Blogs from Northern Burma, Burma, Asia

Hoteliers far and wide have reserved their sites within the cities of Myanmar, awaiting the final approval to begin their construction and change forever the face and character of a country renowned for its simple beauty and unparalled wonders. Today one can walk the marble tiles surrounding the magnificence of the Shwedagon Pagoda, finding a mere handful of visiting tourists, traverse the plains at Bagan amidst the hundreds of chortans, pagodas and temples, remnants from the time when this site was the capital of Buddhism, whilst hearing only the trotting of hoofs upon the ground and the whistle of the wind among the trees. The opportunity is there, for the moment. All too soon, with the restrictions on travel now lifted, the country will experience an overwhelming abundance of visiting travelers. Hoteliers, who ran near empty ... read more

El viaje en barco estuvo mejor de lo que esperaba, compramos el pasaje más barato (por 9$) que sólo nos daba derecho a ubicarnos en donde mejor nos pareciera en el piso del ferry en el primer o el tercer nivel (el segundo era para los camarotes que costaban más de 30$); lo primero que vimos fue la planta baja llena de gente tirada en el piso, apenas quedaban unos espacios aquí y allá y el piso era de metal sucio y un poco deteriorado: PÁNICO!, subimos al último nivel y era otra historia, estaba casi vacío y el único problema era que no tenía techo, y teóricamente estamos en época de lluvias (aunque no ha llovido mucho desde que estamos aquí); el problema del piso lo solucionamos comprando un par de esterillas grandes en donde ... read more

Anciennes capitales C'était un de ces jours que tu souhaites qu'elles ne finissent jamais. Un de ces jours que tu veux qu'ils restent graves dans ta mémoire a jamais, dont tu ne veut pas oublier un seul instant. Pourtant c'était mal parti: la petite camionnette taxi qui est venue nous chercher (un couple hollandais et moi) est tombée en pane après seulement 10 km. Mais la jeune étudiante qui nous avait propose les services de son frère comme chauffeur de taxi nous a trouve un remplaçant. Alors après 45 min d'attente nous sommes embarques dans une autre camionnette qui nous a fait un tour des anciennes capitales autour de Mandalay. Sagain est apparue comme un mirage dans l'encolure de la rivière Ayeyarwaddy. Au de la du pont, une colline parsemée de pagodes. Nous avons monte les ... read more

Three of Myanmar's touristic higlights are the Golden Rock, U Bein's Bridge and the Bagan Temples. All of them are worth a visit. The Golden Rock is located on Mount Kyaiktiyo about 4h drive to the Northeast of Yangon. Literally speaking, the Golden Rock is a huge round rock covered with golden leaves and a small stupa on top that is kind of hanging of the side on the top of a mountain. To be honest, it is quite impressive because it is difficult to find a rational reason for the maintenance of its balance. Legend says that one of Buddhas' hairs was given to a King with supernatural powers, who found the rock in the sea and decided to put it on the top of the mountain. Buddhas' hair was placed in the stupa on ... read more

So, one of the most horrendous journeys of my entire life and we wake up in a plush (by Myanmar standards) hotel room, with air con and free toiletries and a T.V.! I dragged myself out of my weel deserved slumber to catch the free breakfast, climbing one floor and behold the greatest breakfast buffet I have ever seen. I very nearly wept at the joyous display of everything from toast to eggs to fried rice and dumplings to orange juice fresh fruit and an odd assortment of pastries and cakes all displayed on a round table. Jesus. I ran back to the room and insisted John G get up to see before the breakfast finished. We ate like kings and it was such relief from the hardships we'd endured we'd got on getting to this ... read more