Blogs from Burma, Asia - page 7

We had to push start the Town Ace this morning. Hmmm... The countryside in Myanmar is georgeous. People are smiling and waving everywhere. Chan took us on a detour today. We went to the new Capital. Yangon isn't technically the capital city anymore, Naypyidaw is. It was quite shocking. A ghost town with no traffic and a 7 lane super highway. The government put roughly 4 BILLION dollars into a brand new government building with 24 hour electricity and housing for all of the employees. The streets are manicured and pristine. Its very sad. Chan took us to one of his favorite places in all of Myanmar to eat. It was in Tatkok and it was amazing! We had traditional Myanmar food again and the all you can eat side dishes were unbelievable: lentils, soyabeans, curries, ... read more

Ten years ago Myanmar was one of the 10 poorest countries in the world. It receives less than a fifth of tourists that neighbouring Thailand gets every year. I had NO IDEA what to expect. We arrived at 830am (its 1/2 hour behind Thailand) and were shocked to see a very clean, modern looking airport. Apparently the governement put a ton of money into the airport in 1996 as push to bring tourists into the country. There was a lot of debate over this as labour laws were questioned and many people asked tourists to actually avoid Myanmar. Our first order of business after arriving was our finances. Money is a bit tricky in Myanmar. There are no international ATMs so you have to 'pack in' all of the money you need for your entire holiday. ... read more

Myanmar is an amazing country. At first glance it's hard to miss the countless smiles filling the faces of the Burmese people. This place may spoil me for the duration of my trip. Trusting people is easy as everyone wants to help you find your way. “Mingalaba” - Hello; “Jesu timbadeh” - Thank you. Since my first day here I have been striving to learn the language. Yes, if you don't speak the language you are fine, but when the people see you're trying, going outside of the normal hello and goodbye, that's when they want to know more about you. “Twe yada wan ta pa te” - Nice to meet you; “Baykarlay” - Where are you from? Flying into Myanmar from the air you immediately get the feeling that this is going to be something ... 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

Though Myanmar is becoming an increasingly popular destination, there are still experiences not touched by tourism’s tenacious tentacles. Since I gravitate towards the road even less travelled when journeying on the road less travelled, I was thrilled by a certain prospect on offer at Inle Lake. My arrival at the undistinguished town of Nyaungshwe was via a half-hour flight and bumpy 90 minute car journey; immensely preferable to the ghastly minimum 12 hour bus alternative. I transferred to an elongated boat that contained a single column of seats, where each passenger sits directly behind the one in front. The driver settled at the stern where he controlled a ridiculously noisy motor that propelled all occupants at speed. My first voyage on the lake revealed delightful surrounds, the vast waters mostly encircled by thickly wooded emerald hills. ... read more