Burma: shared responsibility

February 25, 2013 carolemscott Leave a comment

Myanmar at the crossroads (Photo credit: *christopher*)

This news [Is Germany Siding With Burma To Downplay Human Rights Abuses?] from Burma Campaign UK reinforces something that I have felt strongly ever since I returned from my holiday to this fantastic country.

The lucky few among us who have been to Burma shouldn’t make complacent assumptions when it comes to the burgeoning democratic process in Burma. Quite the opposite. I believe that anyone who stayed away for years because the NLD asked for a tourism boycott and has then visited in the 18 months or so since Daw Aung San Suu Kyi asked responsible travellers back in, has a duty to help keep the flames of change alive.

We are witness to the colourful diversity of life in Burma, the tremendous faith that people are willing to invest in the process of change and the gleaming hope they have for their country. If we visit and take away nothing but fond memories and pretty longhis then we betray the wonderful people who made us feel so welcome.

I bought my longhi from these to lovely ladies, who are big fans of Aung San Suu Kyi and have great hopes for change.

The good news is that we have to do so little and it will mean so much. In fact, I think it’s five easy things and a sixth for the more committed:

Become a member of your country’s Burma Campaign (I have given the links for the US, the UK and Australia below)
Act when they ask you to
Sign up for Burma news and campaigns from Amnesty International
Act when they ask you to
Share links from these organisations, comment and urge your friends to act too
Ask your favourite development charity what work they are doing in Burma. Ask how you can support that work by donations or fundraising.

Above all, I hope everyone who visits will stay informed about what’s happening in Burma. Elections are promised for 2015 – with the world’s people watching we do stand a chance of helping to make them happen but only if we do our bit and hold world leaders to account on Burma.

Useful links:

Burma Campaign UK

US Campaign for Burma

Burma Campaign Australia

Democratic Voice of Burma: an independent Burmese media organisation committed to responsible journalism

Amnesty International

Interesting article from The Independent about education in Burma

Good news on investment in education from Australia and UK

The Irrawaddy, Burmese magazine that was back in print for the first time in years in December 2012. Good for keeping abreast of what reporting from inside Burma is like

By Carole Scott

BDC would like to welcome Desmond Tutu on his forthcoming visit to Burma. (democracyforburma.wordpress.com)
Stand Up for Burma – Jo Brand and Omid Djalili gig for Burma Campaign UK (salem-news.com)
Burma: is praise too early? Comment from Zoya Phan of The Guardian (carolemscott.wordpress.com)
Pressure and Pragmatism in Burma (irrawaddy.org)
Burma’s President Heads to Europe (voanews.com)
US Lifts Sanctions On 4 Burmese Banks (irrawaddy.org)
Burma getting democracy lessons from two Hamilton MPs (metronews.ca)
Myanmar to set up ‘political prisoner releases panel’ (edition.cnn.com)
Myanmar Rejects US Criticism Over Ethnic Conflict (abcnews.go.com)

Photography, Photoshop Elements

Winter’s Ghost

February 23, 2013 carolemscott 4 Comments

I was in the Isle of Wight a few weeks ago for a walking and Burns’ Night weekend. I took lots of photos but this was by far and away my favourite.

I’ve created a few different edits of it and I’d love to know which is the best, so do let me know if you have an opinion! Thanks.

Winter's Ghost, original edit — Winter’s Ghost, original edit

By Carole Scott

Jordan, Travel, Travel Photography

Rough Guide to Jordan « Quite Alone

February 21, 2013 carolemscott Leave a comment

Good news for anyone who is planning a trip to Jordan. Rough Guides has a new edition of its Guide to Jordan, researched and written by Matthew Teller.

I highly recommend this jewel of the Middle East. Petra is well known (most people have seen tantalising flashes of it in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) but other highlights include Jerash, Wadi Rum and Kerak Castle.

