在缅甸的480个小时里,32个花在走在飞沙走石的坎坷颠簸路上、42个花在乘坐20座位却挤满34人的陈旧巴士车上、14个花在本土价格便宜载满客人蔬菜鸡羊走兽的客运船上、8个花在漂浮在茵莱湖悠闲的独木舟上、18个花在摇摇晃晃扬起黄沙滚滚的马车上、4个花在骑踏让屁股开花的僵硬自行车上、6个花在乘踏曼德勒独有的蓝色破烂小的士上、8个花在安全驾驶超慢的三轮车上、两个花在乘坐挤满58人的无顶卡车上(有如被卖猪仔的感觉)、1个花在站在小型客运卡车车尾上(还吓得死去活来)、122个花在十美金的背包客栈简陋房间里、8个花在农居冰冷坚硬的床垫上、6个花在高原与和尚同床异梦的寺庙地板上、18个走在风光旖旎的卡劳高原上、8个花在观赏超美的缅甸独有日出日落上、一个半花在吃着曼德勒本土冰淇淋上,4个花在与和尚聊天说东南西北上、还有,48个花在拉肚子的痛苦漫长路上(我又中招了)!

缅甸,是居印度之后,第二个我去过难度极高的背包国家。如何潇洒的你,也会立刻花容失色,泪洒当场。可是缅甸独有的风情、亲切的脸孔、上万的佛塔、千变的经验,错过了只有终身的遗憾,一生的悲伤。不去,是人生的一大错误。缅甸,实在不去不行! 去了,不走不行20天背包行!

   
 

Myanmar, a country you must observe, experience and appreciate.

I don’t know the extent of impact international sanctions have brought to Myanmar, but I do know that boycotting Myanmar tourism has brought unwanted suffering to its people directly. While the government continues to live lavishly on the country’s abundant natural resources, most of the people in Myanmar continue to live their lives in extreme poverty, having only the much respected Buddha in their hearts. A trishaw driver I met feeds his family (including his aging mother) with the money he earns from his tourist clients, but the boycott continues to jeopardize his livelihood over the years. He said in a weary voice, “I want to change job, tourists don’t come anymore”. Without witnessing with your own eyes, you won’t comprehend what I had said. This is Myanmar, a country you must visit!

P/S: If you plan to go by tour, forget about going. Joining organized tours is supporting the government indirectly. With independent travel, more money goes to locals and less to the government, and is a more recommended way to go.

 
  高眺曾经拥有上万座佛塔的蒲甘,我只感觉到佛陀再现
  The 4000-temple Bagan, mesmerizing and powerful. I was constantly surrounded by temples and Buddha everywhere I walked, I thought an awesome sight like this could only appear in one's dream!
 
  曼德勒敏贡古城白佛塔上的小和尚
  Thanks to Lonely Planet, I found an interesting way of admiring the Hsinbyume Paya in Mingun - by watching novice monk jumping the whitewashed wavy terraces (fyi, the previous edition of Myanmar LP cover looks very much like the photo above)
 
  一双观察水下动静的眼睛,一个单腿划着鱼船的动作
一双持着喇叭形罩网的手,一个茵莱湖独有的湖风光
  Nothing is better than watching fish catching by a “one-legged” fisherman when you are at the most beautiful lake in Myanmar - the Inle Lake.
 
  200年历史的烏本柚木橋,是否因承载过无数影子的重量而慢慢下沉?
  The world’s longest teak bridge, the U Bein Bridge. Besides bridging the gap between two lands, it serves as a social and gathering platform for the locals who live here over the last 200 years. I spent few hours of my time on this bridge with some monks on a fine morning.
 
  我在阿马拉布拉古城和1300个和尚走了好一段路
  In Bagan I was surrounded by thousand temples, in Amarapura I was surrounded by thousand monks.
 
  美丽与和谐的身影
  A graceful pose of a little kid ‘choreographed’ by a Malaysian backpacker Dino Goh whom I met in Mandalay and again in Bagan and Yangon.
 
  蒲甘一座佛塔顶部的大佛像
  One in the light and another in the darkness. This is not mirroring, it’s taken with my 15mm fisheye lens.
 
  当火车还在远方时,火车路是我的专有
  When the train is not around, the railway becomes a children’s favourite playground
 
  如果少了牛车群,将少了一份缅甸情
  Countless ox-carts delivering heaps of goods to nearby villages obstructed my path at the Kalaw highlands.
 
  如果你问我最想回头走一躺的地方,那肯定是优美的茵莱湖
  The extraordinary one-legged fishing method - a trademark of Myanmar. Paddling with one leg, standing with another, leaving his hands free to cast the fishing net over passing fishes, which he can spot easily in the shallow lake.
 
  带着美丽的心情,在卡劳高原徒步遇见的美丽风景
  “Chen, if you have a beautiful mind, the day will become beautiful for you”, my guide Win said that to me one morning before we started our 3-day trek through Kalaw villages. I did have a beautiful mind that day.
 
  红霞散尽后,我没有立刻想离开的念头,好让蒲甘的神秘感
在夜深人静的夜晚继续把我迷住
  Layers of mist and dust drifting above the golden land of
Bagan at dusk.