Blogs from Mandalay, Mandalay Region, Burma, Asia

Mingala ba again from Mandalay!! After a long busride overnight in a surprisingly quite good bus (even water was supplied and seatnumbers were on the tickets) on the new Mandalay - Yangon Highway we arrived in Mandalay. We made a reservation in Yangon before for a hotel - it is not absolutly necessary but a good advice - especially if you don't want to run around at 5 in the morning and need to find a hotel!!! The rooms were .... mmmmh .... how to describe .... looking like a prison and very scrabby on the first floor - and that for 15 Dollars for a double room!!! O.K. but on the other hand the people working in the hotel were extremly helpful and friendly, especially the women in the morning reception hours!! So not a ... read more

The awkward moment when a saffron-clad monk approaches, stoic in tranquil surroundings, he looks you straight in the eyes and asks, without joke or jest: “Excuse me sir, what is lovely jubbly?” “Mandalay” has been a known entity to me since who knows when, the same way as Timbuktu is known by name but other familiarities such as depiction and, most importantly, place remained vague. What I had created as a picture of Mandalay sometime in my childhood; a vivid image of the Orient painted in shades of gold, must have been inspired by cheap, oil on canvas depictions found throughout Asia and far beyond. In hindsight, I seem to have unconsciously married the exotic name “Mandalay” with equally exotic images of the many-templed Bagan. In truth, Mandalay exists as a dirty, busy city devoid of ... read more

The sinister streets are dark lit only with torches and the beams emanating from car and motorcycle lamps lazily gliding by.Some streets are darker than I ever imagined blackness to be, the shadows a creation of what little moon light filters down into the deepest recesses. The little truck speeds along dusty roads in search for a place to stay, the only noise made on otherwise soundless streets. It is four in the morning, the Dawn has not yet graced us with its magnificent presence and we are freezing, we are exhausted. Escaping Yangon on a freezer with wheels, a ten hour night bus journey where no sleep was had due to the chattering bones and chills which swept through me shaking my entire body inside out. To leave over-priced Yangon felt like a good idea ... read more

“You will definitely get sick,” asserted Jason () during our meeting at a sidewalk eatery in Bangkok prior to my Myanmar sojourn. My unspoken thoughts were “I almost never get stomach issues”, but in hindsight it was not episodes of frantic lunges towards toilets in Myanmar that should have concerned me, for what transpired was far more dangerous. It commenced innocuously enough with spots appearing on the inside of my wrists twelve hours after arriving in Myanmar. My initial suspicion was a midge attack, with Elephant’s World or Hellfire Pass in Kanchanaburi, Thailand being the suspects. The angry and sometimes itchy red spots, subsequently appeared on my feet the following morning, but ominously appeared as irregular blotches of concentrated spots across my abdomen on the third day, and I unsuccessfully attempted to imagine shapes now tattooed ... read more

I am looking for 2-3 traveling companions for a short 14 day photography trip to Burma/Myanmar in March 2012. I had a full trip of 4, but the other three had to pull out. I have created a MeetUp site for discussion. http://www.meetup.com/Travel-Photography-and-Writing/" The price will be somewhere in the area of $1500 for the two weeks (excluding international flights). Might go lower as I work with other companies, but will not go any higher. I have several possible itineraries, but here is the one I like the most. Day 1) Yangon arrival in the morning – after a brief rest, shoot at downtown and major pagodas including great Shwedagon Transportation: Car Hotel: Kandawgyi Palace Hotel / 5* / Lakefront Deluxe Day 2) Yangon – drive to Golden Rock in the morning with shooting at local ... read more