Do go. Jordan has suffered a huge drop in tourism because of the troubles in neighbouring Syria but it is unaffected by what is happening there. It is a welcoming and warm country to visit with a treasure chest of breathtaking sites and stunning experiences.

I didn’t have a digital camera back in 2005, so these are the only images I have from my six months there as a tour leader.

On a camel back in my tour leader days... — On a camel back in my tour leader days…

By Carole Scott

Burma, Myanmar, Photography, Travel, Travel Photography

Burma: on the way to Inle Lake

February 19, 2013 carolemscott 1 Comment

I’m near the end of my Burma trip, so I’m going to prolong the blogging pleasure by posting photos of the journey to Inle Lake, not just writing about the lake itself.

It was a wonderful journey. As always in Burma, there were some great bits of traffic and scenery en route.

Busy day on the highway.© Carole Scott 2013 — Busy day on the highway.
© Carole Scott 2013

It was Christmas Day and although not a soul on our trip was remotely fussed about celebrating (well, we wouldn’t have escaped our home countries if we wanted fireside, satsumas and too much food, would we?), it was good to have a decent lunch stop. This was our view – I don’t know the name of the little lake but it doesn’t really matter. Just being somewhere so different at a time of year that I really don’t enjoy Britain much, was superb.

Better than your average Christmas lunch spot!© Carole Scott 2013 — Better than your average Christmas lunch spot!
© Carole Scott 2013

Just before we arrived in Inle Lake, we went to Shwe Yaungwe monastery. I think these are probably the most photographed monks in Burma but they don’t mind. In fact, the young boys doing their chanting at 4pm seemed happy to have a distraction. They looked so serious in the photos and then when the cameras went down, they waved and grinned!

Here’s a puzzling thing. Back home when I think of young boys and girls going off to boarding school before their teens, I feel a sense of outrage, that they are too young to be shipped off and if their parents wanted them, why are they sending them outside the home. So how come I had none of that feeling in Burma, seeing young monks and nuns in a similar situation? I have no explanation for my double standard.

I wonder whether it’s because going to a monastery can give a young person an education in a country where there is no compulsory education at all. That’s right, not even the most basic primary education is free in Burma.

These are some of my favourite photos from the trip to that monastery.

Dusty storeroom.© Carole Scott 2013 — Dusty storeroom.
© Carole Scott 2013

Carrying a heavy pot...© Carole Scott 2013 — Carrying a heavy pot…
© Carole Scott 2013

Losing concentration© Carole Scott 2013 — Losing concentration
© Carole Scott 2013

Love a nice Buddha blanket!© Carole Scott 2013 — Love a nice Buddha blanket!
© Carole Scott 2013

My number one top photo of this trip.© Carole Scott 2013 — My number one top photo of this trip.
© Carole Scott 2013

By Carole Scott

Blogging Help

Creating a logo for your blog

February 17, 2013 carolemscott 1 Comment

A friend of mine has a startup business and we have had many conversations about visual identity and brand. She’s struggling to explain her brand to designers in a way that results in a logo that is both creative and clear.

So I went Googling last night and as we chatted on the phone I created a logo that worked. It’s not perfect but it’s a good start because she likes it and it captures the beginnings of what she’s about. It’s at least something she can show a designer…maybe she’ll even use the one I designed.

Of course I couldn’t resist creating something for myself. I don’t need a logo, as I have no desire for a brand identity, being a full time employee. But for fellow bloggers who are also running their own business, I thought I’d share the link. It’s Logo Maker. Logos for web use are free but for any other function you have to pay and I don’t know how much they are.

I particularly liked the way that you can change the colour of every element of the symbol/image. Another site I tried created default colours that weren’t adjustable.

Here’s mine:

When you create the logo, you click on a button and the system generates the html code that you need. You simply copy and paste to wherever on your website/blog you need it.

