Blogs from Burma, Asia - page 5

Woolly says – I had the map at the ready and a route planned for my Mammoth Tour of Downtown Yangon, hopefully the women would be impressed. Having studied the plan I’d felt that it would be fairly easy to navigate around the city as each street is numbered in the same way as New York, our first stop was on 40th street. Leading the way past some of the many food stalls it gave me a chance to look in more depth at the metropolis, on arrival our information had mentioned a poor infrastructure, but it was proving anything but. The roads and pavements were in great condition with nice white markings on them and except for an odd whiff of sewerage near the drain covers it appeared to be streets ahead of most places ... read more

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When we arrived at our hotel, we weren't able to check in for a couple hours, so our taxi driver suggested he take us for a look around the town. He spoke fairly good English & was adept at promoting his service!! Bagan was like going back in time, main road was 'paved', the remainder were all sandy/dirt roads, leading to the many temples & villages dotting the landscape..........He suggested we take a balloon ride, said they were very popular in Bagan. We signed up with an Australian company, 'Baloons over Bagan', a first for both of us! Our second day was, OH! WOW! There are over 3,000 temples spread over the Bagan plains, built between the 11th & 12th century. Despite the 2016 earthquake, which damaged several hundred temples, Bagan's majesty can't be diminished. Seeing ... read more

Rarely do I agree with the travel "experts" and their suggestions to stay away from specific and troubled destinations. I fell victim to this, as recently as last October, when I was told to stay away from my visit to Istanbul. Both the State Department and many of my well-traveled friends said to stay away. Well, enough said, I should have gone. I was within an hour of Istanbul by air when I was in Budapest! Here are a few more of their "suggestions" that I find curious and dubious at best. Myanmar has become a fascinating place, mostly for their limited contact with the rest of the world. Mike and I were there three years ago. It is a surprisingly rich and vibrant culture, somewhat different than the rest of SE Asia. We found the ... read more

Myeik est une ville assez moyenn, sans particularité notoire, comme finalement toutes celles de cette partie sud-est du Myanmar. Ce qui compte ici est dans la mer, qu’on appelle l’archipel de Myerk ou les Merguis Islands. C’est un chapelet d’îles (800 selon la police, 1.500 selon les syndicats), vierges, la plupart inhabitées et souvent inexplorées. Cet archipel s’étend jusqu’à l’extrême sud du Myanmar, à hauteur de Kawtaung, soit une belle trotte. Un seul hébergement dans toutes ces îles. Il y a évidemment de magnifiques spots de plongée et de snorkeling, les accès sont très lointains. C’est dire si, y accéder et avoir le privilège d’y consacrer plusieurs journées se méritent en temps et en épaisseur de portefeuille ! Des départs sont aussi possibles depuis Kawtaung et de Ranong en Thaïlande. Ainsi, la plupart des visiteurs qui ... read more