Burmese Days 20b: The Golden Rock of Kyaiktiyo (revisited)

Dear Readers, I recently reviewed some of my older digital files. I realized that some of the most colorful frames were from my 2014 trip to Burma. I wrote about the famous Golden Rock in 2016, but here is a revisit in colour. 

Burma (now called Myanmar, but most of us old-timers still use the former name) has been in the news in early 2021 because of the military coup and the protests from civilians. The military has killed hundreds of protesters. That will shut down the tourist industry for an unknown period, especially if it leads to civil war. I am glad we visited in 2014 during a period of relative calm. 

One of the pilgrimage sites of profound importance to Buddhists is the Kyaiktiyo Pagoda (Burmese: ကျိုက်ထီးရိုးဘုရား) in Mon State of southeast Burma. Most westerners know it as the Golden Rock because the actual pagoda is a small structure perched on the top of a granite boulder. The boulder has been covered with layers of gold leaf over hundreds of years by devotees, and it glows gold in the setting sun. According to legends, the Golden Rock itself is perched on a strand of the Buddha's hair, and indeed, the rock is said to rock very slightly. Considering that Burma is in an earthquake zone, I am amazed that it has not rolled down from its precarious perch. The hilltop is at an elevation of 1,100 m (3,609 ft) above sea level.

The lower photograph is half of a stereo frame from Wikimedia Commons, "Kyaitteyo Pagoda, miraculously balanced by a hair of Buddha, on Kelasa hills, Burma", Date: 1900, Author:  Underwood and Underwood (in the public domain).

The rock and the pagoda are at the top of Mt. Kyaiktiyo. To reach the mountain, you drive or take a bus to the town of Kin Pun Sakhan. There you board a lorry which has been outfitted with bench seats in the bed. You and your jovial fellow-pilgrims are mashed together in the open air. Then the lorry grinds up the Golden Rock Mountain Road in caravan with other lorries. Much of the road is single-lane, so the lorries wait at sidings for other trucks going the other way. Finally, you reach the plateau area and disembark. The first impression is not very auspicious - sheds for the trucks, vendors of food and souvenirs, trash, grime. Hmmm...

The vendors sell some strange food. Centipedes? Fish and cakes made of unknown grain(?) or protein(?). Blood of centipedes? Jars of hot sauce?

We stayed in a reasonably nice hotel, the Mountain Top, near the stairs to the actual temple premises. Our room was clean, had private bath, and had a sublime view of the mountains and jungle to the east. The restaurant was a bit lacking but all right. Burmese pilgrims stay in more modest lodges with bunkhouses. Families may be able to rent entire rooms, and some pilgrims sleep outside.

Entrance to Kyaiktiyo (Tri-X 400 film, Leica M2 camera)

You access the temple complex by steps after you pay an entry fee. Two large lions guard the entrance, and from here on, you must be barefoot, which was difficult for my wife.

Families can camp up on the marble platform. We met some adorable children. They look healthy, intelligent, and alert.

Models pose for photographers. This is an interesting place; like the Swedagon in Rangoon, almost a merger of religious site and country fair.

At dawn, families wait for the sun to cast on the Golden Rock. They light incense and prey. Only men can go out on the balcony right up to the rock.

Pilgrams donate food and lay it out neatly along the railing next to the rock. It makes quite a mess, and I am not sure if the food is for monks or if it is cleaned up and discarded daily.

Looking north, you can see that the entire mountain top is covered with restaurants and guesthouses. I think these are mostly for Burmese visitors, while Western tourists stay in a couple of hotels on the south side. I do not know how they get drinking water.

Finally the ride back downhill in the lorry, squashed in with as many people as they can fit. 

Truly, the Golden Rock is unique. When you visit Burma (when it is safe again!), take a side trip to Kyaiktiyo. It takes about 4 or 5 hours to drive from Rangoon, for which you need to charter a car and driver and pay for hotel and food. Just go do it.

These are digital images from a Fuji X-E1 digital camera and Nexus 4 phone.

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - Girard and Start, Louisiana (LA-06)

We continue on our exploration westward on historic US 80 through rural Louisiana.

4554 US 80 Girard, Louisiana (Fuji X-E1 digital file, 18mm ƒ/2 lens)

Girard is an unincorporated community in Richland Parish, Louisiana, on the west side of the Boeuf River. Originally, the town could ship merchandise to other markets via the river. But starting in the mid-1800s (before the Civil War), the railroad became the prime means of shipping agricultural products. This is now solely a bedroom community, with houses and a few stores.

The Easy Pickins' Thrifty Sales store is in a nicely-restored old grocery at 5144 US 80. It was open and quite interesting. I asked about old cameras, but the owner only had some old Kodak box cameras and Polaroids. There are always Polaroid cameras at these types of stores, but the lack of most types of instant film makes them useless today.

US 80, view east, Start, Louisiana

Start is another unincorporated community along US 80, this one in Richland Parish, Louisiana. It consists of an unused (?) gin, big gas station, and some homes. 

The buildings of the C.W. Earle Gin, address 5947 US 80, are a short distance south of the highway. Some of the equipment and siding was quite rusted, and I could not tell if this is a going concern or not. 

