CA, voici d'autres photos, juste pour toi! ;-)

Sunrise over Bagan, Christmas morning. The night before, I had a trishaw "driver" take me to see the sunset. This was a bad spot for it, as it was one of the temples closest to the river; there were no outlines of pagodas in front of the colorful sky. I was upset, but when I turned my back to the river, the view was amazing! What a great spot this would be to see the sunrise, I immediately thought. I marked the spot on my map and vowed to come the next morning, hoping I'd have this little temple all to myself. I rented a bike for the next day and went to bed early. Next morning, I tore the thick blanket off of my bed (Burma before sun rise is freezing at this time of the year), put all the clothes I could find on and set off to find my temple on my bike. At 5:00am, it was pitch black and I looked ridiculous: I had a frontal head lamp strapped to my forhead (good purchase!), trying to peddle with a huge bag on my back, struggling to hold the blanket around me at the same time as I'm holding the bar handle of the bike and figuring out where I was.... I found my temple unlocked and deserted. I managed to find the steps to make it to the top and got ready for a long wait. The light show began maybe 20 minutes later. The colors were beautiful and the fog starting rolling in from the river. It was magical.... until a huge tourist bus turned the corner and parked right in front of "my" temple... I was now stuck with about 20 loud-mouth German tourists... Oh well, at least I had some time up there by my lonesome! I took this picture before the noisy tourists spoiled the moment.

A Pa Dong Karen woman, from an almost mythical Burmese-Thai tribal group better known by their nickname, the Long Neck Tribe. The women's necks aren't actually stretched. Rather, the weight of the rings gradually crushes the women's collar bones, producing the illusion of long necks. At least, that's the official explanation. In person, the effect is sufficiently striking to overwhelm thoughts of any rational explanation. The necks seem eerily elongated. The women look like giraffes. A few young girls also wear the brass rings, but the tradition seems to be dying out. The costume is so elaborate, with the head scarf, the rings around the neck, as well as the knees and wrists, etc. I asked the man standing next to me what the Pa Dong Karen men wore. He laughed and told me that he was from the tribe and I was taking photos of his mother and wife! They don't really have a traditional costume. They just wear the longi (a kind of sarong/pareo), like all other Burmese man. His sister had decided not to wear the rings. It was up to every female to decide if they wanted to adhere to this tradition or not, no arm-twisting! This lady in the photo was so cool. We joked for a while and I sat next to her, trying to fit both of us in the frame of my camera. Not great...

Yeah, I know: not a great shot and a bit culturally insensitive.... But doesn't it look like I pasted her head on the top of those rings??? So surreal!