When I initially arrived in Yangon / Rangoon, I wanted to fly up Bhamo - one of the bigger towns north of Burma. I also considered exploring Myitkyinã - a town further north of Bhamo.

My Lonely Planet guide indicated that the only border crossing into China was to the east of Bhamo. My initial plans to Burma also included exploration of western China. However, I was disappointed by the military turning me back, despite the fact that my Lonely Planet guide said I could cross into China at Ruili.

I decided instead to fly to Mandalay, not only because it was cheap to do so, but it saved me a 20-hour bus ride there from Yangon.



I heard about a song for sailors.

“To be a real sailor, the sailor would have to have been to Mandalay way upriver”

I quite liked Mandalay.


The photo below, is of Mandalay Hill.
During World War II (20 March 1945), the British and the Japanese fought one another to gain control of the position on this hill.



The photo to the left is taken from the hill itself facing east - as you can see, it has an aerial view of the whole city, and puts any oncoming enemies at a disadvantage. Control of Mandalay was important during the war, as the soldiers were able to set up artillery and attack anyone approaching the fortress.

This hill was of big strategic importance.

The building you see near the shrine is a monument to the British regiment who managed to take control of this hill from the Japanese.

At the eastern part of the delta, a lot of logging takes place. There was a train line built that used to cart all the trees/wood for export to Thailand.



The moat around the fortress is man-made.
Although man-made, comes from the local river.

The original fortress was burnt to the ground.
The whole fortress covered an area of 2.5 x 2.5 km







The design of Mandalay was quite colonial, and surprisingly, most of the streets were at 90º to one another.

Overall, I found Mandalay the most expensive city to travel to in Burma.

No matter what one does in Mandalay, be it explore Mandalay Hill or the city itself, the locals always had “special” foreigner prices. It really annoyed me.

I tried to use local currency as much as possible. However, FEC (Foreign Exchange Currency) was more valuable and worth more to the locals. FEC is also used in China, and one tries to use local currency as much as possible. Any item you buy has 2 prices - and obviously it is cheaper to use local currency than to use FEC.

I must admit, even Mandalay Hill was not that nice for the price I paid to explore it. It was also expensive just to go into the fortress.

Surprisingly, I could not find maps of the area that was not more that 40 years old.

Politics . . .


There is a lot of politics going on in Burma that an outsider should not get involved in - Burma is one of those countries where political opinions are best kept to oneself.

In Burma, use of the Internet and mobile phones is illegal. This is the government's way of controlling the information entering the country. Even access to equipment such as laptops is illegal - the country is so poor that many could not afford such a piece of equipment.

I saw many young women queueing for their rations. They were standing so close together that I thought they were lesbians! *laugh* The girls stand close together so another person cannot jump the queue by pushing in.










The girls here are very young, some have barely reached puberty and are doing some very hard work.





There is a lot of critique by Amnesty International, of Burma's use of young girls to provide maintenance for the roads.

Medicine . . .

My girlfriend, Arumi, tells me one sees the wares of a 'Medicine Man' quite often throughout Asia.

Whether they sit by the roadside, or whether they own a shop in a building, one will see very similar items being sold around Asia.

The “pellets” you see here are in fact different types of roots such as ginger or some unknown vegetable, that have been sun or air dried.



You will see the antlers of various animals such as deer or even rhino. There are also skulls from different animals - some of these animals may be endangered species, but somehow you will see them being sold in these markets.




These skulls are definitely not being used as “trophies” around the house!

The Burmese, like many Asians, believe in using very 'natural' remedies to cure common ailments.




A Medicine Man may not necessarily be a “doctor” according to western standards - that means he may not have a university degree.

However, a Medicine Man, may be what we know as “witch-doctors”. Some of the remedies they know are very natural and useful.

Unfortunately, not all of these remedies work. Around Asia, you will see shops or Medicine Man selling items like tigers' paws and skulls, or ground ivory tusks. Many of these are sold as cures or enhancements for the sex life.

In Burma, there is virtually no wildlife left.





You will even find that even tobacco is sold naturally.

Not in cigarette form, but in leaf form! The laws in Burma are not quite the same as they are here. Marijuana is also sold very freely.




Lotus Fruit . . .


