Rob_n_Lorenza

We had been hoping we could find a way to drop into see our friend Susan in Can Tho, Vietnam, to check out how her tour business was going. So, when we made plans to visit Europe again we decided we would fly via Ho Chi Minh City and stop over for a few days. We have been in contact with Susan for a while via social media helping with ideas when she was setting up her personalised tours around Can Tho. It was great that we would finally get the chance to experience “Can Tho Touring” for ourselves. We made our plans and Susan gave us all the info we needed about bus connections from HCMC to Can Tho, plus recommended some hotels that were close to the bus station. With our bookings complete we ... read more

Kyaiktiyo Pagoda or the Golden Rock Pagoda, in Mon state has intrigued me for a long time. No matter which way I view this pagoda it appears to defy gravity. When pilgrims rub gold leaf onto the golden rock you can see it swaying slightly. The story behind the pagoda is that a hermit built it to house a hair of the Buddha. Legend has it that you can pass a string under the golden rock where it teeters on the rock ledge. When Mal, Min San and I rubbed gold leaf on the rock I had the distinct feeling it was swaying. You can definitely look on the rocks underside and see it swaying ever so slightly. Only men are allowed out onto the rock platform to apply gold leaf, so we did the honours ... read more

The photos attached to this blog are of some of the people that asked if they could be photographed with Lorenza on our trip to Myanmar. They were taken at various locations. Lorenza joked that she felt like some kind of celebrity. Many people commented how beautiful they thought she was, especially when wearing the traditional Burmese longyi. A few times she said “Ok, today no longyi, I need a break from all this fame”. Obviously, Lorenza looked much better in a longyi than I did. It always amazed me that often the people asking for a photo with Lorenza had no camera or phone so they would never see the photo, they were just happy to pose with her. Often, once one person asked others would come over and want to pose with her also, ... read more

Thanks to Mum and Ohnmar’s inside knowledge we timed our visit to Bagan to coincide with the full moon. The place was a buzz with festivities, weddings, and pilgrims paying homage at pagodas. The town of Nyuang U was alight with candles and lanterns, the sound of fire crackers could be heard everywhere. The festivities would continue for the next 3 or 4 days, the children had school holidays and the workers also had time off to enjoy themselves as well. One thing we noticed was that anywhere a large crowd was gathered everyone was so peaceful and happy, in Sydney in any large crowd there are always problems fuelled by alcohol, but not here, there was a pervading air of loving-kindness everywhere we went. We spent four nights here and had an interesting time enjoying ... read more

We left Taungyi at about 3am so we could get to Inle Lake as early as possible. Our aim was to make it to the lake at sunrise so we could watch the start of the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda Festival on the lake. Once a year villagers gather to tow four of the holiest Buddha images clockwise around the lake on a beautifully decorated barge. Shan leg rowers on traditional boats tow the barge and as they travel around the lake they stop at each village so people can pay homage to the Buddha images. Our bus driver and boat drivers timed things perfectly and we arrived on the lake just in time to watch the leg-rowers arriving dressed in their traditional Shan costumes. All the boats joined together to tow the barge out onto ... read more