Crossing the Taron (From The Archive)

Heading north from Tanai (see Tanai and Tolagyi Tour of Tanai), you have to cross the Taron River to get into the Hukaung Tiger Reserve.  During the dry season you can usually drive across the river in a four-wheel drive truck. After the rains start, you have to use the local ferry. [NOTE: The trip usually costs about 15,000 kyat, but sometimes the ferry isn't there, or the crew isn't there, or the motor is broken, or there's no gasoline, and no amount of money will get you across the river]. 

Bo Tree IV

The Buddha and assorted bodhisattvas sitting/standing under a bo tree (Ficus religiosa L.) on the grounds of Pha That Luong (see Tuk-tuk to Pha That Luong) outside of Vientiane, Laos. I am always curious as to whether the bo trees planted at pagodas throughout S.E. Asia are from cuttings taken from the mother tree at Bodh Gaya.

The sign in front of the bo tree at Pha That Luong cleared this up for me.  But are they really saying that the tree was planted on the site in 2500 BC, i.e. Siddhartha Gautama stood up after attaining enlightenment in 500 BC and the Supreme Patriarch of Laos immediately reached over and took a cutting? 

Teaware

Tea cups, tea pots, gaiwan, tea trays, saucers, and an eclectic assortment of other blue and white porcelain household items for sale in a small shop in the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam (see Scenes from the Old Quarter). I love this stuff, but how many tea pots do you really need? [NOTE: I have three: (1) a dark blue, cast-iron Japanese tetsubin pot, (2) a beautiful celadon glaze pot with a rattan handle and a little green frog on the top from Vietnam, and (3) a large, truly stunning, rust-colored Heath Ceramics pot with a wrapped copper handle - for those special occasions (thx, Kit)].

Thai Markets/Thai Trains

Lovely video from the Norwegian photographer, Terje Sorgjerd, of Bangkok's Maeklong Market - the one the train runs through the middle of 8 times a day - and the Damnoen Saduak floating market (starting at about 2:45). Best to view full screen. Incredible colors. Something for your weekend. [NOTE: Music is "Crazy" by Katie Noonan]

Thinking Like A River

An unidentified river in Kachin State between Shimbweyeng (see Manau Leader) and Namyun in northern Myanmar.

"He saw: this water ran and ran, incessantly it ran, and was nevertheless always there, was always and at all times the same and yet new in every moment! Great be he who could grasp this, understand this! He understood and grasped it not, only felt some idea of it stirring, a distant memory, divine voices."

Siddhartha
Herman Hesse (1922) 

[NOTE: I spent a reflective moment in 2005 gazing at the rapids in this river. Could have been divine voices. Could have been I was just catching my breath after walking all day. Now a distant memory].

Snow + Spring

Spring "officially" started in the Northern Hemisphere on March 20, the weather in NY had started to warm up a bit, and the cherry trees outside of my office (see All Dressed Up) had started to flower. And then we got half an inch of snow last night. A bit slushy walking to work this morning. 

Walnuts

Woman cracking walnuts (Juglans regia L.) in the main market of Tanai (see Shopping For Supplies and Tanai) in Kachin State, Myanmar. Although this post is essentially about the delicious, local walnut from the mountains of Central Asia, I am struck by the wonderful hat, the fuzzy, embroidered sweater/jacket, and the beautiful smile of the lady doing the cracking. She knew I was taking her picture...

The Scent of a Tree (From The Archive)

The smell of the inner bark is one of the most important diagnostic characters for identifying trees in tropical forests where flowers and fruits may be small, of drab color, and high up in the canopy.  Materos all over the world use this trick.  Approach the tree, glance up at the canopy to check for flowers or fruits, slash the bark, and give it a whiff - or occasionally a taste.  All with such wonderful insouciance. [NOTE (added to re-post): These materos are working in the Tapajós-Arapiuns Extractive Reserve in western Para, Brazil (see Tapajos-Arapiuns)].

Get Your Boots On

Depending on the weather and my energy level, I either ride my bike to work (see Biking to Work) or take the train. If the latter, I ride MetroNorth to Fordham Station and then walk the six blocks up Webster Avenue to the Botanical Garden. This route takes me along the northwest boundary of the Fordham University campus. On the morning of March 6, 2009, I heard a lot of screaming and ruckus as I walked by Fordham, and then LOUD guitar chords, and then, unmistakably, Bono's voice:

Free me from the dark dream
Candy bars, ice cream,
All the kids are screaming but the ghosts aren't real.
Here's what you gotta be
Love and community
Laughter is eternity if the joy is real... 

I stopped, put down my bag, and listened with a rapt smile until the song was over. One of my more memorable walks to work.

Get your boots on.

[NOTE: U2 was playing at Fordham as part of the Good Morning, America television show.  They have a very slick video of the entire U2 concert, but I much prefer this low resolution, somewhat shaky, clip filmed by one of the students in the audience]. 

Bathing The Buddha

On one of my first trips to Myanmar, maybe in 2004, I walked up to Shwedagon Pagoda (see Sunday at Shwedagon, Shwedagon Buddha, and Pause to Reflect), located the correct altar for the day of my birth (Thursday), timidly approached it, filled a plastic cup (a yellow one) with water, poured it over the head of the little white Buddha several times, and fell, for one brief moment in time, into a sea of emptiness. [NOTE: The nat statue (see Nat Worship) behind the altar is considerably larger and more carefully rendered than the statue of Buddha being bathed].