Ten Years Ago Today

Ten years ago today I was drying palm specimens with a charcoal-heated plant drier in the yard of the Hukaung Valley Wildlife Sanctuary headquarters at Tanai. That's U Myint Maung (see U Myint Maung), the warden of the Wildlife Sanctuary, lifting the cardboard to peek into the drier, and U Tun Shuang (see Group Photo) bending over to check the stoves.

I like the "Ten Years Ago Today" concept and will probably do more of it. And now that I store all of my images in the cloud with Picturelife, and get a link every morning to the pictures that I have taken on that day, it's all pretty easy. A more orderly chronology of the "thus" that "i have seen". 

How To Make A Plant Drier

So we had just come out of the Hukaung Valley Tiger Preserve with a lot of plant specimens in plastic bags drenched in FAA (formalin and acetic acid), and we needed to dry them before heading back to Yangon and New York. We found a local carpenter in Tanai (see Tolagyi Tour of Tanai) and sketched out what we needed. Essentially a box with a metal bottom and air holes that we could put a heat source (charcoal burners) under and dry the specimens. Turned out really nice. [NOTE: There's a story about what happened here, but I'll save that for another time. Bet you can guess].

Another Sunset

I keep finding new images from the Hukaung Valley expedition. This one is a beautiful sunset over the Tanai River after finishing up the fieldwork. Goes nicely with this and this. Oh, and this, too. See Myanmar 2005 for more details about the trip. [NOTE: Photo by the incomparable Tun Shuang (thx)].

Movies from Myanmar II

This clip, Shopping For Supplies, gives a taste of the main market in Tanai where we bought supplies before heading up the Ledo Road for six weeks of collecting rattan specimens and running inventory transects. What a magical place to shop.

Myanmar Sunset

Rattan collectors moving cane from their boat to the bank of the river outside of Tanai (see Tanai and Tolaygi Tour of Tanai) as the sun goes down. [NOTE: Photo by U Tun Shuang (thx)].

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...

Pit Sawing

If you don't have a chainsaw or access to a local sawmill, a pit saw is a pretty good way to turn logs into boards.  Two guys, a saw, a pit, and a log.  There is a tight choreography here. Always pull - never push - the saw. The sawyer on the bottom has to work a little less because he has gravity on his side.  But all the sawdust falls right into his face. [NOTE: This pit saw was located outside of Tanai (see Tanai and Tologyi Tour of Tanai) in Kachin State, Myanmar.

River Taxis

River taxis parked in the early morning at the port in Tanai (see Tanai). Most of these boats are made from kyilan wood (Shorea assamica Dyer; white meranti group), which is one of the most abundant tree species in the Shinlonga management area (see The Last Stake and Believe Your Eyes).

Tolagyi Tour of Tanai

On our first afternoon in Tanai, we took a tolagyi out to some patches of forest on the outskirts of town (see January 12, 2005 post in Myanmar 2005).  Great way to see the countryside, but kind of bumpy.