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Beauty Shots,mostly

from a visit in January, 1999

A community garden for growing lettuce. The green was perfect.

A boat on a small river in southern Myanmar.

Lettuce being barged upriver.

Henri Mouhot was the French discover of Ankor Wat in Cambodia. He got sick and died on the shores of the small river (pictured above) near Luang Prabang shortly afterwards. He was buried on the spot, in the middle of nowhere. Much later, people from his hometown came and build this tomb. We would never have found it without our handy rented motorcycle (a Honda "Dream Excess," $7 for a day's rental, no license required), the brand new signs along the route (in English!), and bit of luck.

Riverbanks are well-cultivated in Laos, but this was the most beautiful one I saw, right across the same stream as above from Luang Prabang.

The other side of Luang Prabang, however, shows a less scenic riverbank. This is the Mekong River.

A steam cascades out of Luang Prabang. It was full of trash.

Luang Prabang's temples show the ornate beauty that all the temples we saw elsewhere vainly aspired to. We first saw them at dusk, when the monks were gathered inside chanting. Each time we heard them, we had to sit down and listen. In the same way that leaving a church when someone is playing an ancient organ is impossible, we could not leave until the monks finished their evening song.

A temple guardian.

Low tide in a tidal stream in southern Myanmar.

This brass buddha with electronic rays spurting from his head is located in "Kipling's Pagoda" in Moulmein.

Ruins in Moulmein. Most buildings this age are either still in use or gone completely.

A house in southern Myanmar.

Pots of the paint used to "bluewash" many buildings in Myanmar.