Myanmar - Kalaw to Inle trek

[wingspar]

The history of the name is very complicated actually. The name Burma is what the British called the country when it was their colony (Just as Sri Lanka was Ceylon, Taiwan was Formosa, Burkina Faso was Upper Volta, Zimbabwe was Rhodesia, Ghana was the Gold Coast, etc.)

Myanmar is a lot closer to what the country has been known as historically. This form of the name can be traced back to 1102.

Burma I’ve heard of. Thanks for the explanation. Now that I read that, I do remember seeing something about that on a documentary or news channel on TV.

I took a look at some of your photos on your web page. Words escape me. Of the ones I looked at, the ones from the Philippines were the most interesting, tho all were interesting. Hanging coffins? You ate Balut in the Philippines? I’ll bet you could do a book just on the food you have eaten over the years. You definitely could do a Photographic book on your travels.

Looking forward to your photos from Iran and Central Asia you plan on next year. Afghanistan? You got guts. There was a time Afghanistan would have been on my list, but not today, tho I’m sure there are some reasonably safe parts in the country. I worked with a guy that grew up in Iran. He came to this country to go to school while the Shah was still in Power. That changed while he was in this country, and he decided to marry his girl friend from college, and stay. He went back after being gone for 15 years to see family, and I gave some serious thought about going with him, but in the end decided it probably wasn’t a good idea. His descriptions of his trip confirmed that it would have been a bad idea for me to go. He didn’t even want to take his 12 year old son as he knew the Iranian Army would take him and keep him. He has since taken him with no problems.

How do you fund all this travel?

 

[Jimbojack]

Burma I’ve heard of. Thanks for the explanation. Now that I read that, I do remember seeing something about that on a documentary or news channel on TV.

I took a look at some of your photos on your web page. Words escape me. Of the ones I looked at, the ones from the Philippines were the most interesting, tho all were interesting. Hanging coffins? You ate Balut in the Philippines? I’ll bet you could do a book just on the food you have eaten over the years. You definitely could do a Photographic book on your travels.

Looking forward to your photos from Iran and Central Asia you plan on next year. Afghanistan? You got guts. There was a time Afghanistan would have been on my list, but not today, tho I’m sure there are some reasonably safe parts in the country. I worked with a guy that grew up in Iran. He came to this country to go to school while the Shah was still in Power. That changed while he was in this country, and he decided to marry his girl friend from college, and stay. He went back after being gone for 15 years to see family, and I gave some serious thought about going with him, but in the end decided it probably wasn’t a good idea. His descriptions of his trip confirmed that it would have been a bad idea for me to go. He didn’t even want to take his 12 year old son as he knew the Iranian Army would take him and keep him. He has since taken him with no problems.

How do you fund all this travel?

I'm glad you liked the photos. I'm thinking about doing a photo book about my trips like you mentioned, it would only be for myself and a few friends though I think.

I've been planing on going to Central Asia for a while now. Unfortunately the situation in Afghanistan has gotten a lot worse then it was a couple of years ago. At the moment I would not go there from Pakistan, I indirectly know a couple of people who work there and they say to wait. I probably will go to Mazar-e-Sherif from Tajikistan. I'll have to see how the situation is once I get there though.

Originally my plan was to go there in May/June of this year, but I'm going to visit my friend in Colombia instead and travel around with him. I'll definately post pictures from my next trip here :wink:

As to funding, travel for me is a passion. I fund it by saving as much money as I can while I'm working, then travelling as cheaply as possible. All my cameras and half the lenses I have were bought used from either forums or craigslist, I share a 1 bedroom apartment and drive a used car. I don't go out drinking like my friends do (It very quickly adds up). In Myanmar, I stayed in a double room, $6 including breakfast for 2 people. S.E. Asia is super cheap, on average we payed around $10-12 for a double, took local transport, ate local food. For me, that's the best way to travel and get to know a culture

 

[donger]

Incredible set. These are truly special.

 

[donger]

Phillip you do a lot of traveling. And having looked through your website, I'm going to assume you eat the local cuisine when you're traveling. So seriously, how do you prevent the side-effects of eating the local food? Do you have "the runs" constantly? Or has your digestive system simply adjusted to eating native foods?

