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    Back to the country of monks: beyond the pictures

    Myanmar

    There are [5] photos and [1] story about Myanmar

    This monk looking for his way in a Bagan temple is like Burmese population trying to find its path towards democracy and modernity in the maze of its history. Cut from the global progress since the 1962 putsch, two generations have only known dictatorship. However, despite minorities repression we have encouraging signs: larger freedom of speech, release of Aung San Suu Kyi and hundreds of political prisoners... A step backward is unlikely now that the population can see the rest of the world. by: emmanuel Views[238] Nuns standing apart look questioningly at the bustle around the hand-operated Ferris wheel. Emblematic of the mutations, youth adopt a new dress style conveyed by TV (satellite dishes are allowed since 2011). Jeans are replacing the traditional longyi. Karaoke clips are now performed by western dressed actors with modern house and ATV. After decades of oppression, population discovers the consumer society and parents don't want their kids to be deprived as they have been. by: emmanuel Views[337] Intense life around the Golden Rock, one of the holiest places for the Theravada Buddhism. Till recently, westerners had to leave the top of the hill before sunset if they hadn't booked into one of the three government’s hotels. The drawback of the tourism rush is the inadequate accommodation capacity in Burma and the massive arrival of cash that has raised prices up to 10 in 18 months for activities related to tourism. As a side effect, locals may have difficulties to access these services. by: emmanuel Views[441] A late afternoon at the U-Bein bridge. Peaceful, nothing looks to have changed in a country stucked into the past for 50 years, except some tourist boats in the distance. It's hard to imagine that in 2007 Mandalay, with the most important monastic population of Burma, suffered mass arrests in monasteries during the Saffron Revolution. Since western medias in early 2012 have promoted the opening of the country that occurred one year before, it has become destination #1 for travel agencies. by: emmanuel Views[313] Orphans like here in Bagan are welcomed in monasteries were they will receive an education. And poor families will send there one of their sons to study. Every begging bowl belongs to a monk. In Buddhist families, every boy will spend 3 months in a monastery between the age of 5 and 15. In Burma, around 2% of men are monks. In 2006, some of them confided in me it was a way to have a decent life without the risk to be requisitioned by force by the military junta for building roads, pipelines... by: emmanuel Views[768]
     

    A 'place' I have visited

    Friday, 5 Jul 2013 | Photo Gallery | Scholarship Entry

    Images are part of my life. As a kid I was always drawing. Then I studied how biological and robotic systems interpret visual data. Working today on smart cars and humanoid robots vision, this high-tech environment could have kept me far from living conditions ... Read more >
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    Tags: Travel Photography Scholarship 2013

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