If you’re not used to design, remember to keep it simple. Normally I’d say stick to two colours but I’ve broken the rules here with the orange sun. If it’s for a business, avoid fonts that try too hard – the simple, san-serif ones work well and you can express yourself with the colours. If this were a business logo (I think it would be a travel agent!), I would definitely have had my name in a non-italicised font.

By Carole Scott

Burma, Myanmar, Photography, Travel, Travel Photography

Burma: the magic continues in Kalaw and Pindaya

February 16, 2013 carolemscott Leave a comment

Before we went to Kalaw, our tour leader warned us that it would get cold at night, very cold. Well, the Brits and Yanks among us scoffed, as we had left Britain in the depths of winter. The Australians simply couldn’t imagine cold. We had layers; they didn’t. Cue frantic market shopping in Mandalay’s night market for blankets and sweatshirts.

It wasn’t as crisp as we thought it would be but it was chilly, as Kalaw is a hill town.

Our first sight as we got off the bus was a wedding car complete with very cute dolls. I couldn’t resist a snap.

After our shocking hotel in Mandalay (as I said before, avoid The Classic unless you have a particular fondness for pigeons, barbed wire and dust), the welcome in Kalaw was superb. The hotel owner stood at the door and ushered us in with a warm smile. When it came to our rooms, we were like kids on their first day at a boarding school, running in and out of each other’s exclaiming joyfully at the size, the cleanliness and comfort of the beds.

It was just as well that the beds were comfy, as I spent 95% of my time in Kalaw in mine – the other five per cent was shared between the bathroom and the street market on the morning we left.

By the time we left, on Christmas Day, I was well again and loved the next episode of Burma. We had a lovely bus journey, filled with pretty countryside and photogenic traffic.

We were shocked to see women working in road construction - but the men were there too, breaking rocks. Gruelling work.© Carole Scott 2013 — We were shocked to see women working in road construction – but the men were there too, breaking rocks. Gruelling work.
© Carole Scott 2013

The came Pindaya. Now, some people feel that a huge cave filled with 8,000 golden Buddha images is a) a bit over the top and b) only deserving of a few minutes ‘look see’. As for me, I loved every little nook and cranny of this labyrinthine maze of a place. Yes, it’s a crazy ostentatious treasure chest but it’s also beautiful and rather touching. People from all over the world donate these Buddhas and while I struggle with the ‘build/buy for karma’ side of the religion, it is testament to the devotion of its followers.

Here’s my selection of the best from Pindaya.

The highlight, though, was undoubtedly seeing how parasols were made. I bought one of these traditional laquered paper umbrellas in Bagan, so seeing how they are made was a real treat.

Even the ‘not interested’ couple from Wisconsin bought homemade paper. Now, that’s magic!

By Carole Scott

Burma, Myanmar, Photography, Travel, Travel Photography

Burma: U Bein bridge without a decent photo of the bridge

February 13, 2013 carolemscott 1 Comment

The day we left Mandalay, we stopped at the world famous U Bein Bridge.

I was feeling mighty peculiar – a bit vague and drained. Little did I know that I had a bug and fortunately that wasn’t revealed until the middle of the night. If it had come on sooner, that six hour bus journey between Mandalay and Kalaw might have been tricky.

So when we went to the bridge I singularly failed to get a decent picture of the bridge. Here’s some snaps of rural life going on around it instead – from ploughing to fishing.

If I make it back to Burma, I will definitely go there at dawn to get some of the pictures that you see winning travel photography competitions. For an example, you just need to pick up the new edition of fantastic travel magazine, Wanderlust! It’s a great article, by the way, and anyone who has been or wants to go to Burma should definitely buy it.

By Carole Scott

Random

Middle England at its worst

February 13, 2013 carolemscott Leave a comment

I’m on the train heading into London, on my way to an important client meeting. I make a point of only taking calls on trains when I really have to because quiet carriage or not (and I should add that this ISN’T the quiet carriage!) I think we all speak a bit louder than usual when taking calls on trains because the signal’s usually bad.

