Blogs from Yangon, Yangon Region, Burma, Asia - page 27

Okay, so I have to be honest before we start this entry. It isn't the middle of January and we are not anymore in Myanmar, Burma. We are really in Laos and it's almost the end of the Month, BUT!, since we had no access to internet in Burma and the email was $1 per message it seemed like a bad time to update. However, since we had such a great time we think Burma deserved some of it's own (wish we wrote it this way) emails. So here it goes. To start with we flew on Friday the 13th which made Aneta very uineasy but I made sure to fall asleep immediately on the am flight so she would feel right at home. It worked. We arrived safe and sound and checked into a lovely ... read more

Have spent 3 nights at the '3 Seasons Hotel' and Win Bo will arrange my flight north to Mandalay, probably for Wednesday. Have had meals in streets around the guesthouse, i.e. the Lashio Lay Shan Restaurant was quite good, i.e. 2 chicken servings/one masala and other spicy, plus a fried veg serving, plus rice, and large servings, plus a large Tiger beer, and all for 3900Kyat. For a splurge, one afternoon, walked down to the 50th Street Bar & Grill, at 9-13 50th Street, toward Merchant St end, for a quite good pizza plus 2 Tiger draughts, all for $12 (but converted to Kyat for me). Note: regarding meals, the breakfast at '3 Seasons' is huge, i.e. either an eggs/toast breakfast with 4 kinds of fruit and a honey-pancake, or a Burmese-style chicken/coconut milk soup breakfast, ... read more

Current capital of Myanmar, bustling port town on the flat plains alongside the Yangon River. The Myanmar regime was in the process of moving the capital to a secret alternative destination when I arrived, possibly the 5 mile column of army vehicles that were heading away from Yangon as our luxury bus made it's way towards the city was related to this move. Possibly. Or it could have been another inexplicable military movement, redeployment or reinforcement. This blog entry will be short. I spent an entire day in Yangon, problems with the travelblog server meant that I had to get back to Bangkok as quickly as possible. One day to change my ticket and visit Shwedagon Paya, one of the most holy sites in the entire Buddhist world. Shwedagon Paya is impressive, beautiful and gaudy, covered ... read more

1. Enter on a schmick-looking Bangkok Airways flight carrying only 16 people. Look miffed given that one only has six rows to oneself. 2. Make disapproving tutt tutt noises at fellow travellers having visa issues and holding up the queue of two. 3. When accosted by touts and money changers, confound them by acting as an ambassador of goodwill, smiling and replying "yes, thank you, I've packed my white bikini". 4. In the process, fail to notice worried-looking Burmese driver holding up sign with one's name on it. 5. Walk daintily past sweating taxi drivers gesticulating in rusting Datsun taxis and step into waiting 4WD whilst one's (friend's) driver struggles with one's backpack and tripod. 6. Driven to friend's three story house where one is given a room the size of shipping container (complete with ensuite ... read more

Missionary friends of ours living in Chiang Mai were planning to visit the churches in Rangoon, Burma (now Yangon, Myanmar) over Christmas week. They asked if we wanted to come along. We thought that would be great to visit this closed country with someone who knew where to go. We both applied for visas, but theirs were denied, perhaps because of their occupation. They encouraged us to go, and we could take some things to the church that they were going to take. So we did. 24 December 1974 Tuesday. We flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and then from Bangkok to Rangoon, arriving about 8 pm. While waiting for our bags, we noted that all the shops and money exchangers were closed. There was a strict prohibition against using foreign currency in Burma, so we ... read more