deweywebster

 
  • HOME PAGE
  • CONTACT
  • JAPAN 2019 JSGTour
  • MOROCCO 2016
    • 1. CASABLANCA
    • 2. CHEFCHAOUEN
    • 3. FÈS
    • 4. BENI MELLAL
    • 5. MARRAKECH
    • 6. ESSAOUIRA
  • JAPAN 2018
    • KANTO
    • KAGOSHIMA CITY
    • MINAMI FAMILY
    • GARDENS - EDO STROLL
    • GARDENS - RESIDENTIAL
    • NARITA-SAN
  • JAPAN 2017
    • ITO
    • SHIMODA
    • TOYAMA
    • MITO
    • KYOTO
    • IWATE
    • IWATE PART 2
    • FUKUSHIMA
  • TANZANIA 2016
    • DAR-ES-SALAAM
    • ZANZIBAR - TOWN
    • ZANZIBAR - ISLAND
    • MOROGORO
    • IRINGA AND HILLTOP LODGE
    • RUAHA GAME PARK
  • DUBAI 2016
  • NORWAY 2015
    • 1) BODØ
    • 2) LOFOTEN ISLANDS
    • 3) MOSJØEN
    • 4) HJERKINN
    • 5) ÅLESUND
    • 6) BERGEN
    • 7A) BERGEN > OSLO TRAIN
    • 7B) OSLO - K. J. GATA & FROGNER
    • 7C) OSLO - WATERFRONT WALK
    • 7D) OSLO - DANSENS HUS
    • 8A) HAMAR & LILLEHAMMAR
    • 9) LYSAKER & SANDVIKA
  • CHINA 2014
    • BEIJING (ARRIVAL)
    • CANGZHOU
    • DEZHOU
    • LIAOCHENG
    • YELLOW RIVER
    • QUFU
    • BEIJING (DEPARTURE)
  • KYOTO GARDENS 2014
    • GARDENS 101
    • CALENDAR: "2015 KYOTO GARDENS"
  • FSW PHOTO ALBUM
    • 1940'S
    • 1950'S (1)
    • 1960'S
    • 1970'S
    • 1980's
  • 404 REMODEL 2013-2014
    • OFURO 2014
  • SEATTLE CHINESE GARDEN
    • SOLSTICE 2014-06-22
    • SNOW FALL 2014-01-05
    • PLANTS BLOOMING 2014-08-16
  • JAPAN 2013
    • GARDEN MISCELLANY
    • TOKYO
    • ITO
    • TOYAMA
    • KYOTO
    • MITO
    • OKAYAMA
    • NAOSHIMA
    • FUKUOKA (A.K.A. HAKATA), DAZAIFU
    • SAGA POTTERY TOWNS
    • GOTO ISLANDS
    • NAGASAKI
  • CLOUD HOUSE 2013
    • ELEVATOR - 2013 NOVEMBER
    • EXTERIORS 2013 DECEMBER
  • MYANMAR 2012
    • OVERVIEW
    • MT. POPA
    • INLE LAKE
    • BAGAN
    • AYEYARWADY RIVER
    • MANDALAY PART 1
    • MANDALAY PART 2
    • YANGON >
      • OVERVIEW AND ACCOMODATIONS
      • SHWEDEGON AND OTHER PAGODAS/TEMPLES
      • BUILDINGS OLD AND NEW
      • STREET WALKING
      • GARDENS AND ZOO
      • THE CIRCULAR TRAIN
      • DELTA TOWN
  • SIERRA TREK 2005, 2012 SEPTEMBER
  • MALI 2012 FEBRUARY
    • BAMAKO
    • DIABALY
    • N'DEBOUGOU
    • SEGOU >
      • FESTIVAL SUR LE NIGER
      • RIVER WALK AND POTTERY MARKET
      • URBAN WALKS
    • NIGER RIVER
    • MOPTI
    • D'JENNE
    • SENOSSA
    • DOGON
  • IWATE PART 2
Picture
Near the market is Kyauk Mosque, one of many in Mandalay. It is small, and certainly does not have the daily activity seen at Buddhist temples. Muslims have a long, and difficult history in Myanmar, and are experiencing particularly trying times in the NW.