A few minutes ago I had to take an urgent call from a colleague, so I answered. The signal went down and I had to call my colleague back. All of a sudden a loud hiss of a ‘shhh’ comes my way from across the aisle and I quickly end the call.

I leant over to see who was chastising me so rudely. A woman with a real fur collar on her coat, reading the Telegraph and a ‘sucking lemons’ expression on her face. I said “there was no need to be so rude – it was a call that I had to take”. The sour expression remained and she didn’t even have the good grace to look at me.

This is middle England at its worst – reason 141 to emgrate! (Only joking Will!).

It's so tempting sometimes.... — It’s so tempting sometimes….

Ah, Burmese people!

By Carole Scott

Blogging Help

Google Author Rank – test it!

February 12, 2013 carolemscott Leave a comment

I’m impatient to get that all important Google Author Rank and have been twitching at the time it’s taking to seed through.

My fabulous colleague Claire Dunford, who writes the Raw Discourse blog, sent me a very useful link to something called the ‘Google Structured Data Testing tool’: http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets

You simply Input a link to one of your posts and it will spill out a preview – if your pic shows against the preview, you’ve set up your Google+/blog connection successfully.

Good to know I’m doing something right!

By Carole Scott

Burma, Myanmar, Travel

Burma: Upon on Mandalay Hill

February 12, 2013 carolemscott Leave a comment

Gorgeous mosaics make Mandalay Hill glitter.

Mandalay Hill is a very special place. It’s not the sunset that makes it so, although if there was nothing else to entertain you and you hadn’t been spoilt by sunsets over Bagan and the Irrawaddy River, the sunset would seem spectacular.

MH20

The fabulous thing about a trip up to Mandalay Hill is the monks. Monks go there every evening, knowing that they will be able to practice their English with tourists. It’s a decades old tradition, not a new thing. From late afternoon the whole temple complex and viewing platform comes to life with the buzz of warm, happy chatter.

We arrived and I had a fleeting anxiety – how does one start a conversation with a monk? I shouldn’t have worried. Eventually, you see a group of monks who have just finished one conversation or you simply smile and wander over.

It was a lovely experience because it stems from the best motives; people simply happy to while away half an hour or so exchanging trivialities or philosophies, world views or slang.

One monk asked me if I liked Myanmar. ‘I love it!”, I replied, and then asked how I say ‘I love it’ in Burmese. I haltingly learnt the sentence. When I relayed it proudly back to our tour leader, he chuckled. The monk had taught me to say “I like you very much”. Cheeky Monk!

The monk on the right - super chatty; the monk on the left - not so much — The monk on the right – super chatty; the monk on the left – not so much

By Carole Scott

Footsteps and Photos

Burma: shared responsibility

Useful links:

Burma Campaign UK

US Campaign for Burma

Burma Campaign Australia

Democratic Voice of Burma: an independent Burmese media organisation committed to responsible journalism

Amnesty International

Interesting article from The Independent about education in Burma

Good news on investment in education from Australia and UK

The Irrawaddy, Burmese magazine that was back in print for the first time in years in December 2012. Good for keeping abreast of what reporting from inside Burma is like

Winter’s Ghost

Rough Guide to Jordan « Quite Alone

Burma: on the way to Inle Lake

Creating a logo for your blog

Burma: the magic continues in Kalaw and Pindaya

Burma: U Bein bridge without a decent photo of the bridge

Middle England at its worst

Google Author Rank – test it!

Burma: Upon on Mandalay Hill

travel, pics & assorted thoughts from Carole Scott

Useful links:

Democratic Voice of Burma: an independent Burmese media organisation committed to responsible journalism

Interesting article from The Independent about education in Burma

Good news on investment in education from Australia and UK

The Irrawaddy, Burmese magazine that was back in print for the first time in years in December 2012. Good for keeping abreast of what reporting from inside Burma is like

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travel, pics & assorted thoughts from Carole Scott