Death Trap Sidewalk Rant and Miscellany

Eric:
After the internet speed - or lack thereof - the thing that probably drives me the most nuts here is the city sidewalks. 

You don't dare text and walk here.  You can't even turn to watch a pretty girl, each step might be your last!  And don't even think about walking at night without a flashlight, as streetlights are few, and working streetlights even fewer. 



Okay, maybe I made that up.

Dangers start with the simple pavement settlement or missing section of concrete that might stub a toe or turn an ankle...


A California lawyer's wet dream

...to obstacles a bit more troublesome...

...and extend to craters capable of swallowing a small Toyota.

I think I see taillights.

And if that's not enough fun, by the end of rainy season, slick moss covers many of the sidewalks making sudden stops or turns impossible.


Slippery when green.

Here's the sidewalk along a major thoroughfare near our lodgings.

No stumbling home from the pub along this walkway.

Typically, there is a pool or flowing stream of water at the bottom of these holes, often a looooong way down.  At least I hope it's water.


A couple photos from a recent day by the river:

All aboard!

Water taxi shoves off in the rain

Retired ferry boats end their days carrying cargo up and down the Irrawaddy River

Stevedores load bags of rice from the ferries onto waiting trucks.



These guys aren't even breaking a sweat (I was just taking the photo).

Note the "chopsticks" on the ground in the photos above.  Along with the bag of rice the stevedore carries a color coded chopstick with each load that is then collected and counted to determine how many bags were loaded onto the truck.

In closing...

Crime may not pay, but in Myanmar apparently getting married does.  Last Sunday must have been an auspicious day to get married, there seemed to be weddings going on all over town.  Three at our hotel alone.

The loot from one of Sunday's weddings.