Hi Jimmy, it's a tricyclette ( with three wheels ) ;

never saw in Thailand , Laos, Kampuchea and Vietnam ...

I have hired there three person bike taxi's . The problem is that the seats are designed for Myanmar people. If you are slim you just fit in the  seats and if you are slightly overweighted ....

When in Mandalay I had the plan to visit Mignun. This is a place on the banks of the river around 10 – 15 km outside Mandalay. Around 1800 an attempt was made to make a 150 metres (490 ft) tall temple. There is a whole story around the construction but as this is a picture thread I will not go into details.

When the pagoda had attained a height of 50 meters an earthquake caused huge cracks to appear on the face of the remaining structure and further construction activities were stopped.

On the jetty of the Ayeyarwady river I rented a boat to bring me to Mignun.

On the way to the ‘ruin’ I was told by the captain that there was a festival going on on the banks of the river and asked me if I wanted to visit this event. Of course I agreed.

It happened to be a Nats (spirit-) festival. More about Nats in Wiki (again this is a picture thread). What was next was once in a lifetime event.

It was a colourful festival with all sorts of ‘events’ and ‘activities’ like i.e. market stalls, Muay Thai boxing, food stalls, potteries, gambling etc etc. The main tents were filled with Nats. Colourful ‘dolls’. There were many ‘old’ ladies worshipping the Nats and they could also communicate with ‘above’. It looked as if I had entered a medieval era.

Needless to say that when I visited the Mignun ruin at the end of the day it was a kind of anticlimax.

First some pictures of my trip to the festival. Note that all visitors came by foot, oxcart or boat. No cars were to be seen.

Sorry for this long introdution.

Some time ago there was a village on the outskirts of Vientiane where there were many weaving houses with large groups of girls working under the houses. Now mostly gone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the light here

 

 

her foot looked very graceful

 

 

 

Kids grow on trees in Laos

 

 

 

I love these 2CV's.. my brother had one

 

 

kids eating on the bridge MaeSai/Tachilek . many come from tribal villages in the area from Burma begging

 

 

Myanmar: visit Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

First impressions after disembarking.

Myanmar: visit Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Visiting the festival.

Myanmar: visit Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Visiting the festival.

 

 

Myanmar: visit Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Visiting the festival.

 

 

Building the monastery entrance ... amazing to see it being done and how quickly too... The round columns all smoothed perfectly.

Seemed to be different helpers for this every few days... ("volunteers")

A few shots from the air,  taking off from Yangon. ( sorry not too clear)

 

 

 

 

Love the photos guys.  Please keep them coming.

Myanmar: visiting the Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

Myanmar: visiting the Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

This was the Thai Boxing area. No boxing yet but visitors were brought into the mood by a kind of orchestra. Very very special atmosphere.

 

 

End of another day

 

Granny getting a massage!

 

 

More Kids! (at the village school)

 

Myanmar: visiting the Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Burmese believe in Nats—"terrestrial spirits that influence human affairs." Many Burmese still worship them vigorously and believe that Nats can bring luck and prosperity to the those who appease and worship them and bring danger and misfortune to those who do not respect them or don't believe in them. They  are worshipped in conjunction with Buddhism.

There are 37 Great Nats and also a lot of lower ranked. Almost all of the 37 Great Nats were human beings who met violent deaths

A Nats festival includes a large market full of venders hawking food, sweets, T-shirts and other merchandise. Masses of people pay tribute to the Nat brothers for good luck and fortune for their new business, home or other venture. Nats are represented by colourful dolls and offerings from followers consist most commonly of bananas, money, flowers, fried chicken and liquor.

 

There are Nats festivals all over Myanmar. Have look on the web for more detailed information.

(with thanks to google)

Myanmar: visiting the Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Some pictures of Nats.

 

 

Myanmar: visiting the Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Some pictures of Nats.

Siem Reap, Cambodia




Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

Some great pics here!  Thanks for sharing!!!

Myanmar: visiting the Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Slowly leaving the festival.....

Myanmar: visiting the Nats Festival on the banks of the Ayeyarwady river (near Mandalay) - continued.

 

Leaving the festival and heading to Mignun....

Angkhor Wat - december 2005 - Nikon E4500

 

Continuing - Angkor Wat - december 2005