“There are only 54 steps to the top,” said my guide, Mu Mu. Easy-peasy, I thought. I can do that without even breathing hard. Halfway up the face of Shwesandaw Temple, I realized I must have tuned out the part where she’d said each step was at least two feet high and the climb was … Read more
Betel nut vendor at the Nyung Shwe market near Inle Lake, Myanmar. His teeth are stained from chewing betel nut, which is shredded and wrapped in a slake lime coated-betel leaf, along with spices and alcohol-marinated tobacco. Over time, the concoction eats the enamel off teeth. Many in Myanmar, especially men, are so addicted to … Read more
Typical stilt house on Inle Lake, Myanmar, with floating gardens surrounding the home. Entire villages are built over the lake in this fashion, complete with monasteries, general stores, schools, restaurants, and even craft workshops. The stilts must be high, as the lake level fluctuates severely between the dry and rainy seasons. The gardens are planted … Read more
Inle Lake, Myanmar (formerly Burma), is home to nearly 200,000 residents who have developed unique measures that allow them to live in harmony with the lake. As water depths can vary from eight feet in the dry season to 17 feet in the rainy season, they build their wood and woven bamboo homes on stilts … Read more
These are just a few of the 1,047 ancient stupas that crown a hilltop at Shwe Indein Pagoda near Inle Lake, Myanmar. Legend insists that the shrines were built by Ashoka the Great, who lived from 304–232 BCE, however there is no archeological evidence to support this claim. The currently accepted theory is that they … Read more
