Transport in Myanmar counts as one of the worst on the globe. Therefore the plan was right from the beginning to travel only short distances and few places. The run down taxis in Yangon give the first impression, later the old Japanese government and school buses. Travel speed with buses is around 40-50 km/h and the train manages modest 25 km/h. This can be less on bad roads or minor train lines with the vehicle been filled up to the roof. We took a new express bus to Mandalay, that managed the 250 km distance in fast 6.5 hours and jumped [View Full Entry]

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We landed on a surprising big plane with almost 300 people on board late evening at Bangkok airport. It seemed all the expat and business community escaped Yangon for the weekend. We cleared quickly customs, jumped on the airport bus, got dropped off at our usual hotel and had a last beer before falling asleep. Bangkok can get sometimes on your nerves with all the traffic and bustle, but can feel also very comfortable with well established travel support and base for the next trip out into less developed countries. We bumped for example into our flight agent we used earlier [View Full Entry]

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We were greeted at small and cozy Luang Prabang airport by Bou Pan to bring us to the Lao Spirit Resort located at a river outside of the ancient town. Thomas and Christine are friends of mine from Biberach in Germany who had taken over the management of the resort 3 month ago. We were here to see how they were doing, to give them some help and also to stay longer at one place and to relax. It had rained very severe since the last weeks and the road to the resort was in a very bad shape. It was [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Yangon by an early morning flight with Air Asia. The landscape looked beautiful after the rainy season with many green rice fields and a lot of water in between. I had been in Myanmar 6 years ago and liked a lot the special atmosphere in this country due to the political, but also geographical isolation. Friends that traveled here recently warned me of the changed mood after the September events and the growing frustration of the people. A second reason to come was a meeting with the Vice-Chairman of the Myanmar Tourism Promotion Board. My caver friend Michael [View Full Entry]

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We were arriving again at Bangkok airport with the plan to spend few days on the way to Myanmar. Again because it was the second time for Yuki within few months and for me another countless stopover in this town. The convenience of Bangkok is unbeatable. It has good transport, cheap and good hotels, amazing food, custom made tailors, great sights and nightlife. The first day was spent quickly with the visit of several tailors and travel preparations. We stayed in a quiet guesthouse at the main river which has the advantage of a close by express boat stop. Traffic in [View Full Entry]

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The modern airplane of Air Bagan landed softly in the former ancient capital of Bagan. We were astonished by the good service at board, but learnt later that the private run airline was owned by one of the ruling general sons and got grounded few month ago. There had been many incidents of planes near crash landing or missing the runway ends due to inexperienced pilots. Luckily we did not know about this . Bagan was refreshing silent with wide roads lined by overhanging trees making it perfect for a cycle ride. We found a nice guesthouse with terrace and ventured [View Full Entry]

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We were not sure what to expect at our first stop in Dubai with a steady weather forecast of sun and temperatures with 41 C at day time and 33 C in night time. Ok, it is dessert area; therefore night might be dry. So it should be not so bad. Additionally Ramadan started just few days before eating and drinking in public was not allowed during day time. As precaution we booked a good hotel standard with a small swimming pool and got a nice air condition room. At least hotel and flight prices droop considerably during this time. We [View Full Entry]

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Joerg and I made a little farewell party at our apartment before going to Asia. We were happy to have many people. It amazed me I had met them for five months. Special thanks for Jurgen helping to cook BBQ. I tried making Yakitori because I knew that Joerg likes it; he told me he likes Yakitori sauce. Honestly, I prefer Yakitori with salt, but it was one of the most popular Japanese food for foreigners. That’s why I decided to make Yakitori sauce but it was not succeeded (I should ask my mum how to make it). I appreciate [View Full Entry]

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