Picture
All was quiet and peaceful here, a caretaker and wife the only people present. The wife was shy to have her photo taken with her husband...
Picture
...but when Zhufeng urged her to join in one, she did so, quite demurely.
Picture
Across the street is a large temple, Shwekyimyint, founded in 1167, where one can wander though its maze of indoor and outdoor spaces without attracting too much attention.
Picture
Picture
An elderly monk, eating rice from his alms bowl, next to an impression of the Buddha's footprint and a statue in the "Touching Earth" mudra.
Picture
A group of young nuns resting after eating.
Picture
A lay group was at the temple for a week-long event which included lectures and...
Picture
...walking meditation.
Picture
In another part restoration of statues and ...
Picture
paintings was underway.
Picture
An impressive statue of the Buddha being protected by a large snake was In a courtyard., It is said that as Syakamuni was in deep meditation under the Bodhi tree, a large cobra came and shielded him from the monsoon rains. Since then snakes have been seen as the protector of Buddhism, as seen at the top of Mandalay Hill.
Picture
Nearby, another set of the Daily Eight, complete with water source and metal cups with which to pour water over the statues.
Picture
Further back in the temple grounds, a veritable diorama of Buddhist teachings.
Picture
A small set of figurines show Buddha at Deer Park preaching to not only disciples but deer and other animals as well. Note his hands are in the "teaching mudra", not the usual "touching earth mudra".

Picture
As with any Buddhist temple, this one too is a place for friends to meet and talk. Mazin Moeaye (left) a recent graduate in Electrical Engineering, and Mahnin Eikhang (rt) in Architecture.
Picture
 Bus # 30 continues south to Shewinbin Kyaung Monastary, 1895, one of the few remaining temples of teak.
Picture
Similar to Shewnandaw, the raised platform holds a wooden building festooned with carvings.
Picture
Picture
The doors have images of Buddhist believers holding lotuses in bud...
Picture
...and above a dancing "apsera".
Picture
And inside, a Buddha!
Picture
In the courtyard, a caretaker...more interested in football than Buddhism or tourists.

Picture
Another hop on #30 to another big complex, Mahamuni Temple, 1784, whose plan was one of the only such plan guides seen.
Picture
Yet another!
Picture
Wending thru side courtyards, stupas and drying "longyis".
Picture
And in the center of it all, a large pagoda...
Picture
...with an equally large worship hall. Note most are women...they are forbidden to approach the Buddha,...
Picture
...but men can, where they can apply gold leaf, but the breast decoration, and the face are kept clear. Indeed, every morning at 4 AM monks wash the face and brush the teeth.  
Picture
And all around are statues, paintings, dioramas...here behind glass, Buddha preaching at Deer Park.
Picture
The eight daily animals behind bars....for the zoo effect?
Picture
All around this complex are stores selling everything one might need for decorating a votive stupa...
Picture
a gold top...
Picture
...and some statuary.
Picture
Picture
Probably the rough out, and body and clothing detailing are done by apprentices, but...
Picture
...the faces left for the masters. Pretty simple tools and lots and lots of "tap" "tap" "taps" for the face and the hair.
Picture
But not a slave to the old ways, final grinding and polishing being done with an electric tool.
Picture
Inventory was impressive, some more finished than others.
Picture
When a buyer comes and wishes to buy a statue for donation, the appropriate names and dates are added to the base.
Picture
Another shop was working on larger items....a Buddha NOT with the "Touching Earth" mudra but a variant on the "Teaching/Preaching" one.
Picture
Many statues are surrounded with what would be the equivalent of a white picket fence.
Picture
The youngest member of the family of sculptors is going over the writing with an engraving tool, to be filled with black or gold ink.
Picture
Not all were working in marble, here is wood. People always said "teak"; could be, there is a lot there.
Picture
Bus 30 continued south..waiting at a stop, a girl rolls betel nut chews: the nut is cut into small slivers (it is hard), thena white lime solution is placed on a betel leaf, the nut, with maybe some spice, is added, and rolled into a hard, easy to pop in the mouth, wad.
