Monday, June 20, 2011 at 9:02AM There is always something interesting (and photogenic) around the bend on this old, World War II-vintage road. [NOTE: If I remember correctly, we were on the way to Takhet (see CBNRM 2009) when I took this.]
Monday, May 23, 2011 at 10:41AM 
Field crew from the 2009 work in Kachin State, Myanmar (see Shinlonga and Crossing the Taron). Diverse mix of wonderful people. That's U Saw Htun, WCS coordinator of the Northern Forest Complex, on the far left in the back, and Rob Tizard, wildlife biologist, community development worker, accomplished photographer and amazing ornithologist, standing on the far right (with the leech socks and binoculars). In between, there's U Sein Aung Mein, my liason/counterpart from the Myanmar Forest Department, our two Kachin assistants, NawAung and Naw Sein (see Kachin Guides), the local police and army escorts, and the fantastic WCS Hukaung Wildlife Sanctuary folks. [NOTE: Can't believe I never posted this photo. What a great bunch of people.]
Tuesday, May 17, 2011 at 11:02AM 
A few women from the Kachin village of Shinlonga (see Shinlonga and Stick and Wheel) would always attend the community meetings where we explained what we were doing (see The Last Stake and Naw Aung and His Sagawa). And they always sat together in the back row. And never said anything. But were extremely photogenic. [NOTE: Image from the December 2009 trip to the Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary].
Friday, May 6, 2011 at 12:10PM 
One of the joys of doing fieldwork with rural communities in the tropics is that you are inevitably joined by a gaggle of kids that want to get a look at the strange, new guy in town (see Miao Kids, Dayak Kids, and Dayak Kids II). Image above shows Kachin children in the village of Shinlonga (see Shinlonga and Morning Mist) watching me eat breakfast. It was still early, and several of them came in their pajamas. [NOTE: The kid in the middle with the Game Boy seems decidedly disinterested in the whole thing.]
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 9:53AM 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].
Hukaung Tiger Reserve, Myanmar, Taron River in Science | Share Article | Email Article | Print Article Friday, March 25, 2011 at 9:59AM 
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].
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 9:46AM 
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...
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 9:32AM 
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].
Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 10:49AM After finishing the rattan survey in the Hukaung Valley (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey), we arrived at Myitkyina to learn that our flight to Yangon had been canceled and that no planes would be available in the near future. Our flight from Bangkok to New York was in four days. For lack of any better options, we decided to traverse the 919 miles from Myitkyina to Yangon by train. We bought our tickets, got blessed by a Buddhist monk, and then wobbled and lurched and squirmed for almost 48 hours.
[NOTE: Music (local pop) was playing the entire trip - all night and all day. They never turned the lights out in the cars for security reasons. The springs kept popping out of the cushion of my seat.]
Thursday, November 11, 2010 at 7:34AM After finishing the rattan survey in the Hukaung Valley (see Hukaung Valley Rattan Survey), we arrived at Myitkyina to learn that our flight to Yangon had been canceled and that no planes would be available in the near future. Our flight from Bangkok to New York was in four days. For lack of any better options, we decided to traverse the 919 miles from Myitkyina to Yangon by train. We bought our tickets, got blessed by a Buddhist monk, and then wobbled and lurched and squirmed for almost 48 hours.
[NOTE: Music (local pop) was playing the entire trip - all night and all day. They never turned the lights out in the cars for security reasons. The springs kept popping out of the cushion of my seat.]