Hi... sorry to TS for Hijacking the thread :sweat:
To - newmonk - What would a good and safe place to go in Myanmar to photo old fashion looking buildings ?? And would the Myanmar be offended if we (as foreigners) take candids photos of them..... :think:
Hi,
Yangon is the capital(ex-capital I should say because the gov disputably named an another city, Nay Pyi Daw, as its new capital a few years back) of Myanmar. You have to fly to Yangon, where the international airport is located. In Yangon, there are only a few famous colonial buildings and religious monuments which attracts tourists. However, those religious monuments are very famous for locals. Majority of Myanmars are buddhists and the most famous monument in Yangon is "Shwe Dagon Pagoda" which was built 2000 years ago. If you are a chinese, you can visit "china town of Yangon". It is very crowded place and you can see a lot of activities with various types of people and various kinds of businesses (except for prostitution but who can say for sure) and the china town is located in the city. You can take lots of candid pictures there. Normally, most of the people are ok with being photographed. There may be some, one of a hundred, who don't like to be(who knows) but anyway they will not aggressively stop you. Compact or smaller dslrs will have more successful candid photos because the big dslr will attract attention wherever you go.
From Yangon, it is easier to go to the famous resorts and beaches, which are located in the south, such as Ngwe Saung, Chaung Thar and so on. You need at least 2D1N to go there. The most famous ones are in the North West of Yangon but you have to go there just for the resorts. The trip is out of sequence already if you want to continue to Mandalay, which is about 400 miles away from Yangon in the North. It is far about 10 hours drive from Yangon.
Normally, tourists like to go to places like Mandalay(state where Myanmar ancient kings lived before British Colonized, in which you can also take lots of candid photos too. Although Yangon was the capitol of Myanmar, Mandalay is more centre to businesses because it is closer to China and Thailand and products from those countries come directly to Mandalay. You can also see the palaces built by ancient Myanmar kings there but the gov renovated partially), Pyin Oo Lwin (new name for May Myo, a small town and famous for its nice weather and beautiful sceneries), Pagan (in which there are lots of ancient buildings (pagodas, monuments and historical site) built by the kings and their people. You can see lots of ancient architectural buildings and cultures there) and Inn Lay(the lake located 900 meter above the sea level. It has very nice weather and sceneries too. Also the lake is very big, 22.4 km long and 10.2 km wide. People in that region, live their lives around the lake (such as their houses, market, business, commutation, etc.., all happening in the lake and the place is famous for people who row their boats with legs rather than hands. I heard that almost all of the tourists who have been to the place are satisfied with the trip although Myanmar has no systematic tourism or tourist attraction.). All these places are located in the same region and not so far from each other.
There are also interesting places like Sagaing, Myuke Oo (older than Pagan and famous for archaeology), Kyike Htee Yoo (very famous for locals and buddhists) and so on. You need at least half a month to visit all those places. You can check out with tour agencies. I have asked a friend of mine but got no reply for recommended agencies yet. If interested, you can also find out with those travel agencies at Peninsula Plaza, level 3-5.
I am very sure that you will have no problem with photographing people.
best regards,
Albert