A Photo Tour

We thought we’d share some of Jim’s photos during his earlier years in the Golden Country. Enjoy!

Yangon, 2006

 

Fishing Village, May 2006. The rolls resting in the fishing boat are made of bamboo, and are likely going to be brought downriver to be sold in Sittwe.

 

Mrauk U, 2006. Women going home from filling up their water jugs at the local well. If the jugs are half filled, they are much harder to carry on one’s head, because they will splash around much more.

 

River Ferry from Sittwe to Mrauk U, 2006. At the time of this photo, it cost 50 cents to take this five-hour ride upriver. The man in the yellow shirt is selling snake oil (no, really, it works!), using a loudspeaker. If you are averse to water travel, your next best option is bouncing over rutted roads for several hours on a public transit bus.

 

Rakhine traditional wrestling. These wrestling events are really well attended by locals and take place a handful of times throughout the year, in conjunction with local festivals.

 

Rice is the staple food here, and people eat lots of it! Rice is typically cultivated first by scattering seeds throughout the field, and then later harvesting the young plants and replanting them into rows (pictured here).

 

Village near Sittwe. Kids take a break from school to observe the foreigner behind the lens.

 

Just one of the delightful home remedies to be found throughout SE Asia. The words in Burmese boast that this product “increases male strength.”

 

A field shed in the countryside. People live in this temporary dwelling during the harvest and planting season. The water buffalo in the picture are used to plow the fields.

 

Sittwe, 2007. Kids are the same everywhere!

 

Mrauk U, 2007. Rakhine state receives 200 inches of rain from June to October.

 

…and the rain certainly makes for a lush countryside.

 

Typical public transit for residents of Yangon.

 

Jim’s street in Sittwe, prior to the 2012 riots.

 

2013. Men headed out for the evening on main street in Sittwe.

 

Mrauk U, 2006. Pagoda skyline. A Buddhist believes that building a pagoda secures one a great deal of merit; anyone who builds a pagoda is believed to be safe from Hell in the next life. The white building on the bottom left is a monastery.

 

Mrauk U, 2006. Most families in the countryside own chickens.

 

Near PonnaGyun, 2007

 

Rahkine State, 2007. A goatherd.

2007. Fishing in Chin State.

 

Sittwe’s beach, 2007. Goats and cows must appreciate sunset time, too.

 

Sittwe beach. Sunset over the Bay of Bengal.