15 June, 2012).
“Caro sig. Conde…L’archeologia in Italia è profondamente malate. Noi la vogliamo salvare e per questo diciamo che deve decisamente cambiare.”
~ Dr. Tsao Cevoli, Italian archaeologist & Former President of the: “l’Associazione Nazionale Archeologi”,
Personal communication (26 December 2011).
“Caro sig. Conde, purtroppo siamo già alla distruzione della nostro patrimonio culturale. Così come della nostra democrazia. E il rammarico più grande è l’assoluta disattenzione e la totale mancanza di indignazione che accompagnano questo scempio. Povero nostro amato Paese. Con I migliori saluti, Manuela Ghizzoni.”
~ Comment by Hon. Manuela Ghizzoni, Member of the Italian Parliament
& President of the 7th Commission of Culture, Science, and Instruction,
Personal communication (9 March 2010).
INTRODUCTION:
ITALY’S – Guide to Archaeological, Architectural, and Cultural Heritage 2013 – “A Disgrace for Italy.”
“In the case of Herculaneum, Prof. Giacomo Boni thinks that is it is impossible to spend more than $6000 USD yearly if it is desired that the excavation be gradual and fruitful. A hurried excavation, the professor added, would be injurious, and he concludes with protesting against the collection of funds abroad, which might contributed for personal advertisement and not as spontaneous offerings made in account of the of admiration for antiquities.”
~ “Prof. [Giacomo] Boni Doesn’t Want Foreign Interference at Herculaneum”,
THE NEW YORK TIMES,
(20 February 1907).
“Pompei – Amianto negli Scavi, il cancro uccide anche un custode – L’allarme, Una settimana fa era scomparsa un’archeologa. Ventiquattro vittime accerate I nomi saranno stampati su uno striscione di protesta.”
~ IL MATTINO, NAPOLI (01/12/2012), p. 41
“Pompeii – Asbestos in the excavations, cancer is also kills guard – Warning, a week ago another [Italian] archaeologist passes away. The twenty-four victims [Italian custodians, restoration specialists, administrators, architect, archaeologist, and operator] will be published on a banner in Protest.”
~ IL MATTINO, NAPLES (01 December 2012), p. 41.
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Recently, the ‘THE INDEPENDENT’ of London (21 & 16 April 2013), and the ‘NEW YORK TIMES’, both these newspapers briefly reported on the continuing degrading conditions of the vast archaeological complex of the ancient City of Pompeii, this following a surprise inspection by special police agents from the national Italian Carabinieri and the Guardia di Finanza agencies, as well as other regional anti-mafia and legal representatives from the City of Naples. These agencies, particularly the Italian Carabinieri, an independent branch of the Italian government largely responsible for the investigation and prosecution of criminal activities relating to incidents of theft, damage, or exploitation of Italy’s Cultural Heritage. Together, these new investigations are now focusing on the Camorra mafia organizations criminal activities centered on their recent involvement in the acquiring of public works contacts and current participation in several high-profile restoration projects conducted, and or just completed throughout the archaeological site of Pompeii. The preliminary restoration projects for Pompeii, were designed, implemented, and administrated by numerous political appointees of the Special Archaeological Commission for Pompeii, similar in intent to the other Special Commissions created for the archaeological area’s Rome and Ostia, all which had been established during the former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Government IV [8 May 2008 – 16 November 2011].
By: Martin G. Conde, Washington DC, USA (April 2013). mgconde[@]yahoo.com / Forthcoming / prossimo.