Burma has really captured our attention. We’ve spent 16 nights and 17 days exploring and feel like we have seen a good bit of the country. We are told it has grown leaps and bounds politically, with the country starting to move away from 50 years of strict military rule. This may be reflected in the recent visit by President Obama and earlier in the year by Hillary Clinton, sure signs that things are changing. Life has also changed for the people, albeit slowly, but if you come for a visit soon you will still have the pleasure of experiencing a nation and culture that is relatively untouched by the outside world. The people of Burma are friendly and have a good sense of humor. We feel you will get to see a raw and unspoiled ... read more

This latest entry requires that we first set the scene for you. It is October of 2007 and we are standing in our hotel room in Kuala Lumpur with backpacks all but ready to head downstairs to jump into a cab to take us to the airport. For the past few days there had been unrest and rumblings in Myanmar. Rising petrol prices and general unrest was afoot. The night before on the television we see small riots and police hostility toward the monks on the television. We are keenly interested in the reports the BBC is providing regarding the unrest in a country we are going to visit in a few short hours. When we awoke that morning, we had an uncertain feeling about flying into Myanmar. And now there we were ……. standing in ... read more

Passing thoughts on two weeks in Shangril – La: At some point, your mind sends you the message that the repository is full. It’s not unlike a memory chip where you’ve maxed out the storage space. Our minds are saturated with knowledge and stories concerning Buddhism, Buddha, the second Buddha, The Tibeten Master, the Tantric Master, the Crazy monk and various other deities. Turns out they have about one thousand, but frankly we’re not sure anyone’s got a tote board on exactly how many. Each valley or mountainside seems to have at least one. Buddhism is much more complex than meets the heathen eye. And of course just when you think you’ve got a toe hold on some of the most basic knowledge….you don’t. It’s been a great gig being here these past two weeks. We’ve ... read more

Shangri-La has become synomous with any earthly paradise but particularly a mythical Himalayan utopia-- a permanently happy land, islolated from the outside world. Bhutan seems to fit this definition. Happiness is the Kingdom of Bhutan Bhutan has a philosophy they call Gross National Happiness. They define this by creating a world of well-being and happiness. This means they live life in balance. Sort of dividing things up evenly…..work, sleep and play…..the modern world could learn a few things from Bhutan. Now, we’re not trying to espouse some Buddhist-induced state of “total enlightenment,” but the Bhutanese are seriously interested in the psychological health of its citizens. Not a bad philosophy to latch onto all things considered. Research has shown that increasing le... read more

It doesn’t always turn out the way you plan it. Sometimes you learn to just roll with it despite the obstacles you face. Our time in Pokhara turned out to be a bit different than expected. Okay, maybe more so. We left the mountains of Tanzen and headed towards the more mountainous enclave of Pokhara. At this point, it would be great to regale you with some fabulous tale, but the short of it is that about an hour short of our destination, we stopped for a biologic break. The facilities were located several steps down, and Dave slipped on some water and his feet flew out from under him. He slammed his left shoulder into a cement wall, which resulted in a nasty abrasion and his full weight came slamming down on a cement step ... read more