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The M9 in Burma

gwg

Member
My first picture post after encouragement by Ced!

I finally got round to sorting through my Burma pictures. I took along a Summilux 50 ASPH (wonderful), VC Ultron 28 1.9 (ditto) and VC Apo-Lanthar 90 3.5 (a surprisingly good lens, if a little on the slow side for my taste) on the M9 and a few shots on my wife's X100s.











Best,
GWG
 

gwg

Member
Thank you for the comments!

@Ulfric, he's polishing a lacquered plate he had been carving a layer into and was about to paint on.
 

D&A

Well-known member
Lovely images and use of light is very effective. I have a number of favorites but they are all extremely nice. Someone near and dear to me was born and lived the early part of their life in Burma and has so many memorable stories. Appreciate your posting these images for us to enjoy.

Dave (D&A)
 

ced

Member
George thanks for sharing the great images and hope the nice reception will keep you posting regularly!
 

wstam

Member
Agreed with what everyone had said, great photos :thumbup:

How long did you stay in Burma? Which month was it? I assume you were there as tourist. Were you travelling there on your own or with a travelling package?

Sorry for all the questions. Burma is not too far from my country. Find it interesting.

Thanks.
 

gwg

Member
Thank you for this very nice reception, indeed!

Burma is an absolute gem to visit, although the word has spread extremely fast, so the more popular / developed places (Bagan, Inle Lake etc) are completely overcrowded and the infrastructure can hardly cope. The government unfortunately also seems to be intent on making the popular places into somewhat of a "Disneyland" (restoring temples to look as though they were brand new, painting them in fluorescent green inside etc) so one should really go soon!

We unfortunately only had ten days right after Christmas (best weather but more - foreign and local - tourists) to travel. We had to pre-arrange some things (mostly accommodation and flights), as we didn't have enough time to be flexible. We (and friends that went shortly before us) found it not to be difficult to organise things on the spot as much as possible. It also allows you to choose who you support and it prevents you from having to live with very bland package tours. In fact our highlight was a hiccup in our plans which led us to hike through the jungle with a local who knew the area extremely well, spoke all the regional languages (there are many) and had us sleep and eat at local huts - besides being extremely kind and full of stories. The normal guides we met were all non-locals having done a rubber-stamp University course in Tourism, had no clue about the area and/or didn't speak the local languages.

In case you are interested, there are some more images at Burma - a set on Flickr

Best,
George
 

Ulfric Douglas

New member
... In fact our highlight was a hiccup in our plans which led us to hike through the jungle with a local who knew the area extremely well, spoke all the regional languages (there are many) and had us sleep and eat at local huts - besides being extremely kind and full of stories.
OK that's intriguing, what hiccup required a hike through the jungle??
 

gwg

Member
:) Sounds more adventurous than it was: We had planned to hike and had hired a guide. Unfortunately we had underestimated his intentions for the night before - it seems they celebrate New Years as least as intensely as we do! So our guide was drunk and unable to walk on January 1st and we ended up doing the hike with a last-minute stand-in, who had never before led. He was one of the most impressive people we met there - grew up in a tiny village, unable to marry, as he couldn't procure the necessary dowry in time and now was too old. He had made money by wandering through the jungle to different villages carrying wood to build huts, smuggling bulls to Thailand etc. and basically lived as a nomad without a home. After a nasty bite by a poisonous snake in the leg, he had a large hospital bill to pay and and needed to look for something else to do. SO he worked as a porter for some fancier treks where he picked up a rather impressive (by Burmese guide standards) English.

He was truly incredible as he knew anecdotes about any place we went, lots of the locals we passed, spoke all the local languages (there were at least five different ones), told us about the everyday life of people there and how they were - or weren't - affected by modernisation. He also made sure that money we spent went directly to needy local people (like a widow without an income cooking for us etc.) and kept us off the beaten track.

I'll stop here before this becomes a travel diary post! :)

Thank you for the kind words, wstam and Double Negative.

@Double Negative: I keep trying different lenses, but nothing pleases me as consistently as the 50 Lux! (VC 35 1.7 is getting close though!) Great site by the way!
 

jaree

Member
Very nice set and interesting behind the scenes story. All of them are nice, but I like #2 and #3 in particular. Thanks for sharing.
 

Double Negative

Not Available
...Thank you for the kind words, wstam and Double Negative.

@Double Negative: I keep trying different lenses, but nothing pleases me as consistently as the 50 Lux! (VC 35 1.7 is getting close though!) Great site by the way!
That's the beauty of travel photography (that I enjoy, anyway); all the stories behind the images.

You're very welcome, and thank you also! I'd have to agree; the 50 Lux is a home run every time, and often surprises you beyond expectation. Even (especially?) wide open it's just amazing.
 

Ulfric Douglas

New member
GwG : glad I asked!
Now which is the photo of this guide?
Not posted, or not taken?
Great story, and what an awkward marriage tradition ...
 

Cindy Flood

Super Moderator
George, I enjoyed your Burma photos here and on Flickr. The guide looks like a happy man, in spite of his sad circumstances.
 
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