 

[Jimbojack]

I have a lot of immunizations (Hep A/B, Typhoid, Meningitis, Yellow Fever, etc.). Hep A is spread through contaminated food, so that's very important to have. If I travel to high risk Malaria areas I take a low daily dose of Doxycycline (Antibiotic), it helps to kill various bacteria that's in food sometimes.

I also always take Cipro (and other antibiotics), specifically for food poisoning, with me, just in case. Having said that I usually get used to food within a week or so of traveling in a region. Most of the time the problems are due to different cooking oils, etc. used.

Some of the foods in India for example have a lot of oils and spices that we are not used to at home. If I eat a dish like that, I know I will get "the runs", but after a few days I get used to it and can eat it with no problems. So usually that's how it is.

I do get food poisoning from time to time, but it's pretty rare. On this last trip I only got sick once during 8 weeks, and it lasted for 2 days. Last time I was in India/Bangladesh I didn't get sick at all, even though I ate street food almost daily. The first time I went to India I got real bad food poisoning, lasted for 5 days or so. So it can happen but it's fairly rare

When I do have stomach problems, I use the BRAT diet (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Toast). Whereever you are, you can always get plain steamed rice or Bananas or Toast.

One of the most important thing though is to wash your hands before eating, especially if you don't use cutlery.

This is a local restaurant in Tamil Nadu, India. The whole set cost me around $0.75 and was delicious!

Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)

 

[wingspar]

I'm glad you liked the photos. I'm thinking about doing a photo book about my trips like you mentioned, it would only be for myself and a few friends though I think.

You would have no problems finding a publisher. Fund future trips, or invest the money. I spent another hour going thru your photos this morning, and still haven’t seen them all.

Your method of traveling on the cheap reminds me of an old high school buddy we thought was not with us any more because of his lifestyle. Last time I saw him, he had just come back from a few weeks of hitchhiking south from San Francisco. I think he went as far as Panama. Was back for a few days, then set off for the Mardi Gras via his thumb. Said he’d be back in 3 weeks or so. 8 months later, we get a letter from him. He is living in Stockholm Sweden. I have not seen him since, but he tracked us down about 5 years ago, and we are in contact thru email. I did get a letter from him while he was in a hospital in Spain with hepatitis a few years ago. He lived out of a tent in Africa for 7 years. Now freshly out of a relationship, and feeling like he is 20 again, he has his eye on the Orient, cause he’s never been there.

I got a bad case of diarrhea in Mexico once at a restaurant in a remote village. Ate a lot of street food with no problems. Bottled water. Got to have that.

You really should consider a book some day. Photos, and stories of the people, food and places you’ve visited. You already have enough for one interesting book.

 

[MeSince83]

These are some very phenomenal photos. It reminds me of my trip to Jamaica back in 07'. These are beautiful, thanks for sharing.

 

[captaincarl777]

A heartfelt thank you for sharing your images here and on your website. In the last few hours since finding this thread, I took a journey that I would have never been able to take without your wanderlust and generosity.

 

[icjogger]

Phillip.....a great set!! We get a real feel for the country, its people, their culture and their day to day life. Viewing your pics is time well spend. Thanks much for sharing!!

 

[djsphynx]

Great pictures. Can you elaborate on how you got there, what types of tour you took etc. I'd love to do something like that, but I just don't know where to start.

Your trip looks very organic and non-touristy, qualities that I prefer when traveling.

Cheers,

R

 

[ZKcrew]

great series of shots!

 

[Jimbojack]

Great pictures. Can you elaborate on how you got there, what types of tour you took etc. I'd love to do something like that, but I just don't know where to start.

Your trip looks very organic and non-touristy, qualities that I prefer when traveling.

Cheers,

R

Thanks everyone for your comments, I'll post some more photos this weekend.

I didn't really plan anything in advance, just bought a guidebook, the tickets and got my visa. I never organize any tours beforehand, you can always figure things out when you get to the country.

In this particular case I took a bus to Kalaw, which is a city where these treks usually start from. Once I got there I walked around the city looking for a guide, it's very easy to find. I made the arrangements that afternoon and started the trek the next morning.

It was really great in part because there are not many tourists. Similar treks in Thailand or Laos are often packed with people. Then again, there are not many tourists because of the Junta in power, so there is always a trade off

Lonely planet has a great travel forum, if you have some specific questions people there will be able to help you

www.lonelyplanet.com

Let me know if I can help