Texaco, US 80 view west, Start, Louisiana

This is all the excitement in Start. The next community west is Monroe, the "big city" of central Louisiana. We will continue our trip on US 80 in the next article. Thanks for riding along.

These digital images are from a Fuji X-E1 compact camera with the 18mm ƒ/2 Fuji lens.

Visual Treat: Autumn in Vicksburg (2020)

Well this was a pleasant surprise. Because of some mysterious combination of temperature, rainfall, humidity, or sunshine, we had an unusually colorful autumn here in Vicksburg. Sure, the foliage was not as as brilliant as you see in New England, Scandinavia, or the Appalachian Mountains, but still it has provided a visual delight. Here are a few examples from around town. Warning: pretty pictures again, no decay this time.

Vicksburg National Military Park

Ansche Chesed Cemetery, next to Confederate Avenue near the Visitor Center

Louisiana Memorial, Confederate Avenue

It was about a week early for the best foliage along Confederate Avenue. I turned right on Pemberton Boulevard and walked past the 1937 headquarters building (now used as office space).

Foliage north of the Shirley House, Union Ave. (Kodak Ektar 25 film, Hasselblad 80mm ƒ/2.8 Planar-CB lens)

Former road near CCC camp off Union Ave. (Kodak Ektar 25 film) 

When you reach Union Avenue, you have two choices. Turning left, you ascend the hill towards the Shirley House (surviving from before the Civil War) and enter thick woods. The former Civil Conservation Corps (CCC) camp is near an overgrown roadway near Old Graveyard Road.

If you turn right on Union Avenue, you return towards the main parking lot and visitor center. 

Union Avenue near the arch at the main parking area

Confederate to Pemberton to Union Avenues is a popular walking and jogging route, about 2.8 miles. The part near the memorial arch is noisy because of the freeway next door, but the woods are pleasing and shaded in the summer.

Kings Point Island

Kings Point Ferry (Kodak Tri-X Professional, Mamiya C220 camera, 105mm lens)

To reach Kings Point Island, you need to take the ferry across the Yazoo River. To reach the ferry, drive on Haining Road at the Port of Vicksburg, turn right on a ramp, then follow the signs to Kings Point Road. The ferry runs all day. If it is on the other side of the river when you arrive, they will come and pick you up. You need a car with high ground clearance (or a truck).

Kings Point Road heads due west. I have driven it in the past when it was dry. But this time, despite a general lack of rain this fall, there were muddy sections that I did not want to risk in my little car. We could only go a mile or two and turn around. Time for a Bubba truck.

Dry swale, Kings Point Island (27mm ƒ/2.8 Fujinon lens)

Wilton Bayou/marsh from Kings Point Road (9cm ƒ/4 Elmar lens)

Most of thesephotos are from my Fuji X-E1 digital camera on which I mounted a recently-acquired 1950s Leica 9cm ƒ/4 Elmar-M lens. This old manual focus lens works surprisingly well on my Fuji camera. I will test it more in the future on film after I send it off for a cleaning.

On the Dixie Overland Highway, Historic US 80 - Dunn and Rayville, Louisiana (LA-05)

US 80 west of Delhi, Louisiana (Fuji X-E1 digital file)

We continue our trip west on The Dixie Overland Highway, now called US 80. Coming out of Delhi, 80 continues through a mixture of farm fields and an occasional forest patch.

Former service station, 1580 US 80, Dunn, LA (GAF Versapan film, 90mm ƒ/6.8 Schneider Angulon lens)

I came across some remnants of the old 80 that may have served travelers during the pre-interstate era.

These two abandoned stores were at the corner of Weems Road and US 80 in Dunn. As in so many rural areas, old country stores have been abandoned and left to the weather and vines.

On the road to Rayville, US 80 (Fuji X-E1 digital file)

As in these other small towns along US 80, the Kansas City Southern trains thunder through several times a day. There was no depot that I could see.

The main road through town is Harrison Street, which is also US 80. A restaurant at the corner was pretty busy, but I was concerned about the virus and did not go in to get lunch. I was pleased to see that most people were rigorous about wearing masks, more so than in Mississippi.

Joy Theater, Harrison Street, Rayville (Fuji X-E1 digital file)

The old Joy Theater on Harrison Street was a classic 1930s theater of the type you would have seen in many towns. The facade was interesting, but unfortunately, the building is a wreck. In the first picture, you can see a tree growing out of the interior.

One last picture, and this one stays in color: Robinson's Meat Market at 402 Madeline Street. What a great folk art advertisement, with lobsters, steaks, and sausages. The proprietor said a fellow from New Orleans painted it. 

Most of these images are from a Fuji X-E1 digital camera on which I mounted an Olympus OM 35mm ƒ/2.8 Zuiko Shift lens. The shift function let me correct for converging lines optically at the time of taking the picture (as opposed to using software after the fact to correct convergence). Most pictures of buildings that you see on the web show converging vertical lines, such as the edges of the building. But when you look at the scene with your eyes, your brain accommodates the convergence and the lines appear straight. Nikon and Canon make modern shift lenses, but very few contemporary users buy these rather technical lenses. I expect that most never used a large format camera, where you can shift the front standard upwards to correct the convergence.

If you want background information on US 80 and the Dixie Overland Highway, the Federal Highway Administration has a detailed history. 

In the next article, we will continue west on US 80. Thank you for riding along!