Quite often in Asia, you may see lily pads floating on the water. In fairy-tales, you hear about frogs sitting on a lily pad.

You will be amazed to associate that this fruit here, comes from the flowers/plant growing out of the water near the lily pads.

The yellow seeds come from the flower itself. The seeds are used often in many Asian desserts, and said to promote better blood circulation.

While, the root of the lotus plant is also a delicacy. It is white when cooked, and has a crunchy texture, similar to that of the water chestnut. Mainly used in savoury meals, although used as a dessert as well.

Personally, I think it is too much hassle retrieving the fruit! *smile*

Created: 31 Oct 2001

Schwedagon was a holy place with extremely large and beautiful temples.

To get to Schwedagon, you had to travel up very long escalators. I took this photo because these escalators were the only escalators I had seen during my whole trip in Burma. As Schwedagon is a very religious place for the locals, I guess to travel up these escalators give the sense of travelling to a higher and holier place.



The temples at Schwedagon were really impressive.






I was told that collectively, these temples were built with 39 tonnes of pure gold.








At the end of the day, the locals all contributed in cleaning the place. They clean all the tiles and are very organised.







Here is the 'Big Stuba'. All that gold...

Up close, the temples are a glorious sight. Especially at night!

Can you see those lights at the base of the Big Stuba? Each is a 'mini temple', illuminating a Buddha.






You can really see the magnificence of these temples!



There are lots of rules or procedures about the way one prays to the Buddhas - very complicated to an outsider!

I saw a couple of the buddhists pour water onto the statue of the Buddha. Depending on the day of the week a buddhist is born, the individual would pour the respective number of bowls for the day of the week. A buddhist believes that by doing this, it would bring them luck.

At Schwedagon, I noticed there were hardly any tourists, mostly locals paying homage.

Can you see how intricate the carvings are in the foreground?












The monks rung this bell to announce prayer times.

It brought luck to ring the bell.
For example, if you were born on the 1st day of the week, you rung it once to bring good luck. If you were born on the 6th day of the week, you rung it 6 times etc.

Burma/Myanmar surprised me in many ways. I would have liked to see more of Burma than I did, but due to military restrictions, I only had access to certain parts of Burma and was not able to see any of the indigenous people along the border as I had initially planned.Burma is a very poor country. It was difficult to travel... travelling 100 kilometres could sometimes take up to 6 hours.

One of the most beautiful places in Burma, I thought, was Bagan.

I took many photos in Burma, and tried to order them in the following pages:

• I spent some days in Yangon, which had a heavy colonial influence.
• Schwedagon was another place full of temples, a place laden with pure gold.
• Whilst travelling, I could not help notice how influenced the people were by religion, and Burma's politics is one thing an outsider should not get involved in.
• I was fascinated by what the Burmese used for medicine. They also had some rather interesting local fruit.
• Mandalay also had an interesting colonial battle history. Whilst there, I watched the “Mandalay Marionettes”.
• With the restrictions up north, I did not get to see much. But you would not believe how the Burmese play volleyball!
• Finally, at Mt Popa, I went there to see a local monastry, and saw a lot of wild monkeys there.

Yangon ( Rangoon ) . . .




This is the city-centre of Rangoon. Rangoon is the capital city of Burma.

It is actually a pretty big city if you compare it with other parts of Burma on a map.

Most of the buildings are from the old colonial period when the British occupied Burma. Unfortunately they have not been very well-maintained.

Can you see the green bits on the clocktower?





If you are thinking it is vegetation growing on it, you are right! There is quite a bit growing on most of the buildings in the city.







There were so many pigeons!

I managed to catch a pictures of a pigeon flying mid-air - can you see the blurred grey thing near the tree in the middle of the photo?



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Created: 22 Sept 2001

I took part in a photo competition in November 2001, using one of the photos I had taken during my trip to Mt Cook in January 2001. This photo was of Kevin, the alpine guide from my group in the technical climbing course.

The following photo and comments appeared on the Planet Fear website, in the Front Line Photography Competition - not long after I was notified that I was one of 20 winners, and I was even more surprised to find out that I had come third!

The comments above the photo were my comments that I had emailed to them when I sent the photo. The comments below the photo were (one of the judges) comments about my photo.

