Asia

[Visited: March 2006]

When I arrived at the airport of Yangon, I saw a woman with, I thought, a peculiar face. It was all whitish, and I thought she had some kind of skin problem. Soon, I saw another one, and yet another one, and I realized it must be something Burmese. Indeed, women and sometimes also men use a special yellow-white powder called tanakha on their faces, both as make-up and also sunscreen. They all have their own way of applying tanakha, and until the last day I saw patterns i had not seen before.
Apart from tanakha, the faces of Myanmar are a delight to see. Because of the racial diversity, you can come across all kinds of faces, that vaguely remind you of India, China, Thailand, and sometimes Mongolia and other countries as well. Most people proudly pose to have their picture taken, start giggling, although sometimes people were too camera-shy. Walking around in Myanmar you often get distracted by the colourful and attractive people you see all around you, almost without exception smiling and radiating friendliness.
It becomes even more interesting when you go to a market, a temple, or another place with lots of people around. You get overwhelmed by the amount of remarkable faces, and sometimes end up not knowing anymore where to look. Just when you are concentrating on an old woman selling vegetables, a young girl comes by with sparkling eyes and well-done tanakha on her pure face, and then a man passes by with the signs of a hard life in the lines of his face. Taking pictures of these beauties is inevitable, but can only do so much to do justice to the joy of Burmese faces.

Around the World in 80 Clicks

Personal travel impressions both in words and images from Burmese faces (Myanmar). Clicking on the pictures enlarges them and enables you to send the picture as a free e-card or download it for personal use, for instance, on your weblog. Or click on the map above to visit more places close to Burmese faces.
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Burmese faces > Myanmar > Asia

[Visited: March 2006]

Around the World in 80 Clicks