Blogs from Irrawaddy River, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia
Through the kindness of others we experience true beauty
Published: February 16th 2012Asia » Burma » Mandalay Region » Irrawaddy River
January 28th 2012
I have been moved on my travels, I have been forced to contemplate the reality of life with a slap and understood how naive I am. I look at life for what it is with a hint of philosophical consideration but rarely do I chew over my behaviours unless they are emotionally motivated through action or consequence. Sometimes I shy away from this kind of dangerous thought because I seldom find answers and this can be hard to deal with or hurtful. I have come to recognise that some people are just unkind and malicious both intentionally and unintentionally; my boyfriend told me once in Cambodia that people are not always intentionally nasty but they are not there to think about every action and consequence and sometimes the outcomes can be hurtful without deliberation. I ... read more
A day down the Irrawaddy and other stuff!
Published: February 3rd 2012Asia » Burma » Mandalay Region » Irrawaddy River
January 20th 2012
K- 4.30am saw us on the local ferry from Mandalay to Bagan. Fortunately we got there early enough to secure a couple of plastic chairs by the rail - some tourists had grabbed rather too much of the deck and were reluctant to give it up and the locals were basically spread over the rest. We turned out to have grabbed an excellent spot and the next 12 hours gave us a really good taste of life along the Irrawaddy. A few hours after sailing we watched the local women applying thanakha, the yellow cosmetic/ moisturiser / sunscreen made from a bark. The paste is ground on a portable mortar and flat stone and it was fascinating watching how much care was taken in applying it - a compact mirror being passed along with the stone. ... read more
Horrendous travel journeys in Myanmar
Published: March 11th 2009Asia » Burma » Mandalay Region » Irrawaddy River
February 26th 2009
Train from Mandalay Sat on the dirty platform of the train station they stared, pensively at first and then excitedly: parents with children, huddles of red berobed monks, country bumpkins and the undercover police. This time at least, John and I agreed. Outside our wooden “Upper class” train compartment - he unimaginatively and literally watched us. He had the clean look of a policeman, a smooth clean shirt, even smoother face but with a blank slyness. He was doing an awful job of being ‘undercover’ - he may as well have shouted at us to “freeze, this is the police!” So we humoured ourselves with his (and our) compulsive viewing. We winked, pulled faces and offered him some fruit. He eventually turned sullen and slipped away. The teenage hawkers who prowled the train tracks below our ... read more
November 29th 2008
Myanmar of Birma? Hoe je onze laatste bestemming van dit jaar ook noemt, het is een land apart. De isolatie waar de mensen al jaren in leven maakt van hen ook de meest traditionele natie in Zuid-Oost-Azië. Hier dragen de mannen nog een longi (een lange rok in de lende samengeknoopt) en schminken de vrouwen (en sommige mannen) hun wangen met sandelhout (een eeuwenoud gebruik: het heeft een hydraterende werking, beschermt tegen de zon en ruikt bijzonder goed). Door de drukke straten van Yangon en Mandalay zie je nog koeien en kippen lopen. Geen grote multi-nationals hier, maar eigen Starcola, Grand Royal whiskey en Myanmar bier. Echte cola-cola en andere luxeproducten worden illegaal het land binnengesmokkeld. Vanuit de hoofdstad Yangon reizen we meteen door naar het noorden van Myanmar, waar we het minder betreden pad naar ... read more
October 26th 2008
Time for our trip to Bagan. Not going to be easy either. We got our tickets a few days in advance after some difficulty in finding the ticket office, if you would call it that. I think it was $10 USD/person. Anyways, underway early. On the boat at 5:30 a.m. to get a seat. This is a public boat so fills to the rim with people and goods. Was a weird morning for weather. We later found out there was a cyclone hitting Bangladesh that was throwing off some cool winds and rain towards us. We were actually wearing everything we had to stay warm. Anyways, as this is a public boat it stopped many times to drop off and pick up more and more people and goods. Very amazing but as the day drew on, ... read more
June 1st 2006
To get from Mandalay to Bagan you can choose between a 7 hour bus ride or 9 hour ferry. Pretty simple choice given the quality of buses and roads in this part of the world. The hotel staff didn't wake me me up at 3:15 as promised so I woke them up. After a hasty breakfast served by a bleary-eyed but surprisingly cheerful cook, I arrived at the ferry terminal at 4:30am for the 5 o-clock ferry. Initially I had a bit of trouble purchasing my ticket because all I had was a USD20 bill which had a minute tear in it, and which all government agencies and government owned companies (such as the ferr company) were required to refuse. Eventually I paid USD10 and made up the other $6 in kyat at an exchange rate ... read more