3. Rene Pallesen The attached photo was taken in New Zealand on the main range near Mount Cook. The valleys Home 10. January 2003 10:53 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Mum and Dad in Sydney 2003 10. January 2003 10:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet mum and dad in sydney Share My mum and dad spent some time in Sydney over christmas and New Year. While they were here I raught my dad how to absail. And for Christmas I gave my parents some tickets for the Sydney Harbour bridge walk (they gave Arumi a ticket too). 1. November 2002 11:19 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My brothers funeral 1. November 2002 11:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet my brothers funeral Share My brother passed away in the end of 2002. He had been suffering badly from his disease for almost a decade and eventually it got the better of him. I still miss him a lot even though we weren't close when he was alive....but I still feel him close to me to this day! I still light a candle for him once in a while. His two biggest wishes in life was to become a professional tennis player...he was a pretty damn good player and I never played against him because I didn't have a chance. His second biggest wish was to get himself a girlfriend. This is one of the last photos that was taken of him. I still blame the psychiatric system in Denmark for what happened. They were too focused on treating his disease with medication and never paid any attention on teaching him to live with his disease and provide quality in life. I still love him very much and I really miss him. I also regret that I wasn't there more for him. He always looked after me and he has never hurt anyone. This is the last family photo that was taken. I would appreciate if you click here to see some of the photos from my brothers life: May he not be forgotten 26. October 2002 11:12 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Growing Up . . . 26. October 2002 11:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet growing up Share 26. October 2002 11:09 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Memories of Claus . . . 26. October 2002 11:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet my memories of claus Share Before Claus became ill, he was a rising star in the world of tennis. He was featured in the local newspaper as Amtsmester - he came first in the local "Amst" - level similar to state-level. Claus loved being out in the wind and the sun. He was also prone to seasickness. Claus and my family came to visit me in Australia in 1999. I think he liked it here - warmer winters and friendly people. I really like the top middle photo, of Claus eating oysters. He looked very happy. They did a lot of sightseeing here, and even visited my apartment on Narrabeen beach. The following are the last photos that were taken of Claus, on one of our sailing trips. 26. October 2002 11:08 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Dear Big Brother... 26. October 2002 11:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet my dear big brother Share My brother had schizophrenia, and he passed away not long after his 33rd birthday. I love my brother, and I regret not telling him this. My girlfriend tells me that Claus knew I loved him. I am not convinced of this, so I wrote him a letter, in the hope that he will read this, wherever he is. There is so much I wanted to say to him. I want to remember him when he was not sick, when he was happy, and when I was last in Denmark in June 2002. I want to remember him, as you will see him in these photos. 26. October 2002 11:01 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Always Part of My Family . . . 26. October 2002 11:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet always part of my family Share 26. October 2002 10:35 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Big Brother 26. October 2002 10:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet my big brother Share My Big Brother . . . Created: 8 Oct 2002 Last Updated: 24 Oct 2002 10. June 2002 11:47 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Singapore 10. June 2002 11:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet singapore Share On the way back from Denmark we made a stopover in Singapore to have a look as well as do some shopping. Here a photo from Little India in Singapore. 4. June 2002 11:36 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My mums birthday 4. June 2002 11:36 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet my mums birthday Share We surprised my Mum by turning up in Denmark before her 60th Birthday. She had a big party where a lot of her friends and family turned up. While we were there we also got to visit some of my friends and family as well as do a bit of Sightseeing in Copenhagen and Legoland. Click here to see more photos from: Mums 60th Birthday/Slideshow 29. March 2002 02:52 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Drive in Australia 29. March 2002 02:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweet drive in australia Share Over the Christmas holidays we went for a drive through some of the most scenic parts of Australia. First we drive down to Melbourne and then along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide. The sunsets were spectacular. We then continued up to the Flinders Ranges and along the way had a look at cave paintings. In Broken hill we went down into the old Daydream silvermine. We also had a look at some of the Desert Sculptures Along the way we saw some Australian Wildlife. Here a wombat. And here a possum. Lots of Koalas And here one very angry Lizard. And of course some Emus. We were camping along the way. Click here to see more photos from Driving in Australia / Slideshow << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts 1 2 ... 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 Older posts