Picture
One consequence of betal chewing is broken (or lost!) teeth and red gums and lips. This friendly man worried we did not know where we were going, but understood "end of the line"; "Me too! Sagaing." That was one of the places we wanted to go, so we tagged along in a "tuk-tuk"...
Picture
... to get to the village. More than one time the city Sagaing was capital to kingdoms, but now it is a pretty minor place, a node for "tuk-tuk's".
Picture
And the home of our "guide", Thiha, who insisted we join him for lunch. We met his family, and his mother served us the dishes, but all retreated to let us three eat alone.
Picture
Zhufeng did get his father and mother to join in a photo, but his wife, Winmin, was off somewhere else.
Picture
The city may have slipped into history, but temples and monasteries surround the hills make it a major center for Buddhist education. Sagaing Hill has a pair of "chinthe"...
Picture
...one used to prop up ad for English class at the International Buddhist Education Center.
Picture
Note the "2013" change stuck over "2012"....
Picture
It has a covered walkway, but way less crowded with vendors and visitors than Mandalay Hill.
Picture
Periodically funds are needed for repairs and improvements: donate and have your name on the wall.
Picture
Maybe these were early donor names.
Picture
Like Mandalay, various temples and stupas lined the stairway and ...
Picture
... a long view to the Ayeyarwady awaits at the top.
Picture
At the top, is Soon U Ponya Shin Pagoda (from 1312) , where Thiha and Minlan posed with Zhufeng.
Picture
A grand Buddha with LED halo...
Picture
...and a bevy of collection boxes at his feet.
Picture
Among and between these major sites, there are lots and lots of side streets, even a canal or two, to walk.
Picture
A bridge out in the sun makes a good laundry drying area.
Picture
Bilingual graffiti!
Picture
It must be fun to write Burmese.
Picture
A sign at the post office: better than "Neither snow nor sleet..."
Picture
Sometimes there was help reading characters...
Picture
...and with a little imagination easy to learn these two.
Picture
But some places took no chances on misunderstanding.
Picture
The bamboo panels used in housing, or window screening,  are made...
Picture
...by splitting, and splitting and splitting again bamboo stalks, then woven together.
Picture
More contemporary building materials are fabricated by cutting, and cutting and bending in a jig, held down with rocks.
Picture
This man had some English and what I made of it was he had a tattoo artist friend who used him as a sketch pad. The red lips are a sign of betel nut use.
Picture
Picture
Residential plumbing is probably rare...this bicycle rickshaw man is washing down at the end of a day at a public well...with partial concrete privacy walls.
Picture
Empty drinking water bottles may indicate safe water supplies are rare as well.
Picture
Newspapers and magazines were full of Obama, Thien Sien and Suukyi photos and stories.
Picture
With photos of General Aung San and Suukyi on her tee-shirt, they may have spurred sales.
Picture
An assembly line of fried noodles: squeeze noodle shaped dough into the fryer...
Picture
...remove with a chopstick and place in a basket...
Picture
...package in plastic baggies and sell.
Picture
These ladies had a wider variety of fried items for sale.
Picture
In a more relaxed atmosphere, tea houses provide free thermoses of tea, and hope one orders something to eat.
Picture
The flood of Western goods is on, and sometimes their modern equipment needs adjusting to get in the door.
Picture
Of course there always is housing to look at...here monks' quarters.
Picture
A traditional wooden urban house with lots of ventilation options.
Picture
Alas the Chinese model is winning out for contemporary houses...ventilation options limited as air conditioning comes to the fore.
Picture
A typical corner with examples of increased density: the older two story buildings, and the newer four and five story ones.
Picture
An elementary school in a traditional building...the sign in the middle says, in English, "Drug Free School"...
Picture
...could that be an issue with these youngsters??
Picture
More likely with these men...unemployment is a problem leading to hours of checkers using bottle caps and maybe something stronger than betel nuts.
Picture
Good old Bus 30 did not go everywhere, so sometimes a pick-up or a moto-taxi was needed.
Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.