In Bangkok, Prof. Thitinan of Chulalongkorn University talks of Myanmar's difficult relations with the region; later we meet with his students
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Larry Jagan, long-time correspondent on Myanmar affairs, discusses his findings over lunch
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In Yangon, students guide us to their favorite sites -
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- Including the famed Shwedagon Pagoda
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Of course, not every moment was serious
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Our new local friends take us to markets that foreighners don't usually
find -
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- and to typical street scenes -
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- and to the local teashops, which serve as center of social life
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Myanmar food includes aspects of the cuisine of its three neighbors,
China, Thailand and India
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Along the way we share thoughts about what we're experiencing
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Japanese and Taiwanese participants compare notes
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Our constant companions in Yangon: the local students,
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who teach us the finer points of chinlone, played with a ball
of woven reeds
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Making friends at an orphanage
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Mandalay exposes us to Myanmar's rich history and culture
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 On
our way to Mandalay Hill
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The students of Mandalay's Phaung Daw Oo School welcome us -
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- show their great enthusiasm for learning -
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- listen eagerly -
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- and overwhelm us with their excitement
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Taking a quiet moment to contemplate the plains of Bagan and the over
2000 pagodas, temples and stupas working what once was teh world
center of Theravada Buddhism.
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We share dinner with a local family and learn firsthand the lives of
typical Burmese -
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- and explore a local market
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Talking at a local farmhouse. By now, some of our members have adopted
the Burmese approach to skin care, using thanaka powder
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